Fire destroys car of Powerball lottery winnerPrevious TopicNext Topic

Well said      Id buy a corvette first !

That's interesting.

Those winners who managed their money badly must have wished they had taken the annuity.

With low interest rate, the present value of a jackpot win before tax should be good reason enough to take the lump sum.

pretty scary though...i know i would have panic ...forget the money...

seeing my car in smoke through my mirror.... money could be in my lap while driving and i would have left it all in that dang car....

"Those winners who managed their money badly must have wished they had taken the annuity."

Not necessarily.  There's a book called Money for Nothing by Edward Ugel.  Ugel worked for a company that bought lottery annuities off of lottery winners who, for the most part, couldn't manage their finances.  It's an interesting read.  Sometimes people who take annuities take out huge loans for the fancy sports cars and big mansions, and normally their yearly check would be enough to cover these payments, but they couldn't say no to all the friends and family who turn into leaches.  Even with annual checks coming in worth millions (that'd be like winning the lottery every year), some people can still manage to stay broke.

I agree.  If I won $8.7M after taxes, I wouldn't buy a $114K car.  Seems sort of a waste to me.  In fact, I'd probably just keep what I have now since it still works and looks decent.  I'd just make a few small fixes and install a new 4.1 way stereo system into it.  The total cost probably wouldn't be more than $3K.

I am not one of those grassy knoll person ,but you have to admit there some suspicious about this flaming engine car of a winner of the power ball.Muuuhhh!!!!

Well then, you sound like a mean spirited person.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who think the way you do ... it's a real unhelpful weight to whichever society that they interact within.

Yet, thankfully, a mean spirited person can become a useful member to their society whenever they choose to change their thinking and behaviors!  It takes a concentrated 21-30 days to change a habit; I hope that you will change yourself soon (for your's and society's sake).

Yes, as someone mentioned before, most posted or announced USA lottery jackpots are the amounts paid over 20-25 years.  The winner has the choice of taking a lump sum or payments over these years.  The winner must then pay taxes.  Typically, the lottery officials will take out an initial amount for taxes but this usually doesn't cover all taxes.  The winner must then pay the rest at tax time.

A simple way to estimate the value of a USA lottery jackpot is to divide it by 3.  This will give you an estimate of the value of the lump sum after taxes.  For example, this winner won $25M and the lump sum after taxes was $8.7M.  Estimating, $25M/3 is $8.3M which is very close to the actual amount.  Another example is the recent $260M PowerBall jackpot winner:  $260M/3 is $86.7M lump sum after taxes.  It's not $260M but I could live with $86.7M.  It's usually slightly more, but it gives you a good idea of what the winners end up with.  News outlets usually don't tell you what the lump sum after taxes is.

Also, as another person here mentioned, there are companies which will buy out any annuities, including lotto winnings.  However, these companies will charge a fee and interest for this service.  The lotto winner is then free to do whatever he wishes with his money.

How does it work in the UK?  Is the announced amount what the winner gets?  I understand UK winners are not taxed.  Is this true?

That's what I initially thought.  However, upon retrospect, engine fires are a lot more common that you might think.  In fact, a long time ago, I had a car where the carburetor would leak fuel out of the top right onto the hot engine, something wrong with the valve.  It never caught fire though.  I was lucky.  But then again, perhaps someone sabotaged his Audi R8 to extort money from him.  Perhaps the local criminal element did it.  But nah, new cars are so complex, it was probably something either heat or fuel related.

While he did have insurance, there will probably be a large deductable, up to $5,000 he will have to pay.  However, because of the bad publicity, he might be able to get Audi to give him another car for free.  If he wrote the CEO of Audi in Germany, he could request they give him another car.  After all, it's probably a defect in the car which caused the fire.  This does not make Audi look good and Audi would want to repair its image.

Cal you make a valid statment that image is everything to the car industry. THey could also say the guy gave them a bad image and counter sue. Audi is quite the shrewd manufacturer and will not allow tarnishment by any means. Will be interesting though to see if it was mechanical ....or due to what was stored in the tail end.

As iterated before, Its his business how he spends it or invest in his joys.Just glad he is alive and able to walk away from such a terrible incident...

Rahul, I'm glad that you're okay [very few drivers regularly look at all three car mirrors when driving; so you have great defensive driving skills!] and that if it was Audi's flaw in your car, that they will mend problem and then give you another to replace!

Oh my thats so sad........I wish him all the best.

"[very few drivers regularly look at all three car mirrors when driving;"

I have to disagree with that. I be lookin everywhere.

Specially if the lady next to me got a... well... never mind.