How long would you wait to claim your billion dollars?

[RLGL]

How long would I wait to claim........Ten minutes ago...... With that much who cares about anything, money can fix it! Just talk to
Trump

 

[Muse]

If I wasn't worried about it I might take my time. I don't think I'd rush. There's something delicious about having a secret like that that you lose when you come forward. Also, you might have some business to take care of before you're ready to come forward.

 

[Muse]

How long would I wait to claim........Ten minutes ago...... With that much who cares about anything, money can fix it! Just talk to
Trump

Jay Leno: "Money won't make you happy, but it can help."

 

[Mike64]

I don't think you can do it anonymously unless you have set up a 'trust' or 'corporatoin' and even then it would take quite a bit of logistics to not track it back to you. News (and the place that sold the ticket) love to advertise the winners names.

I'm pretty sure most (probably all) lottery agencies require winners to agree to at least some degree of publicity, for "appearance of propriety/integrity" as well as general publicity, reasons. Otherwise, all sorts would crawl out of all sorts of woodwork hollering "fraud" and "conspiracy" every time they didn't win... (Not to mention the ones who would holler even if they didn't buy tickets at all, just because... "gubmint".) But whether or not money can buy "happiness", it can certainly buy privacy, and hire "people" to screen one's mail and phone calls...

 

[kage69]

I'm pretty sure most (probably all) lottery agencies require winners to agree to at least some degree of publicity, for "appearance of propriety/integrity" as well as general publicity, reasons. Otherwise, all sorts would crawl out of all sorts of woodwork hollering "fraud" and "conspiracy" every time they didn't win... (Not to mention the ones who would holler even if they didn't buy tickets at all, just because... "gubmint".) But whether or not money can buy "happiness", it can certainly buy privacy, and hire "people" to screen one's mail and phone calls...

You'd be surprised what you can get accomplished remotely with a lawyer and fiduciary working for your trust. If you do it smart you can get the money and avoid exposing yourself to a shit load of risk. It will require surrogates. As I understand it lottery companies are usually very willing to help in whatever way they can. Winners getting screwed and in the news is not good for their business, no?

 

[PowerEngineer]

It wouldn't be as easy as you think. I don't think you can do it anonymously unless you have set up a 'trust' or 'corporatoin' and even then it would take quite a bit of logistics to not track it back to you. News (and the place that sold the ticket) love to advertise the winners names.

Add to that, that with that much money - your lifestyle will change, people will notice..otherwise, you may as well give it to charity.

Yes, besides getting the best legal, tax, and investment advice before claiming the prize, you need to be prepared to essentially abandon your previous life. Might want to sell your existing home because you will never want to live there again. Change you phone numbers. If you have kids, figure out a new living situation (and schools) where they can be sheltered from unwanted attention. If there are no kids, then I'd book an around-the-world cruise lasting around six months that started the day after I claimed the prize so I could leisurely consider what the heck to do next!

 

[IronWing]

So what happens to the loot if the winner fails to come forward? Do the states pocket the money? Does it get applied to a future jackpot?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Why would anyone know you have a winning ticket? Are you a big mouth who can't keep his mouth shut, even to save his life and the lives of his loved ones?

I think they legally have to announce it. That's why you always see in the news where they show the giant cheque and the people holding it.

IMO they should change that law where they only have to do it like 1 year later or something. It would give the winner a chance to get their affairs in order. You pretty much have to move to another location and isolate yourself or you'll constantly be getting bugged and attacked etc.

 

[zinfamous]

300 was just a wild guess, I was just saying you don't get the whole thing. There's probably a bunch of administrative fees and stuff on top of that too and maybe even more than one type of tax so it all adds up. But still 37% is a huge chunk of money that is basically being burned in front of you. It's a kick in the face.

Nope.

There is a flat fed tax rate and, depending on the state, you might have to pay state taxes. ...so it's possible that there are two tax hits. I think it's something like 12 or so states that don't tax lotto winnings. Those states that do, it's usually like 8-12% IIRC.

paying ~45-48% taxes on $50m, 100m, 1.5b that you didn't do shit to earn isn't a kick in the face in any way whatsoever. You are suddenly a 100+ millionaire that you never would have been otherwise. Only fools that plan to be broke complain about such things.

 

[zinfamous]

I think they legally have to announce it. That's why you always see in the news where they show the giant cheque and the people holding it.

IMO they should change that law where they only have to do it like 1 year later or something. It would give the winner a chance to get their affairs in order. You pretty much have to move to another location and isolate yourself or you'll constantly be getting bugged and attacked etc.

Again, depends. Some states require it. Many don't. And those that do, I believe that you can still register as an LLC or some shit so that you don't have to show your face or name. The people that are known to be lotto winners in either case are those that are going to be broke, fast.

