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How long would you wait to claim your billion dollars?

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By not claiming the jackpot, the winner has already forgone about $5 million in interest.
Just as important? 2 months of being ultra wealthy. However, if you aren't ready for it, you could be blindsided by all manner of onslaughts that will make you dizzy. Best to prepare for such a wild swing of fortune. The interest is relatively insignificant.

The period of anticipation, never to return, is well worth forfeiting the interest.
 
Yes, you should deposit the check with Wells Fargo. I hear they take good careof their customers.

Is that the bank that also randomly forecloses people's homes even if they are paying their mortgage? I think I recall a horror story on that where people were losing their houses.
 
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.
If you pay attention, you pick up on that. A book I read made the point that with money (alot of money in particular) there comes a responsibility to use it wisely. I think a lot of people when they think about having a lot of money don't think in these terms at all but like to think how they'd blow it. They're probably a lot better off not striking it rich with the lottery or whatever. When I Win the Lottery:
 
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it's better tax wise to claim lottery on jan 1.
16months (12 + 4) tax free till you file your taxes in april

Actually not. The IRS expects you to pay your estimated income tax on a quarterly basis if you aren't having enough withheld automatically. As an independent contractor, I have to make payments based on invoiced payments every quarter. If you do not make sufficient quarterly payments then you are subject to fines that in essence reflect the time value of money for the amounts that you should have paid. And I very much doubt that any lottery is foolish enough to write the winner a check without withholding and turning over to the IRS what they calculate the taxes will be. Some day I hope to find out...
 
Actually not. The IRS expects you to pay your estimated income tax on a quarterly basis if you aren't having enough withheld automatically. As an independent contractor, I have to make payments based on invoiced payments every quarter. If you do not make sufficient quarterly payments then you are subject to fines that in essence reflect the time value of money for the amounts that you should have paid. And I very much doubt that any lottery is foolish enough to write the winner a check without withholding and turning over to the IRS what they calculate the taxes will be. Some day I hope to find out...
That’s only if your pay is close to your former pay: if it’s suvstanially different there’s no penalty for failure to keep up with withholding.
 
There are people who eschew riches in favor of a spiritual life.

Yes, we call them poor.
Fabulous wealth isn't all it's cracked up to be. And poverty isn't either. I'll provide you with quotations by laudable worthies:
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"The eye of a needle" is scripture quoting Jesus recorded in the synoptic gospels: I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
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From Zen Flesh, Zen Bones:


Zengetsu, a Chinese master of the T'ang dynasty, wrote the following advice for his pupils:

Living in the world yet not forming attachments to the dust of the world is the way of a true Zen student.

When witnessing the good action of another, encourage yourself to follow his example. Hearing of the mistaken action of another, advise yourself not to commit that error.

Even though alone in a dark, room, be as if you were facing a noble guest. Express your feelings, but become no more expressive than your true nature.

Poverty is your treasure. Never exchange it for an easy life.

A person may appear a fool and yet not be one. He may only be guarding his wisdom carefully.

Virtues are the fruit of self-discipline and do not drop from heaven of themselves as does rain or snow.

Modesty is the foundation of all virtues. Let your neighbors discover you before you make yourself known to them.

A noble heart never forces itself forward. Its words are as rare gems, seldom displayed and of great value.

To a sincere student, every day is a fortunate day. Time passes but he never lags behind. Neither glory nor shame can move him.

Censure yourself, never another. Do not discuss right and wrong.

Some things, though right, were considered wrong for generations. Since the value of righteousness may be recognized after centures, there is no need to crave an immediate appreciation.

Live with cause and leave results to the great law of the universe. Pass each day in peaceful contemplation.
 
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The person waited 4 1/2 months before claiming their prize. I guess they took their time to get things in order.


Link

The winner of the $1.5 billion lottery prize — a record for a single winner — came forward in South Carolina nearly five months after the drawing, officials said Monday.

The lucky person has opted to remain anonymous and take a one-time Mega Millions payment of $877,784,124, according to a statement from the South Carolina Education Lottery Commission.

The winner bought the Quick Pick ticket on a spur-of-the-moment decision, according to lottery officials.

The person even allowed a fellow customer to get in front of the line at the store to make a Mega Millions lottery ticket purchase, according to a commission statement. "A simple act of kindness led to an amazing outcome.
 
$80K/day for 30 years. I might could squeak by.

"A simple act of kindness led to an amazing outcome. "

🙄
Now the line at the convenience store is going to be even longer with all the ticket buyers being like, "After you." "Oh, no, after you good sir."
 
Superstition is its own punishment.

I wonder how anonymous they can be in this. Maybe pretty anonymous! If it were me, I would want some degree of anonymity with this. You don't want every tom, dick, harry and helen to know you have nearly a billion dollars suddenly. No way.

And like this luckout, I'd take my time claiming. What's the hurry? Do it right.
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He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. - Socrates
 
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The person even allowed a fellow customer to get in front of the line at the store to make a Mega Millions lottery ticket purchase, according to a commission statement. "A simple act of kindness led to an amazing outcome.
But did that person also do a quick pick?
 
Even though I do not gamble, I've said I would accept the money in lump sum anonymously. But considering several states slap a monetary penalty for that and the fact I am more than comfortable with telling my family to go fly a kite I can see no reason other than kidnapping and other ill threats as a reason why one needs to be anonymous.

This morning I actually considered that maybe the winner ticket holder was in the country illegally and needed to make arrangements for someone else to claim in proxy, but that being said what reasons would you want to keep anonymous even with a penalty?
 
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