Is it weird to say this makes me somewhat reluctant to buy one? The words “be careful what you wish for, you might just get it” come to mind. I’ve always wanted to be comfortable, not drowning in wealth.
I maintain they would increase sales further if they said: it is one billion, we’ll draw fifty winning sets of numbers. Twenty million less taxes per winner.
And yes I’ll probably buy a ticket.
When you are perceived as "earning" your money, such as building a business and becoming wealthy, people tend to leave you alone. But a lottery winner brings out the very worst in friends and family as well as a never ending parade of scam artists. People figure that you did nothing to earn it and so you should be obligated to shell a good portion of it out to others, especially your relatives, who will suddenly come out of the woodwork grasping for their slice of the pie.
They won't want to hear about how you had to pay 55% of it to the taxman and how you have to now hire an army of lawyers and accountants to manage it all. They are only interested in their "lump sum" and guess what, it will never be enough. Give everybody in your family $50,000 and they will soon be muttering what a cheapskate you are. No amount will satisfy them once you start dishing it out.
I almost want to say "no thanks" to being a big lottery winner.
Really, the only proper way to handle such a windfall is to put the winning ticket in a safe place and hire a good lawyer to work out the details of claiming it. Try not to reveal your name to the press if at all possible and keep a very low profile. Might be necessary to "relocate" to a different part of the country and only give your contact info to those people you want to hear from.
No. Let’s face it, the winner will be known first for winning this lottery. When I thought about it, is that what I want to be known for? I write creatively as a hobby and would rather be known for my silly blog, my container gardening, a novel (if I ever one published), an expert in my career field, etc. etc. etc.
Or even let this cycle’s bets go entirely into the next cycle. So the next drawing would be $450 million, not $10 million.