January 23rd, 2021 at 10:02 AM ^
Hard to imagine what it’d feel like in that moment to be holding a lottery ticket with the winning numbers...I might just have a heart attack right then. Alas I’ll never know because I never buy a ticket.
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:15 AM ^
I dont think you need to buy one. Statistically speaking your odds of buying the winning ticket and finding the winning ticket laying lost in the street somewhere are about the same.
Well whoever won it is about to find out just how many relatives and long-lost friends they have.
January 23rd, 2021 at 11:58 AM ^
Yep you have better odds being struck by lighting twice then you do winning but that didn’t stop me from buying a couple of tickets for a shot at a billion.
Not just friends but complete strangers will be hitting you up for money. I would move and change my phone number before I even claimed the prize
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:28 PM ^
Odds might be better of having a 4 some with Kate Upton, Salma Hayek, and Halle Berry than winning the lotto!
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:35 PM ^
Win it, and the odds for that get a lot better. ?
January 23rd, 2021 at 2:07 PM ^
Very true........but this begs the question......would you rather have the money or the 4-some? Money comes and goes and many have won a lotto but you would be in rare air with that orgy! Ahhh....one can dream!
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:15 PM ^
That’s why I would never make it public if I’d won. Not that I think it would matter. It would get out eventually.
It actually reminds me a bit of the 30 for 30 documentary they did like 8-10 years ago called Broke, about all the high profile athletes who made a crap ton of money and pissed it all away because they couldn’t manage finances or learn how to say no to people.
I think at one point they were talking about Vince Young and how after he made his big rookie contract, all these long lost relatives and friends from the old neighborhood came crawling out of the woodworks and told him “Remember that one time way back when I did that thing for you? Well, time to return the favor. I need 50 grand. Remember where you came from and how I helped you get here.”
Then when he finally went broke, those friends disappeared from his life completely.
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:37 PM ^
Unfortunately in Michigan you don't have that option. Right now only seven states allow lottery winners to maintain their anonymity: Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Texas, Ohio and South Carolina. And six states also allow people to form a trust to claim prize money anonymously.
January 23rd, 2021 at 1:11 PM ^
"Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Texas, North Dakota and Ohio allow lottery winners to conceal their identities if the winnings exceed a certain dollar amount, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Other states, like New York, make it easy for winners to collect their prizes under the cover of an L.L.C. or an entity."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/us/lottery-winners-anonymous.html
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:40 PM ^
I know I'm related, I just haven't figured out how yet
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:40 PM ^
I know I'm related, I just haven't figured out how yet
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:48 PM ^
Not in my case. I'd got to a large national law firm, have them set up a series of LLC's one of which I would have buy the ticket, lump sum the winnings and get it offshore, Make it as difficult as possible to trace the money back to me or my family.
I lived in an area about a decade ago where we had two lottery winners who won big. Neither marriage lasted very long and both sets of people went through lots of their money in a hurry, similar to what happens with many athletes who don't get good financial advice.
January 23rd, 2021 at 3:58 PM ^
I actually worked with a woman who won a big lottery (about 40M). She kept coming into work after she won and no one knew until it was in the newspaper a week later.
The crazy thing is she worked for a pretty hard to work for partner at my law firm at the time and she did not quit her job. Her and I were usually two of the last two people to leave the office. I actually quit before she did (if she ever quit).
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:26 AM ^
I recommend a movie about that ... Waking Ned Devine.
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:07 AM ^
It's me. Here I am picking up my check:
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:21 AM ^
Does Michigan allow anonymity as a winner cause boy oh boy that person will have friends parachuting into their lives left and right
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:41 AM ^
January 23rd, 2021 at 11:41 AM ^
Quick google search. Only stupid California forbids winners from staying anonymous. If you sign a ticket as a trust, you don't have to go public.
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:17 AM ^
I often wonder what it would be like to not have any concerns about money for me and my family for essentially ever... even future generations.
Then I also wonder what new stresses and challenges would replace the stress of not having to worry about money.
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:24 AM ^
What's the number that gets thrown around again? Something like "After you make $75k per year, more doesn't correlate with being happier."
Probably needs to be adjusted for inflation and location, but I would agree that the number is a lot lower than most would admit.
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:43 AM ^
I dunno... There has to be an upper limit to that, where once you have more than some number you just don't have to ever worry about financials ever again. Want a mansion on the Hawaiian coast? Go buy it, and lease a private jet whenever you want to spend some time there.
You will always worry about health and family, so I don't think they count. You can decide to worry more about the poor, the infirm, the homeless, whatever... But sorry, I don't think those count, either, because you can also decide to be an asshole like Bezos and not give anything to anyone for any reason (relatively speaking compared to his unimaginable wealth).
Sorry, I just can't feel bad for people like Bezos, Musk, Buffett, etc when (if?) they complain about how stressful their life is. If you can't be happy when you have enough money to do whatever you want, whenever you want to do it, for the rest of your life - I just can't feel bad for you...
January 23rd, 2021 at 11:32 AM ^
Of course, if you are not happy, the question is would you rather be unhappy rich or unhappy poor.
January 23rd, 2021 at 2:29 PM ^
I remember that study. I think it's $90,000. Jeff Bezos, why are you overcompensating????
January 23rd, 2021 at 2:29 PM ^
I remember that study. I think it's $90,000. Jeff Bezos, why are you overcompensating????
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:20 AM ^
Dang, I canceled my trip to Novi earlier this week due to the pandemic.
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:27 AM ^
Probably a msu fan who will create a trust to pay for msu student athlete bail bonds in perpetuity.
January 23rd, 2021 at 11:14 AM ^
They sure could have used it during dbagtonio's era. Lots of criminal activity then.
January 23rd, 2021 at 8:55 PM ^
It's perfect you bring MSU up!
Lottery = Stupid People's Tax
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:35 AM ^
They say that the lottery jackpot will ruin your life. I'd like to test that theory.
I bit and bought a five line ticket. I even added the "megaplier" farce at $1 additional per line. Total cost = $15. Didn't hit any numbers, not even one. Tell me, how is it possible that some public schools are broke or lack money? There has to be SERIOUS mismanagement of this funding.
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:52 AM ^
Tell me, how is it possible that some public schools are broke or lack money?
Because there is no accountability with the money the government collects. They say they are using it for specific purposes but there is very little pressure for them to show where each dollar goes.
January 23rd, 2021 at 11:13 AM ^
Part of the reason is that at some point about a decade or so after the lottery in Michigan was established, those in charge did a bit of a "switcheroo". The ever-increasing lottery revenue stream stayed in place for education; however, from that point forward other revenue sources that had previously been earmarked for schools went elsewhere, resulting in essentially no net gain toward education.
While shifting money back to schools has been "promised" from time to time, I don't think it ever really happened and doubt it ever will. That money has shifted (probably permanently) to other needs, for example this:
The state can't even fund road repair properly yet still allows out-of-staters, especially long-distance trucking companies, free unrestricted use of I-75, I-94, and other interstate highways in southern Michigan. It's a never-ending battle to repair the damage caused by the wear and tear of those heavy loads, yet relatively very little of it is paid for by those from outside of Michigan taking advantage of those freeways.
I highly doubt the state of Michigan is the only state to get away with shifting money around and essentially away from the promise of "funding education".
January 23rd, 2021 at 11:29 AM ^
Well, MI is in a tight spot geographically compared to say NY and OH.
Aside from CDN and MI traffic, there's no reason for shipping to go thru the state of MI. NY, OH and many other states that have toll roads have waaaaay more interstate traffic. My students were complaining about the tolls in NYS (HS Srs) and I had to explain that to go anywhere in the NE part of the US (and Canada) from almost anywhere east of the Mississippi, you ahve to go thru NYS. So probably 50% (<---WAG) of tolls funds are paid from non-NYers. Which in turn, help pay for other, non-toll roads that NYers drive.
Not sure the feasibility of the state of MI setting up tolls for out of state vehicles only, an you know a toll for everyone model won't fly.
