A LUCKY lottery player has managed to beat the odds to win $1million on a scratch-off game – but there is a catch.
Jackie Dombrowski played 1-in-185,709 odds on a $1,000,000 A Year for Life Spectacular scratch-off ticket in Pasco County, Florida.
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With a $50 upfront cost, the ticket promises 1-in-4.5 overall odds of winning any amount.
Dombrowski won the second least likely amount, with only 234 available, a whopping $1million, WFLA reports.
The only prize that comes with worse odds is the $1million for life prize, of which there are only two, at about 1-in-21.7million
The winner opted to cash in his ticket in one lump sum, cutting his winnings nearly in half to $640,000.
According to the Florida Lottery, the portion of the money he is not receiving will, in part, go to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund.
Scratchoff tickets have accounted for $18.09billion to the fund which has helped send more than 950,000 students to college.
In total, the Florida lottery claims to have made more than 3,700 people millionaires.
The retailer that also sold the ticket will also receive $2,000 payout commission.
EXPERTS WEIGH IN
The decision to take the winnings in yearly payments or all at once is a choice nearly all winners have to make.
Experts tend to have similar advice on the subject when it come with what to do and who to tell.
Richard Lustig, a seven-time lottery winner, says the most important thing for winners to do is hire an expert to advise on money management.
“Don’t get caught up in lottery fever,” Lustig previously told ABC News.
Speaking of some winners, he added: “Win lots of money, and the first thing they do is go out to buy fancy cars and throw big parties.”
Meanwhile, financial expert Graham Stephan – a 33-year-old multimillionaire who got rich in real estate – has warned on his YouTube channel that the first step after winning the lotto is to stay anonymous and tell no-one.
Wealth management lawyer Warren Racusin agrees, advising winners to, “Stay quiet for a little while.”
He recently told The U.S. Sun: “I would not go on my Instagram account and say, hey I just got a $1.58billion ticket because all sorts of bad things are gonna happen when you do stuff like that.”
Florida lottery allows winners to stay anonymous for up to 90 days after claiming the money.
Then, he says that taking the lump sum is better if you know what to do with the money.
It’s all in investments according to him.
“When you look at the money you invest over the long term, you’re almost always going to come out ahead by taking the lump sum and investing it than just taking the annuity over 29 years,” Racusin said.
Graham explained that with the right investment strategy, a person can live and thrive off of hundreds of thousands of dollars from passive income without touching the initial sum of the winnings.
Simply put, investing will “prevent you from going broke.”
Graham is backed up by other experts.
Dave, of the The Dave Ramsey Show, recently gave similar advice to a couple who won $1.2million.
He explained: “You will make almost twice as much if you take the lump sum and invest it.”
The show host went on to say that the monthly payouts would be taxable income as well, making it an even worse decision to go that route.
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