You've just won the Oregon Lottery Win for Life game, so how do you celebrate?
By dining at Marco Polo Global Restaurant, of course.
That's what Shamus Harmon did last week after claiming his Win for Life prize at Oregon Lottery headquarters.
"I am one of the most boring lotto winners, I'm sure," he said.
Or one of the smartest.
Harmon, a 34-year-old safety trainer who lives in Salem, said his first plan for the windfall is to pay off his mortgage within five years.
He will receive weekly installments of $1,000 — minus taxes — for the rest of his life. That's about $666 per week.
"I'm going to pretty much throw all of it right at the house," he said. "Then after that, I don't know."
Traveling might be on his agenda, including a return trip to Australia. He is single and has no children.
Harmon is not the youngest Win for Life winner. Eric Cottrell of Salem was 21 when he claimed his Win for Life prize in August 2009.
Win for Life tickets are $2 each, and drawings are every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The odds of winning the top prize in Win for Life, which has been on the Oregon Lottery menu since February 2001, are 1 in 1,353,275.
Harmon is the 36th top prize winner in Win for Life. He bought his winning ticket at the Fred Meyer on Market Street NE. He stopped last weekend at the same store to buy Girl Scout cookies and decided while he was there to check his lottery tickets at the customer service counter. He also had one for Mega Millions and for Powerball.
The Powerball jackpot was nearing $400 million at the time, so he probably would have rather had that be the winning ticket. But make no mistake, Harmon is grateful. It just hit him the past couple of days how lucky he is.
"I could retire if I wanted to," he said, "but I'm not going to."
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Congratulations Shamus.
Congrats Shamus.....what a good Irish name! And smart move paying off your mortgage first. Nothing feels better than being debt free there.
Since this is a *true* "For Life" prize, not one of those 20yr or 25yr pseudo-4-life games, and he's still young at 34, he can get a nice haul, a few million over the decades!
It's prolly a good idea that he still wants to work. Winning that much money will allow him to at least pay for his health insurance in a couple of years with Odumdumcare! By then, it ought to be at least $1500 to $2000 a month for someone his age...
Is prolly an English word? And only a racist would use Odumdumcare for the president?
but roughly $666 a week after he pays of his mortgage and etc etc
I reckon he can't get into too much trouble with that amount
an additional 2,664 a month will come in handy, just spend wisely and don't make any new friends.
There you go again.....Making fun of my name? You dont like it because bigoted nrain cant understand it
There you go again.....Making fun of my name? You dont like it because your bigoted brain cant understand it
If you think the president is a dumb dumb, that means you're a racist?
Only people on the left who agree with Obama's social revenge, muslim terrorist sympathizer, and socialist feelings think that he's a genius.
He's not a dumb dumb, all the people who voted for him are dumb dumbs.
I don't play win for life because the prize is too small for my taste. I like the big jackpots of mega millions and powerball even though I have not won them yet. But maybe some day I will.-weshar75
"Or one of the smartest."
Maybe he's just not a moron. He'd have to be exceptionally stupid to think that a pre-tax income of $52k is really enough to retire on at 34 years old.
a thou a week for life I think Id keep working too, LOL heck that some peoples paycheck before taxes anyways
Congrats Shamus, that's not enough to retire on, hope you pay off your home and put some away for your old age.
Well, there ya go again. Throwing that 'racist' accusation again. Ever heard of the boy who cried 'wolf'? Disagreeing with the President or mocking him and/or his policies is not 'racist'. Get over it.
Congrats to the winner. He will soon learn $1k per week before taxes is not retirement at his age. That $1k per week will be worth less than half that in about 30 years.
"He will receive weekly installments of $1,000 — minus taxes — for the rest of his life. That's about $666 per week."
In this case, I wouldnt mind Uncle Sam taking another dollar to make it $665
Pia...just a fleeting thought...I wonder, which half is he racist against ???...
Excellent win Shamus, congrats and enjoy that lil nest egg for many years to come !!
LOL. Good point CDanaT.
Pia, I'm pretty tired of the racist accusations every day myself. But, we all knew it was coming the first time he was "elected".
Definition of prolly in English:
prolly
Syllabification: prol·ly
adverb
•informalRACIST
Hope this helps
Right unless your really frugal. These days that might put you in the middle of middle class.
He's smart. Pay off mortgage, invest some, and splurge here an there. Wise choice. That's what I would do if I won a lottery that while nice to have the extra money, would not be enough to say I quit my job over. Plus he must really like his job. Nothing wrong with that.
Racist...? Wow... idiot? Go read a dictionary. Look up "racist" and "terrorist".. Obama is a terrorist and the poster is not a racist.
It's funny how the public in general believe winning a lottery is sufficient to retire. A major source of this perception has to do with the media and this story is a prime example.The initial headline doesn't disclose anything about how much the winner won...just that he or she won and won't retire.
I find it as bad as referring to Richard Lustig as winning seven lottery jackpots or that anyone who wins a one million dollar annuity or prize is an instant "millionaire". They conveniently leave out the tax obligations in order to portrait a fantasy. A true "millionaire" has a liquid net worth of at least $1,000,000. Someone who may have bought a $2 million house and is carrying a $1.5 million mortgage doesn't qualify.
I think Shamus will be just fine with his winnings and the best of luck towards paying off his mortgage and enjoying life with the financial windfall he has been blessed with.
Off topic: Just because somebody doesn't agree with the president or his ideology doesn't make him or her a racist/bigot. The person who brought up the race card is usually the true racist but too ignorant to realize that fact.
Congratulations to the winner,Shamus Harmon. $666.00 per week is great but he is wise to keep working, and pay down his mortgage.
Some Win for life games are true won for life games...like in VA. Also have the option of a one million lump sum.
You are calling your president a terrorist...I bet you wouldnt be calling him names if he were white.....Disagreeing is fine....Calling him a terrorist and mocking his African name is racist.
I am not a racist and i dont define my race as white, black or green.. I am a human being. And by the way i am conservative...and my being conservative doesnt make me hate any body.Being conservative isnt synonymous with hate. I dont have any issues with any body....But there is clear race bias against Obama and nobody can deny that.
I am wondering if this is the KKK website?