How long would you wait to claim your billion dollars?

[Stopsignhank]

Winner of $1.5B Mega Millions jackpot hasn't claimed their prize

Dream big and win big — but don’t forget to take the prize.

No one has claimed a $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot after a winning lottery ticket was purchased at a North Carolina gas station on Oct. 23.





You think someone accidentally threw away the ticket?

 

[clamum]

Winner of $1.5B Mega Millions jackpot hasn't claimed their prize

Dream big and win big — but don’t forget to take the prize.

No one has claimed a $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot after a winning lottery ticket was purchased at a North Carolina gas station on Oct. 23.





You think someone accidentally threw away the ticket?

I think it's definitely possible, or maybe likely at this point. Didn't realize what they had, threw it away, etc. OOPS!

 

[DigDog]

I would kill myself if i lost 1.5b
Proper dead, no crossed fingers.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I'd wait til I had a team in place to handle it and a plan.

 

[pcgeek11]

Hopefully they are getting a good finance lawyer and accountant lined up.

 

[WelshBloke]

I would kill myself if i lost 1.5b
Proper dead, no crossed fingers.

Why?
You haven't got $1.5b now, if you lost it you'd just be the same.

 

[highland145]

North Carolina

Simpsonville, S.C.

I'm waiting until the last day.

 

[DigDog]

Why?
You haven't got $1.5b now, if you lost it you'd just be the same.

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.

 

[BurnItDwn]

The lottery is a waste of resources. It is a tax on the pour. (Waste of perfectly good beer money!)

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Considering that they changed the system to create ever larger jackpots, they should offer to capture your picture and contact info. While some would say this would invade privacy (and I agree), it would also be on the basis of not having to present said physical ticket.

 

[highland145]

The lottery is a waste of resources. It is a tax on the pour. (Waste of perfectly good beer money!)

That pour tax is a bitch. I already have to pay the excise tax.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

No more than a week. Get a good lawyer, set up a an LLC to claim the winnings, figure out the taxes and go.

There have been some pretty big jackpots unclaimed, several over $50 million, but nothing close to this one.

 

[highland145]

set up a an LLC

Or a trust(?). LLCs have to be registered with the sec of state, listing the principle parties.

Regardless, I've got til April.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Sucks it's in the states though, by the time the winner gets the money it will be like 300mil. Still a lot of money but also a kick in the face that the rest is basically wasted. Would be much better if it went to charity or something.

This reminds me I have a few old tickets here I should probably check. It's Lotto Max and Lotto 649 though so this one aint mine.

 

[skull]

Sucks it's in the states though, by the time the winner gets the money it will be like 300mil. Still a lot of money but also a kick in the face that the rest is basically wasted. Would be much better if it went to charity or something.

This reminds me I have a few old tickets here I should probably check. It's Lotto Max and Lotto 649 though so this one aint mine.

You are so clueless fed tax rate at the highest bracket is 37% my states highest tax bracket is 5%, which would leave me with roughly $870,000,000.

Don't alot of these cases where the prize isn't claim end up being fraud.

 

[shortylickens]

some dickhead lost the ticket and doesnt have the balls to come clean.

 

[kn51]

Hopefully they are getting a good finance lawyer and accountant lined up.

Pretty much.

First off the bat is get a safe deposit box to stash the ticket. Then what you said.

Combine that with setting up an LLC as the other poster said to basically get an apartment to move some valuables in from your current residence because your current house will be basically looted on a daily basis.

Takes time.

 

[Mike64]

You are so clueless fed tax rate at the highest bracket is 37% my states highest tax bracket is 5%, which would leave me with roughly $870,000,000.

It's never actually that straightforward. Aside from taxes, the prizes are usually structured such that a lump-sum payout (before taxes) is significantly lower than the advertised jackpot, and then taxes come off that.... But a billion dollar jackpot would still net you a hell of a lot more than $300k.

 

[Red Squirrel]

You are so clueless fed tax rate at the highest bracket is 37% my states highest tax bracket is 5%, which would leave me with roughly $870,000,000.

Don't alot of these cases where the prize isn't claim end up being fraud.

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.

 

[kage69]

I would wait until I could collect with a trust instead of my actual name, but short of that there would be no elective delays. Hand it over because time is money and it should be invested so it can earn me interest.

I don't even want to entertain the thought of someone being dumb/careless enough to lose a winning ticket of that amount. Trump level stupidity, maybe worse, wasn't his big haircut 'only' 900 million or so?

 

[Mike64]

It's a kick in the face.

Yeah, 'cos being handed only $600 million bucks or so for a beer-money "investment" is a truly heinous thing that should never happen to anyone... Oh, woez…

I don't even want to entertain the thought...

Well, that would depend on when it was lost. If it was lost before the drawing, it was just beer-money-level stupid... Though I will say that if it was lost, I hope for the winner's peace of mind that it was a randomly-generated ticket and they didn't write the numbers down anywhere else…

 

[Red Squirrel]

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.

 

[Sgt. York]

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?

 

[Mike64]

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.

You never "present" winning tickets on big- (or even medium-) ticket prizes to the agent that sold the ticket, you have to deal with the "main office"...

 

[ImpulsE69]

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?

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.