STONEHAM, Mass. — Debra A. Roberto, a Stoneham mother, won a $10 million grand prize — the largest instant prize in America — last week in the new Mega Cash game from the Massachusetts State Lottery.
She cashed in her winnings Monday, Nov. 23.
"I've won a little [money] in the past, but I never even dreamed of winning this amount," she recently told the Sun. "I scratch a lot of tickets, so when I scratched this one my husband said, 'Maybe now we're even.'"
Her grand prize ties the record for the largest instant grand prize ever awarded in the United States — and possibly the world.
Roberto opted to receive 20 annual checks for $500,000, instead of receiving the millions upfront. According to her, the state would have taxed the winnings and presented her with a check for only $5 million, half of what the ticket was worth, if she decided she wanted the money immediately.
The Massachusetts State Lottery created the $10 million instant prize two years ago with the introduction of the Billion Dollar Blockbuster. Since then, the Massachusetts Lottery has awarded 14 instant prizes of $10 million and currently has 12 instant prizes of $10 million available for players.
"It's rewarding to see our players win record prizes in our ground-breaking games," said Massachusetts State Lottery Executive Director Mark Cavanagh after presenting Roberto her first annuity check. "The Massachusetts State Lottery has once again raised the bar in instant tickets with our new Mega Cash game."'
'Not much is going to change'
Despite the hefty new paycheck, Roberto vows that her life is no different.
"Honest to God, it's not changing my life," the mother of three said. "People are saying, 'You're full of it.' No, I'm not. ... I mean it's nice that my kids don't have to worry about things down the road. But not much is going to change."
Asked whether she will at least take a nice trip with her family, Roberto responded: "We go on trips anyway ... I get a new car every three years anyhow. I don't know. I might get a better car ... Outside of having an exceptional Christmas, I haven't thought beyond that. Christmas is going to be fun at our house."
Roberto owns a construction company, Donald P. Roberto Construction Inc., with her husband, Donald, based out of their home in Stoneham. The company's garage is located in Wakefield. According to Roberto, the couple will transfer ownership of the firm to their children, and their son will run the business.
The couple have three children — two girls and one boy, who all graduated from Stoneham High School and vary in age from 38 down to 18 — and two grandchildren. All three children still live in Stoneham.
Roberto bought the lucky ticket at Fast Freddie's on Main Street in Wakefield. The store will receive a $50,000 commission on the sale.
A co-manager of Fast Freddie's, who did not want to be named, said he is very happy for the small town of Wakefield. He added that all the employees are hoping Roberto comes back to introduce herself.
"We are hoping the person who wins to come back and say thanks. We don't know exactly who the person is. We saw on the Internet, but we can't picture who that person is," he said. "We just want to see."
"All of the businesses appreciate that this happened in Wakefield, as well as to local people in Stoneham," he added. "It's nice."
When asked if she'd continue to buy lottery tickets, Roberto said, "I've already played again."
Game information
Mega Cash, the newest $20 instant game, features 40 instant prizes of $1 million and four instant prizes of $10 million. The game offers more than $400 million in prizes and more than 8,400,000 winning tickets. One player will win a prize of $20 million.
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Good for her!!! It's not often I see someone pick the annuity option.
Smart lady. Wish IL would do a similar game. Sound like it a scratchoff version of pick 6 or jackpot games.
I have always thought it was the smarter option because it takes 20 years worth of worry off your mind and you don't really know what the stock market will do.
Congrats to her, on her win!
I'm truly happy for her, but how did she claim her prize on Monday Nov. 23 when today is Nov. 22nd. Just asking a question.
I think this story is from the future.
It's better to get the entire jackpot upfront. In the past, things were different. However, now the USA has huge trade deficits and huge federal government budget deficits. You can expect the value of the US dollar to further drop in the future. You may not have noticed, but the US dollar has already dropped in value. The price of gold has zoomed in price for US dollars. The main reason why gas has risen in price is because the value of US dollars has dropped (we buy foreign oil with US dollars).
It's better to get all the winnings upfront. This way you have a choice of what to do with them. You may want to buy gold. You may want to put your money in a Swiss bank in Swiss francs as a hedge against inflation if things get really bad. Regardless, if you're getting your winnings over 20 years, you essentially have no options at all.
BTW, the winner mentioned she would only get half if she got her money upfront. The reason why lotteries give only half is because of inflation. Inflation over 20 years typically divides the value of your money in 2. No matter which option you choose, you are always taxed anyway. No one can avoid the IRS.
If you want a general idea of how much a jackpot is worth in cash and after taxes, divide it by THREE (3). This simple calculation will tell you about how much you will receive. It is usually very close to the actual amount.
Too funny, I didn't notice that. They must have meant Nov. 16.
well , annuity means if you blow it for 1 year, you only have a year to wait to blow it all again. after 20 years of blowing 500k a year you should have some practice at not losing all your money.
I remember when the Chubbies won (is that what you would call them, the Chubb people) I said "take the cash option, and buy oil NOW!!!" - had they done so they would have doubled their winnings in less than 1 year. I would say now to take the cash option and buy some gold, and some real estate. The only problem with a 20 year annuity is who knows what the value of a dollar is in the future with the Gov't printing so much and spending so much. i.e. imagine if 20 years ago someone won the Zimbabwean Lotto for $10 million and took an annuity?
Well written Cal-LottoPlayer...I was going to say the same thing. BTW I just saw the "How The Lottery Changed My Life" marathon last Saturday night on TLC. I was really glad they featured both those who have successfully handled winning the lottery. They also featured one guy who won $3.6 million at age 18 and is now working a regular job to support his family...he lost the majority putting his trust in a business partner and not having put in place any protection in his 2nd business venture (i.e. make sure to consult with a trusted business lawyer BEFORE and DURING going into any business venture!!!). The others who had problems were because they told their friends (and I did notice that they did feature a lot of Oregon lottery winners....hmmm).
But I digress...getting back to the subject at hand. I just wanted to say that choosing the annuity option will not necessarily shield a person from making bad decisions that bankrupt them. The young man I mentioned above had taken the annuity option and it did nothing to protect him from losing it all. It is possible to make purchases today based on those future payments, and if a person overextends or something else goes awry, then the person can still go bankrupt. And many people who realize they need more capital than what the annual annuity payment delivers will take a cash settlement from a willing financial institution...receiving a lesser percentage of the remaining annuity value in a lump sum. The best option is to make out a plan, implement the plan, and periodically review that plan. The problem most people have is they do not establish a plan and just wing it...tell me how successful would a person be if they didn't utilize any navigational aids and tried to make a road trip from New York to Cairo, Illinois (of course the person would figure he/she would need to head a bit south and a lot west, but the average person would not be able to locate it.).
You guys supporting the annuities are kidding, right? Didn't you see what
happened to New Jersey this summer? The NJ state politicians slapped 11% state
taxes on lottery winnings and back-dated them to the beginning of the year!
So if you win $100,000 you got to pay $25,000 to the federal government then $11,000 to NJ department of revenue.
People who won and took lumpsums last year in NJ are not affected by the new law.
So if you ever hit just meet up with some smart people from
Fidelity Investments and discipline yourself and see the money work for you.
Sounds like a ringing endorsement of Fidelity Investments...I just met with a client who wanted his money to work for him...and he had it invested with Fidelity Investments. Not knocking Fidelity Investments...good funds, but the key is actually finding SOMEONE who is more focused on YOUR interests than THEIR benefit.