Winners

     It finally happened:  The huge $1.6 BILLION lottery prize was won by a single individual.  The ticket had been sold from a South Carolina store.  As of my writing this blog post the winner has not come forth to claim the huge jackpot winnings; however, under South Carolina law they have 180 days from the ticket drawing to do so.  They can also claim this prize without their identity being known.  I’m sure that’s a relief being who knows how many “relatives” may be coming out of the woodwork if their identity were made public?

     With this winning they will be receiving an $877.8 million cash payout or they can receive approximately $53 million a year for the next 29 years.  In either case I think we could all agree this is a HUGE amount of money.  Many people would not be able to wrap their minds around such figures.  How sad that concerning lottery winners it is shown that about 1/3 of them are bankrupt within 5 years of winning their prize.

     Looking at these winnings we would have to also consider that this person will have to pay approximately $351 million in taxes (assuming 40%, but that is probably a bit high) if the cash payment is taken.  That would leave them with ONLY $526 million to live on.  If they took the annual payments the taxes would be approximately $21 million per year leaving them with ONLY $32 million per year to live on!  I think that a “normal” person could live VERY well on that amount of money, but again we’ve seen that some just can’t handle it.

     If they really wanted to spend LARGE and only put $100 million into various bank accounts earning a ONE percent annual fee (and they may be able to get more) that would give them $1 million per year to live on (less income taxes).  Not a bad way to live AND they would still have their $100 million.  This scenario would be if they had taken the cash payout.  However, I’m NOT suggesting that they BLOW the remaining $426 million on frivolous things.  Wise investment decisions would go a LONG way in making this money work hard for the winner.

     If they had chosen the annual payment plan and would have only $32 million per year to exist on they would have to consider perhaps a different investment approach.  However, they should be able to (as an example) live off about $2 million per year and invest the remaining $30 million every year.  With some proper considerations they could perhaps receive about 5% investment returns for approximately an additional $1.5 million each year.

     The key for this individual is to look beyond the present. What great benefits that money could allow them to do for other people.  Setting up a great charity fund would be a wonderful way to assist their fellow man with some of the problems they have to face.  Granted money is not the solution to all problems, but it can certainly help in many situations.

     The winner of this huge jackpot will most definitely have to get themselves some help from various other individuals who are professionals within their legal and financial careers; however, these must also be people that the winner can trust and who will not be tempted themselves to do any corrupt actions against the best interest of the winner.

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"You don't have to be a winner to be successful,

however, you can't be successful without being a winner!"