mega millions drawing
But guess what? If you picked numbers 15, 47, 4, 25, 8 and mega number 42, out of all the people who lined up in 41 states and the District of Columbia, you did it.
So congratulations. Now, what do you do next?
First of all, you won't ever see the full $355 million. Off the top, the lottery withholds 25 percent for federal taxes, and then another 6 or 7 percent for those who have state taxes, which vary by location. And you still could owe many millions more.
Lee McDaniels won $5 million in September. On Tuesday, he was relaxing on a golf course outside Atlanta.
"After taxes and everything," he said, "I got about $2.8 million."
His advice for the big $355 million winner? Take some time to get your affairs together, study up and get a financial advisor.
"I would just take about a month before I would do anything," he said.
Margaret DeFrancisco of the Georgia Lottery Corp. had more advice.
"Change your phone number and learn how to say no," she said.
Then, there's always the question of whether you should take the annuity or the much lower one-time payment?
Financial analyst Ray Lucia said that, for purposes of this daydream and this huge jackpot, "I'm going to take the annuity payment of about $9 million a year, net of tax."For the $355 million jackpot, the annuity would pay $13.6 million each year for the next 26 years, so you won't be able to spend all of your winnings at once.The jackpot grew to such a huge sum because Friday night's drawing failed to produce a winner for the multi-state lottery's top prize, which was estimated to be $290 million.
By Tuesday, the jackpot had reached $355 million after 15 consecutive drawings that started Nov. 12.
Mega Millions jackpots begin with $12 million and roll over to the next drawing until there is a winner.
A winner of the jackpot may receive the prize in a cash option of about $208.3 million.
Other smaller monetary prizes can range from $2 to $250,000, depending on how many numbers are matched.
The largest Mega Millions jackpot ever won was $390 million in March 2007, according to the Mega Millions website.Although the odds of winning Mega Millions' top prize are about 1 in 176 million, that hasn't stopped people from dreaming big.
"I'm going to retire ... you can believe me," Mega Millions player Johnny Bethea said.
"When you see me I'm gonna be in Argentina somewhere," he added.
Across 41 states, the nation's capital, and even the U.S. Virgin Islands, players have lined up for a chance at the big money.
"It's exciting. You think, 'What am I going to do in my plane, where am I going to go, how big a house will I live in.' It's a level of fantasy we all engage in, somebody will win that, it could be you," said Emily Oster, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.Some Mega Millions players told ABC News they were picking numbers from birthdays to home addresses.
"I won the lottery before with four numbers," lottery player Tracy Wingfield said.
Mathematicians and lottery officials said that the odds of winning are always the same regardless of how many people play because they always draw from the same set of numbers.
Ronnie Orender, a Bakersfield man and soon-to-be-retired truck driver, came into the Lottery’s Central Valley District Office with his family to claim his winnings. “I just can’t believe this, I beat a million to 1 odds,” Orender said. After being told the odds were actually 176 million to 1, he said, “Yeah, and I got the 1.”
It was actually Orender’s mother, Etta Urquhart, who took his $2 and bought two MEGA Millions tickets at Stuarts Oak Street Mobil in Bakersfield. When she checked his tickets the following day, she was immediately taken aback. “I thought I was going to have a heart attack,” she said of the moment when she noticed that the ticket had matched all six numbers – 1, 16, 29, 36, 50, and Mega number 16.
Ordender said he plans to use his newfound wealth to take care of his parents and other family as well. When asked specifically what they planned to do with their money, Orender’s step-father Bob quipped “we’re going to spend it.”Orender, who opted to take the lump sum cash payment of $32.3 million, did state his intent to buy a new house in Bakersfield, take care of family members, and possibly donate money to good causes.
“It’s hard for us to believe, but we’re just going to do everything we can to enjoy it as much as possible,” Orender said.
Orender wasn’t the only big winner on Tuesday night. The retailer that sold the winning ticket – Stuarts Oak Street Mobil – will receive a bonus of $255,000 for selling the big winner.
MEGA Millions is a multistate game, played in California and 41 other states. Players pick five numbers from 1 to 56 plus a Mega number from 1 to 46. Draw times are Tuesdays and Fridays at 8:00 p.m. PST. Tickets are $1 and can be purchased from any of the more than 21,000 California Lottery retailers. Please visit the California Lottery’s MEGA Millions site for more information.
The California Lottery is celebrating 25 years of enhancing education and supporting local communities. More than 94 cents of every dollar spent by our players goes back to the community in the form of contributions to public schools and colleges, prizes and retail compensation. Since 2000, Lottery players have contributed $1 billion to public schools each year, and, since we began in 1985, Lottery players have contributed more than $23 billion to education.
they're posted on txlottery.org
Anyone know the mega millions number for tonite drawing?
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