January 23rd, 2021 at 11:48 AM ^
I'm not and never have been employed in any transportation system-related job and don't claim expertise in the matter, but today's toll systems in most states are quickly becoming more and more adapted to electronic and radio-based enforcement rather than paper toll cards and booth attendants. Michigan could adapt to a modern toll system on the southern Michigan interstates that includes passes for Michigan drivers. The politicians haven't made it a priority yet, instead intent on keeping road funding a political football between the governor and the republican-controlled legislature.
The traffic on I-94 (and other freeways that feed into and from I-94) does include a high percentage of users (including some trucking outfits) who do so to avoid tollways. I commuted for decades on I-94 and I'm glad I no longer have to drive that road, other than when visiting my kids downstate.
January 23rd, 2021 at 11:30 AM ^
Can...can you really mean that the government is inept and corrupt?
January 23rd, 2021 at 11:34 AM ^
Most of the funds go to administrative layers.
January 23rd, 2021 at 11:51 AM ^
Not to mention that lotteries are essentially regressive taxes on the poor.
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:46 PM ^
I think it is more a free-will offering to the government. No one is forced to buy a lottery ticket. Please don't make being poor an excuse to be irresponsible
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:46 PM ^
I think it is more a free-will offering to the government. No one is forced to buy a lottery ticket. Please don't make being poor an excuse to be irresponsible
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:49 PM ^
Poor people aren't buying lottery tickets to make free will offerings to their governments. They'd buy them no matter who benefited because it gives them hope to get out poverty. The government is capitalizing on that because government doesn't give a shit.
January 23rd, 2021 at 1:04 PM ^
It's a stupidity tax and entertainment at the same time.
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:43 PM ^
Politicians and Miss managing money? I have never heard of such a thing
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:43 PM ^
Politicians and mismanaging money? I have never heard of such a thing
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:41 AM ^
I'd be watching my back. I thought there was a study where half of those who win a big lotto drawing end up dead within 5 years. There will probably be many distant family members and friends who will become jealous enough to kill you. No thanks,
January 23rd, 2021 at 11:05 AM ^
Sadly, this is the truth. Any large jackpot just puts a target on your and your children's backs for the rest of their lives.
I'm not saying I don't occasionally play the smaller prize games, because it'd be nice to pay off the mortgage and credit cards, but winning MM or Powerball-type draws is a recipe for disaster.
With a few hundred thousand, you can continue living in anonymity. With a few hundred million, they will find you.
(Unless they think you're already dead, a la Hans Gruber.)
January 23rd, 2021 at 11:56 AM ^
You get a team of a few lawyers. Create a trust for the money to go into. Your lawyers will complete the paperwork with the lottery on your behalf. You or your family draw money from trust as they need it. Nobody ever knows your name or how much money you won. There are books written on the very subject. Problem is, people are stupid and sign their ticket right away and show up at the lottery doors the following day to collect their money.
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:03 PM ^
Pay off credit cards regardless. Money pit.
January 23rd, 2021 at 3:08 PM ^
I guess I am of the mindset that if you bank $500M and friends/family hit you up for a few thousand a few times a month, it wouldn't bother me at all. I mean, I have $500 million. If I only earned a measly and extremely conservative 0.1% per year interest on that money I would still be raking in $500K per year on interest alone! So, lending out $100 to $200k per year would be like the proverbial deck chair blowing off the Queen Mary and would cause me zero stress.
Sure, the mindset of being able to buy pretty much anything you want can be very destructive for many. And I can't guarantee it wouldn't ruin my life but I am pretty darn sure it would not. The joy I would get from being able to financially help family, extended family and friends would be by far the most overwhelming thing for me.
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:41 AM ^
Saw there was a large jackpot. Thought maybe I'll stop on my way home and get a ticket, but I forgot.
I can't imagine it would be possible to do this anonymously even if you could get the money to your accounts with only the bank knowing. Eventually you would tell someone who would tell someone, and dang.
What would I do? I'd like to think MTU would be getting some nice additions to their chem eng program, but maybe I'd just get greedy and hoard it all.
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:48 AM ^
It wasn't me, so stop asking. I mean it. Don't bother me. My buddy Huell and I are busy.
January 23rd, 2021 at 11:12 AM ^
I hope Ace’s landlord wins it.