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The Mega Millions lottery game is up to $200 million. If we won the jackpot (yeah, right) I say it's better to go for the lump sum. My wife says it's better to go for the 20 years of payments. Which would you go for?

AndyMan said:

The Mega Millions lottery game is up to $200 million. If we won the jackpot (yeah, right) I say it's better to go for the lump sum. My wife says it's better to go for the 20 years of payments. Which would you go for?

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200 million? I would hire an attorney and discuss the laws in the state. I would try to set up a fund that would benefit my friends and relatives. If that wasn't feasible I would take the lump. I'm pretty sure that after my attorney was quite sure I wasn't paying any more than the law allows I would have 75 million.
With that in hand I would spend several weeks contemplating my goals, Then I would emabark on a plan that would that would leave me stressless and happy. More money than time.....

Actually, that is correct. There has been a lot written about that for years. The lump sum is tempting but you get more with the payment schedule. I think I'd just be happy with what I got if I won that amount.

AndyMan said:

The Mega Millions lottery game is up to $200 million. If we won the jackpot (yeah, right) I say it's better to go for the lump sum. My wife says it's better to go for the 20 years of payments. Which would you go for?

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Lotta variables, what happens to the payouts over the 20 year period if you die five years down the road? How old are you? In good health? Etc. The problem with a lot of lottery winners is the ones who take lump sums often blow thru the winnings in no time and they end up back where they were or worse.

Think the tax bite on a lump sum would be higher than the payout all at once, but maybe inflation would reduce the value of the payouts enough over a 20 year period you would have been better off getting it all at once. Like I said, lotta variables.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a registered and/or certified financial planner or advisor. Therefore, any risk you take following my advice, is just that, YOUR RISK. :laughing::laughing:

For me, that's why I'd want it all now. What are the odds that I would ever get through that kind of windfall anyway? I don't trust the state. Give it to me, I'll enjoy it, and then I'll say what happens to it afterward.

Driller said:

For me, that's why I'd want it all now. What are the odds that I would ever get through that kind of windfall anyway? I don't trust the state. Give it to me, I'll enjoy it, and then I'll say what happens to it afterward.

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"I want, I want"....I had a boss one time who loved to tell people who said "I want"...."people in h--l want ice water"....:laughing:

C'mon guys... shouldn't we be discussing how we'd be riding around in a gold plated lawn mower with a Rolls Royce hood ornamet? Who would put a hot tub in their John Deere? Maybe start a TV show called "Pimp My Mower?"
Me, I'll just think about how much of my private island I'll have to mow.:laughing:

eeguns said:

C'mon guys... shouldn't we be discussing how we'd be riding around in a gold plated lawn mower with a Rolls Royce hood ornamet? Who would put a hot tub in their John Deere? Maybe start a TV show called "Pimp My Mower?"
Me, I'll just think about how much of my private island I'll have to mow.:laughing:

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Anybody who can afford a private island isn't gonna lack the bucks to have his lawn care done...:laughing::laughing:

Driller said:

For me, that's why I'd want it all now. What are the odds that I would ever get through that kind of windfall anyway? I don't trust the state. Give it to me, I'll enjoy it, and then I'll say what happens to it afterward.

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You'd be surprised at how fast the money goes when you foreget that there's a bottom to the pocket you're grabbing from. I was watching a program on tv about lottery winners who are now broke and lots of times also ruined their lives. Probably not the majority of them but most people don't know how to handle that kind of money. Me, I'm sure I'd figure it out. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

SouthCentral said:

You'd be surprised at how fast the money goes when you foreget that there's a bottom to the pocket you're grabbing from. I was watching a program on tv about lottery winners who are now broke and lots of times also ruined their lives. Probably not the majority of them but most people don't know how to handle that kind of money. Me, I'm sure I'd figure it out. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

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I noted that in an earlier post (#4) in this thread, saw the same program you did...seems like a lot of people manage to not be able to manage sudden wealth when they do get it. I consider myself conservative and careful about spending (see my post in this forum about keeping a budget) but if you dangled multi millions under my nose all of a sudden I probably would blow through most of it too....:laughing::laughing::laughing: