Posted on 05/19/2013 10:04:22 AM PDT by 4Runner
DES MOINES, Iowa -- It's all about the odds, and one lone ticket in Florida has beaten them all by matching each of the numbers drawn for the highest Powerball jackpot in history at an estimated $590.5 million, lottery officials said Sunday.
The single winner was sold at a supermarket in Zephyrhills, Fla., according to Florida Lottery executive Cindy O'Connell. She told The Associated Press by telephone that more details would be released later.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/19/3405191/590m-plus-powerball-1-winning.html#storylink=cpy
(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.com ...
“...Anyone who doesnt have discipline when it comes to money will have problems if huge sums fall into their laps like this.....”
I agree with you. All one has to do is go back and look at many of previous big-time winners over the past few years. Most of em are far worse off than before they won it. Managing that kind of money is a very difficult job. Sure, we may all want a crack at it, but it becomes a full-time headache. Basically, they find themselves in the role of a CEO of a multi-million dollar company with absolutely no experience to draw from. It takes discipline and experience to do it right and not lose it all to every con man,shark and taxing authority coming down the pike. Your privacy becomes totally shot, you’ll find yourself with friends and relatives you didn’t know even existed, your real, legitimate close relatives will end up hating you even though you gave them money (because it’s never enough no matter how much it is), your mailbox will be filled with hundreds, if not thousands of letters every day begging for “donations”. Fed-Ex and UPS will be there every day with overnight packages begging for the same thing, people will literally camp out on your lawn or an area close by so they can try to mooch off you every time you come outside or drive out the driveway. So you’ll have to move and find a gated place to live just to stay sane. You’ll also likely have to hire some type of armed security to keep you and your loved ones from being constantly harassed, or worse yet, kidnapped etc. And all of that is not counting the crap you’re going to have to deal with from the IRS and other taxing authorities. You’ll have to have accountants, tax attorneys, etc. to handle all of that. Don’t ask me how I know all this.... :) And no, it was NOT from lottery winnings on my part.
Money changes people drastically. Big money makes for big changes and it’s not always necessarily for the better. IF you’re not disciplined with it BEFORE you get it, you surely won’t be once you have it.
“It would be great it if were a FReeper”
I’ll say. They could keep Free Republic in the black for the next hundred years on just a little of the interest! But, it’s probably going to turn out to be a Cuban refugee or some 90-year-old retired lady from Jersey.
or maybe it was rigged to benefit an Obama minion. I wouldn’t put it past them.
The “winner” has no idea of all the problems which lie ahead for him/her.
But, how much was skimmed off the top to help fund state education funding? Maybe another $590 million???
The lump sum is half the 30-year payment after taxes, who keeps that other half?
Not that I expect them to keep up this pace, but it beats the hell out of a stupid lottery ticket where your chances of winning even a lousy $3 is about 1 in 58.
Just wish I had more to invest as opposed to the jackasses I've stood behind in a customer service line who often blow upwards of $50 on their damn lottery tickets and sometimes even read out their damn lucky numbers one at a time while the rest of us who have less important things to do like pay bills or buy stamps just have to wait.
I stopped playing Powerball & other Lotto games after visiting this site:
http://justwebware.com/powerball/powerball.html
You get to see your actual odds of winning at no cost to you! Choose your own numbers and let it run at ‘Max’ speed.
My guess is that you will never buy another lottery ticket again.
Just look at it like this — job creation or welfare reduction. Whoever has a job and won will leave it thus opening the position for someone else.
Largest welfare payment in history.
I never heard such a thing before. You pay into it by buying a ticket. I normally do buy a ticket or two but forgot to yesterday. I know everything is evil to some of you but this is a capitalistic venture.
“How many otherwise productive hours are spent in line waiting to buy tickets or thinking about their numbers “
About as long as it takes to pay cash for the gasoline that brought me to the store in the first place.
“How many otherwise productive hours are spent in line waiting to buy tickets or thinking about their numbers “
The lump some is the present worth of the total winnings spread out over the incremental payout period.
...and not one thin dime for JimRob? Bleah on you!
Well, dang. I didn’t even check my ticket yet.
“unearned unjustified wealth transfer.”
All by choice. Nobody forcing people to buy tickets.
And for others comparing it to the stock market is about as ignorant a comment as possible. Just black hole stupid.
You forgot good booze and good guns. . . (grin)
"Re-distributed" by whom?
Heh! If I’d have won, I’d have hired three dozen reloading FReepers, moved them and us all to a good 2nd amendment supportive state, and started a business called, “Freepin’ Ammo Supply.”
The money is re-distributed by the lottery agencies in each state which participate in powerball. The money to pay out these prizes comes from the sales of tickets.
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