 

[zinfamous]

Actually when you win such a big prize, is there an official way to claim it without having to physically bring the ticket to the store? I would seriously worry about losing the ticket too. or someone overhears me and jumps me etc. Violence in my city is getting really bad I would not even want to be out with that ticket.

Each state that participates in the big national lottos (like Powerball or Mega Millions) has a primary lotto admin office, that also runs the various local state lottos. All winning tickets can be claimed there, where it is far less public.

Last thing I would want to be doing is get stuck in a line at the 7-11 for 10 minutes behind some daily scratcher regulars and a bunch of folks picking up their week-old hotdogs and energy drinks at 10am, with my 10million dollar ticket in my pocket.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Yes, after the fact you change your name and become anonymous.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Dude ..

If i lost a 1.5b lottery ticket i would go catatonic and would spend the rest of my life locked in my nude-asian-sex-servant-filled imagination.

I already beat myself up about every little mistake as it is now.

Ill let you guess what i would instead do if i cashed in.

You really need to find some fun shit to do in life if you're always chasing the carrot on a stick.

Money buys happiness - but after a reasonable net worth (Say, ~$3-10m or so) it starts to dip the other direction.

 

[Mike64]

You'd be surprised what you can get accomplished remotely with a lawyer and fiduciary working for your trust. If you do it smart you can get the money and avoid exposing yourself to a shit load of risk. It will require surrogates. As I understand it lottery companies are usually very willing to help in whatever way they can. Winners get screwed and in the news is not good for their business, no?

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised at all -in long ago days I did some work for a few clients like that (not the hiding them part, just miscellaneous corporate legal work for very, very rich-family "businesses" (families "most" people have never heard of...) that consisted mainly of multiple levels of trusts, holding companies, and shell corporations to an extent that anyone trying to track down the actual beneficial owners of all their "stuff" based on public records would have died of old age long before they even got close...)

But I didn't realize that not all states required that names be made public, which is the crux of "secrecy". I'm kinda surprised at that for basic accountability reasons, but just as I doubt that stupid people stupidly blowing massive winnings in a few years deters anyone from playing, I guess the lack of transparency doesn't either. I mean, realistically, lotteries are profitable because there are millions of people in the world who are variously desperate, pathologically optimistic, addicted to gambling in one form or another, or just figure "what the hell" and buy a few tickets now and then on the theory that "you never know..." (I do that occasionally for that matter, always playing random-ish or computer-generated numbers to avoid non-buyer's anguish if I had regular numbers that won some time when I hadn't bought a ticket...)

 

[DigDog]

You really need to find some fun shit to do in life if you're always chasing the carrot on a stick.

Money buys happiness - but after a reasonable net worth (Say, ~$3-10m or so) it starts to dip the other direction.

Yeah but im broke. I dont want millions, i just want enough to set up my food business.

 

[WelshBloke]

I already beat myself up about every little mistake as it is now.

Seriously. Don't do that.

Don't do it.

Lifes pretty short as it is. Dont criticize every decision you make, just move on and make the best of the choices you've made.

 

[Muse]

I think you'd be an idiot to claim quickly. As soon as everyone knows you are super rich you become a target for all kinds of people. You have to set yourself up to protect yourself from those people before you come forward. That takes time and work.

 

[balloonshark]

I thought it was common to wait until the very last day or hours before claiming. I think they do it for legal reasons but I could only speculate why. Maybe to cut down on amount of time someone could say they bought the ticket and you stole it or you haven't paid them back, etc.

 

[Muse]

Obviously buying lottery tickets isn't good investing of your money in terms of odds. What it does provide is the right to dream of being super wealthy. Myself, I can do that, but I've never bought a lottery ticket of any kind anywhere or been tempted to.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I buy tickets once in a while but don't really make it a habit either. It does not hurt to try.

I also play around with the stock market, the odds are a bit better but it's still basically a lottery. The biggest thing is to not spend more on that stuff than you can afford to lose.

 

[LikeLinus]

Stupid article. Says "time is running out".

The winner has until April 21 to claim the prize, LOL. Almost 4 months left to claim it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

4 months goes by pretty fast these days. If the person who has the ticket is not really someone that watches news or anything he/she could very well be completely oblivious to the fact that they still have a ticket shoved in their wallet or something.

 

[LikeLinus]

Goes by pretty fast these days? I wasn't aware that time has sped up and 4 months is now a shorter period than in the past? News to me

 

[Red Squirrel]

Well the perception is faster. "oh I should check that soon" and you blink and a couple weeks already went by.

 

[Muse]

I buy tickets once in a while but don't really make it a habit either. It does not hurt to try.

I also play around with the stock market, the odds are a bit better but it's still basically a lottery. The biggest thing is to not spend more on that stuff than you can afford to lose.

The stock market is a giant distraction to the business of investing.” ... Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard