Investing

Lottery News Gathering Steam for Week of September 9: What If You Win?

Jon C. Ogg

Published: September 6, 2016 11:41 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 3:53 am

Labor Day weekend came and went, and no lottery winners took home the major jackpots. 24/7 Wall St. has tracked lotteries for some time, and the week of September 10 has a lot riding for would-be lotto winners.

The Mega Millions drawing is set for Tuesday, September 6, 2016, with a $101 million annuity value. That all-cash option would generate a payout of $69 million. If there is no lucky winner, then the next drawing will come on Friday, September 9, for a higher amount.

The Powerball lottery is up to $186 million in annuity value, with its all-cash now option being worth $128 million. The next drawing will be Wednesday, September 7, and if no winner surfaces, then the next drawing will be Saturday, September 10, for an even higher amount. It was just on August 31 that the Powerball jackpot rose to $154.2 million and then rolled to $170 million before this last hike.

The Powerball site shows that there were still a whopping 729,569 players across the nation who won more than $5.9 million in combined prizes, but that also means that the average of lottery winners collected about $8.00.

24/7 Wall St. has listed 12 things not to do if you are ever lucky enough to win a massive lottery like this. Could you imagine winning tens of millions of dollars only to end up broke? It happens, and apparently more often than most people could imagine. One of the greatest lessons in life is that you should only have to get rich once. The other lessons are about how to keep your winnings and what pitfalls to avoid.

And here is a roundup of other lottery issues in the news:

It turns out that the state of Maine may have hit its own jackpot. In the fiscal year of June 30, it set four records. The record that matters the most, on top of sales and payouts, is that Maine added $57 million into its General Fund (versus $54 million in 2015).

If you want proof that reputable and solid advice is a must for lottery winners, and not just for the massive lottery winners, a Chicago tax scam appears to have taken place by a tax preparation firm against a lottery winning family.

Lottery winners are not just in the United states. A Buddhist monk from Thailand reportedly has won close to $175,000 in a local Thai lottery, supposedly claiming that he picked his lucky number from the textures of a teak tree at his temple. The man is said to be buying a house for his mother and putting the rest to save toward his child’s education.

And getting suckered out of a lottery winning is not just a U.S. issue either. Police in Finland suspect six people of cheating a 70-year old man who won millions of euro in the spring.

Before you get too wrapped in what you would ever do if you won the lottery, you better at least consider the 12 things not to do!