I take it that you also think that working a JOB is a fraud in that Uncle Sam does the exact same thing in taking 15 to 28 percent of your earnings...actually, the government takes even more than that from your weekly/biweekly/monthly paycheck...after the federal (usually always applicable unless military serving in hazard zone like Iraq/Afghanistan) and state (if applicable) tax, you are are hit with Social Security and Medicare.  Those self-employed individuals have to pay self-employment tax....so all in all, I would not mind at all JUST paying Uncle Sam 28 percent and IL 3 percent of any lottery winnings, especially if we are talking about MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.  Got my dollar and dreams riding on the $12 Million Mega Millions draw this Friday...just think if I win, I won't even register on the media's radar because I WILL HAVE ONLY WON $12 million!

To better understand the "How" valuation, you might want to look here http://www.usamega.com/mega-millions-jackpot.htm at the Jack pot analysis.

Oh, and keep in mind, the $160 Million is BEFORE taxes, NOT after. That is the current CASH value. It is only worth $390 million if you are willing to have it locked up for 20 years and accept annual installments instead.

To understand how that works, you might want to look up info on Annuities (btw...never ever have an Annuity as an investment vehicle unless you actually want your money locked up for such an incredible long period of time. Annuities are perhaps the most expensive investment vehicle available).

It depends on if the winner feels it is better to invest the money themselves from the present value or let the Lottery do that and pay it out over time. With a jackpot that size I'd see no problem with annuity. Every year there'd be a payment that itself would equal a lottery jackpot.

In my program if I backtest with Quick Picks vs. my system, my system will always beat it (but needs to get a decent ratio to beat the 50% take out)..  they put the drawing on Times Square which would throw off many systems and in that case you were just as good with QP and anyway MOST people who play the big drawings play QP because they're in a hurry or not Regular players like us so they aren't using systems... some stores will FORCE YOU to get QP ONLY when there is a long line. With so many QP tickets out there that's why it favors QP. It's almost like saying "the mega ball will be between 02 and 47" - you'd be right most of the time. On smaller jackpots there are often winners who picked numbers.

The reason they use the untaxed annuity value is because bigger jackpots = more fever, the very thing I keep hearing is missing lately. Well now that the ballon is busted, the upside for the non-winners is they can get on with their normal lives now and go back to hoping for the $125 box win on the Pick 4 to treat the family to dinner out with. The sad thing is it almost but not quite got to 400.

I don't know about any of you, but I'd be perfectly happy with $160 million.

working a job is not a fraud.only the tax system that we are a part of is.all i am saying is that if the jackpot was not advertised as 390 million then there revenue would not have been anywhere near  what it was this go round.it must have been pretty high for the jackpot to jump up 60 million in only 3 or 4 days.

Maybe you should split your whining into two different threads. A lot of people here would like to see the jackpots advertised at cash value. For starters, that's the only realistic figure, plus almost all winners take the cash so  most of the annuity jackpots never really existed. Plenty of people think the advertising is misleading, but if they advertize the jackpot as $370 million the winner can get that much if they're willing to take the annual payments. That's clearly not fraudulent.Anybody who's paying attention can find out what the cash value is very easily, so it's not a big deal for most people here.

Taxes are a separate issue. You can whine all you want about advertisingbased on the pre-tax value but you've never been offered a job where the salary you were promised was how much you'd get after taxes. Just like the cash value, anyone with a lick of sense can  find out what the after-tax payout will be if that's an important part of their decison on whether or not to buy tickets.

bobby jones

Something I didn't know til I came to this site was that the advertised jackpot doesn't really exist.That's part of the way the only give out 160 milllion after taxes.

The advertised jackpot isn't a tangible. It's a figure representing what the pre-tax prize would be, stretched out over a number of years.   

I'd like to see where you get that information from? I have yet to see anything said about the guy doing anything of the sort in any news release so far! I guess it's another case of the country bumpkin that thinks winning the lottery, is no different than winning the jackpot at the local church bingo game in town.......

