The odds of winning the Powerball is 1 in 175 million, and yet one person in California has claimed the biggest victory of all, the total $425 million Powerball winnings. In a gas station within the past week, one winner produced the perfect array of numbers: 1, 17, 35, 49, 54 and a Powerball of 34. No other individual in the nation had the winning number. One can imagine the brevity of the heart stop before the eyes turn into cartoonish cha-ching! dollar signs.
10 miles north of San Jose, the Dixon Landing Chevron gas station is also celebrating a win. They receive a prize of $1 million for selling the ticket. While the $425 million is mind-boggling, it still is not the biggest winning in history. If the unnamed winner declares a cash method, they can walk away with $242 million.
The cha-ching! continues thinking of previous winners, such as the $656 million Mega Millions pot sold in March 2012 and the jaw dropping $590 million dollar win last spring. One person in California does not have to worry about splitting their prize as they can collect it themselves. It is possible the Powerball winner is already launching attorney’s in place to protect their massive jackpot.
Going from rags to riches is financially shocking. Some people fail to acquire trust-worthy people in their life to manage such a massive budget. Market Watch reports a large number of lottery winners end up going bankrupt. The biggest issue is mismanagement of funds. The statistics of the downfall of lotto winners ended up in a published study called The Review of Economics and Statistics. Mismanagement is the heavy hand leading back to rags.
Many of the winners failed to pay back obligations that remained, such as student loans, car loans, mortgages or additional secured debt. Additionally many winners squandered the money on large items, only creating bigger debt, such as houses, cars and more. Investments are detrimental to maintain growth, such as investing into a business, franchise or selected stocks.
The $425 million Powerball winner is waking up in California and grinning from ear to ear, as cha-ching! rolls through their head. It is best to seek experts and keep the winnings knowledge down to a bare minimum until the money is properly allocated and safely held. Congratulations to the big winner!
Contributing: Li Bouc