Unlike the winner, you don’t have to worry about hiring a tax attorney to advise you whether to take the lump sum of $930 million, or receive the entire $1.5 billion in 30 annual installments.
Since you didn’t win, you don’t need to download and read the 14-page online Winner’s Handbook which “explains everything you need to know if you win a large jackpot.”
One of the first things you don’t need to know is about taxes. But just as a matter of interest, the IRS requires the California Lottery to withhold 25 percent in federal taxes on the $1.5 billion. The winner is required to pay any additional federal taxes owed on the win, based on his/her tax bracket
You don’t have to worry about heretofore unknown relatives coming out of the woodwork to renew acquaintance with you and ask for money.
You don’t have to move your residence, change your telephone number and email address to avoid the sales people who have the deal of a lifetime to offer you.
You don’t have to renew acquaintances with people who didn’t notice you before you won but now find you fascinating and want to spend quality time with you.
You also don’t have to wade through the hundreds of worthy charitable organizations that request a donation.
Since the last time the Powerball jackpot rolled on November 7, 2015, California Lottery players have purchased more than $251.2 million (and counting) in Powerball tickets. To put that figure into perspective, California sold $372 million in Powerball tickets for the entire 2014-15 fiscal year.
We are told that the California Lottery is a $5.5 billion enterprise based in Sacramento and that it is one of the few state agencies that is a revenue generator, not accepting taxpayer dollars from the State’s General Fund. Its mission is to provide supplemental funding to California schools while simultaneously supporting local communities.
They also claim that ninety-five cents of every dollar spent by our players goes back to local communities in the form of contributions to public schools and colleges, prizes and retail compensation.
So, has anyone seen a decrease in our California college tuition since its inception? Or how about a decrease in our public schools’ fundraising activities since the lottery began? Have any of your family members working at fast food places received a pay raise because of lottery donations?
Finally, according to the New York Daily News, nearly 70 percent of lottery winners end up broke within seven years – some have even “died tragically or witnessed those close to them suffer.”