I was figuring the reference was sarcasm. Especially the "taking the time" part. I haven't seen anything that tells what time he showed up at the claim office, but he took all of 14 to 16 hours as near as I can tell. His picture hit the papers within 18 or 19 hours of the drawing. Maybe he drove his company truck there instead of going home and getting his car first.

I'd guess there's usually an inverse relationship between how long you wait to claim the prize and your chances of having trouble.

Congrats to the lucky winners. May this money help them realize their dreams.

fraud or no fraud,,,,,,a few bucks for a winning lottery ticket and get several million in return--i wouldn't complain.

100% agree.. 

As I posted on another thread, the ink wasn't dry on the ticket before he was haulin a$$ down I-75 to the ATL with absolutely no financial advice whatsoever.

I hope he doesn't wind up with a lot of trouble, but I wouldn't bet on it...

How much ya wanna wager he asked Ms. DeFrancisco if he could just get one check for the net winnings and put it in his First national bank of Dalton account ?

According to a story I read today at msnbc, Mr. Nabors claims his big win won't change him. He said he would continue to live his life as before March 6.

I have to wonder if Nabors realizes how much he won. Not many of us deal in millions of dollars. Most of my financial transactions are less than a thousand dollars.  Tp suddenly have a ton of money at my disposal would certainly change me.

Telling family and friends that you have $80 million on so in the bank has got to make you feel and think different. How can you not be different?

I think Nabors is going to find that it's not the money he won, but the people who are going to try and get a piece of it. I bet his phone hasn't stopped ringing. I think if he looks around his neighborhood, he will more than likely see some strange vehicles occupied by strangers, including many who are desperate and would do anything for money. And, they know Nabors has plenty.

That place he goes to fish is going to be crowded.

Since he was on TV and his picture has been widely circulated, a lot of folks who wouldn't have taken a second look on March 5, are going to stare, try to introduce himself, or herself.  Lot of folks get a high just being close to a rich person, or being able to brag that they have eaten at the same diner or restaurant.

Just think about the famous folks today.  They are tracked day and night by folks who want a picture, an opportunity to be in the same room, to touch, or whatever, with a famous person.

Like it or not, Mr. Nabors is a recognizable celebrity with pockets full of cash.

He might believe life will go on as before, but, in my opinion, he will soon crave privacy, a quiet phone and a normal life. 

Problem is, he will have shut himself off to acheive it.

Good luck, Mr. Nabors. Spend your money wisely!!

i agree...One of his keys to success is to take a month long vacation and come up with a plan...That plan should include moving to another state and in a gated community or atleast a gate community in a different town...That will protect him from anyone who thinks they can just come up to his house and ring the doorbell.. The problem with that however is where ever he moves to...Alot of the upper class in his neighbor hood will not really except him...He has to be ready for that..Which isn't really a big deal...He can just keep to himself...

He also should take care of all his bills in a small account online and do away with reg. mail...Just throw away anything and everything that comes in the form of reg. mail...If its important, it will come registed mail...Just give friends and anyone that means anything to him a special email address...And let them all know that any mail will not be read..

 And he has to understand that his friends and relatives are going to think that the money changed him...The answer to that is let them think what ever they want...His only job is going to be protecting his new fortune from anyone and everyone...And the less he talks about money in the company of people, the better off he will be..

 He also has to speak his mind...If a relative hasn't talked to him in 10 years but now is looking for a hand out...He should let that person know exactly how he feels...However was not in his life before the money..Shouldn't be let into his life with the money...

hey ky floyd if you had a lick of sense you would realize that even if you took the 20 year payments you still wouldn't get 390 million because of all of the taxes that you would have to pay.also taxes are a separate issue,but since it was related to what i was saying in the first place thats why i threw that in there.you are saying that i am whining,but all that i am doing is giving my opinion just like everybody else.GET A LIFE....