If you can choose to give up your winnings in exchange for being never hungry or homeless...

Reply #33

Teddi — Thu, 16 May 2013 03:49:37 GMT

I considered that, and then I thought, if no matter what, they are going to get that 39.6 from you, why not take it all up front? (knock on wood). The amount seems arbitrary. They have no guarantee they'd be getting that other almost 15% either. If they feel they have to take something right away, then take the 14.6% first, and wait for the 25%

And, since that 39.6% only applies to $1M or more, it is conceivable that they would collect more $$ in taxes if they waited until tax time than if th... [ More ]

Reply #32

maelstrom — Thu, 16 May 2013 03:02:31 GMT

That is easy, most people who get the 25% deducted did not win 100 million dollars. When people win a prize of say $50,000 - You'd be amazed how many of them would go buy a car and pay off their bills and then have nothing left to give the tax man in April. So now they take 25% right away to prevent getting shorted. When is the best time to take a persons money? Before they get it. It is also the reason they take money from your paycheck every week. If they let you hold onto it until april, how... [ More ]

Reply #31

Teddi — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:53:48 GMT

Totally, utterly and completely. Hellooooooo miracle

Someone needs to explain to me why they have to take the 25% right away. Prior to this year they waited for the other 10%, and this year they will wait for the other 14%, why can't they wait for that 25% too.

The interest on that would help to not make it seem like you're getting an anal probe from Wolverine. That or they need to rewrite what a lottery win should be considered so the taxes can be lowered or offset.

When even England... [ More ]

Reply #30

yoho — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:16:20 GMT

That's a really good point, whiteballz. Another point if you think about it, is that the government is robbing your money by deducting 25% right away.

Let's say your lumpsum amount is 100,000,000 for the sake of simplicity and that you can get a 5% interest and won on jan 1st.

The government deducts 25%, which is 25,000,000. If you kept that 25 million and invested it until the end of the year, you'd've earned 1,250,000 in

interest. Of course, that income would be taxed. Nor... [ More ]

Reply #29

whiteballz — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:36:14 GMT

People say the fed confiscate the 25% tax. But I know how to make them cough them back to me.

You need to be very careful about this. Giving money to a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization is a tax deduction not a tax credit. Which means you will not lower your tax liability dollar for dollar. If you end up winning the lottery in 2013, your marginal tax rate would be 39.6%. So for every $1 you give to a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, you will lower your tax liability by only about 40 cents.... [ More ]

Reply #28

gogidolim — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:10:31 GMT

I'd be happy to set up my own charity foundation if I win tonight or Friday night.

I want to help fellow veterans and their children. I want support them by providing educational materials, baby goods, toys and whatnot. Then in the Phase II I will set up the scholarship program for Veterans in So Cal. (LA, OC, and San Bernadino Counties)

People say the fed confiscate the 25% tax. But I know how to make them cough them back to me. If I invest in large rental properties then I would use t... [ More ]

Reply #27

whiteballz — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:51:00 GMT

Yeah, I can see people taking advantage and trying to find loopholes in any of the options. For example:

also any college tuition or educational experience (say if you want to go to police academy or flight school or something like that) you need will also be paid for.

I would become a perpetual student in that case, taking classes year after year, just to avoid having a real 9 to 5 job and so I can party with college girls.

Also, he said you'd never go hungry but he never specified w... [ More ]

Reply #26

maelstrom — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:50:37 GMT

I like it - Tree Doctor and and wine tasting student, of course, I am a very slow learner.

Reply #25

Piaceri — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:47:34 GMT

Option 2 - take the money and run... all they way to the Caymans.

Reply #24

yoho — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:39:59 GMT

You can hold two jobs (palm tree watcher, kind of like those bird watchers, and margarita taster) to solve that problem. And get some educational

allowance for a botany degree and wine tasting lessons.

Reply #23

maelstrom — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:34:34 GMT

Given the choices in the original post I would probably choose not to play. My two dollar day dream includes margaritas and palm trees, it most certainly does not include holding down a job.

Reply #22

yoho — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:29:56 GMT

I wouldn't mind buying a ticket for $2 if we can get a weekly allowance of $5000 after-tax per person (say 4, for the avg family) for food, clothing,

gas, and other necessities for life, 3 Audis for me and my parents, and a 2-5 million dollar home.

I'll be completely honest. I'm no altruistic person. I'm selfish. I don't like being forced to donate to charity. I'm not saying I'll never donate to charity.

If I donated it'd be because I felt good about helping those in need. Being... [ More ]

Reply #21

whiteballz — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:29:26 GMT

I don't think you should remove it. We have all been wrong at one time or another, including myself. It's nothing to feel bad about.

Reply #20

maelstrom — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:27:11 GMT

You are right, they have a charitable arm. I guess they can have rdgrnr's money then. My apologies. I will remove that from my earlier post.

Reply #19

whiteballz — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:18:11 GMT

Established in 1990, The NRA Foundation, Inc. ( NRA Foundation ) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that raises tax-deductible contributions in support of a wide range of firearm-related public interest activities of the National Rifle Association of America and other organizations that defend and foster the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding Americans.

http://www.nrafoundation.org/mission-statement.aspx

Reply #18

maelstrom — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:13:29 GMT

OK a little fact checking here. I hate to interupt rdgrnr with facts but Catholic Charities also gets government funding, whether we like it or not. Actually Catholic Charities recieved more money from the federal government (2.2 billion in 2010), through the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, than the Corporation of Public Broadcasting recieved (455 million 2012) in total from the feds. The salvation army also gets gov't money from the same office.

Giving money... [ More ]

Reply #17

Saylorgirl — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:16:28 GMT

Reply #16

helpmewin — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:10:16 GMT

stupid questions

Reply #15

whiteballz — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:07:12 GMT

ginmqi did you go to no avatar land

Reply #14

Coin Toss — Wed, 15 May 2013 22:28:09 GMT

Option 2 and work to put those passing those taxes out of office.

PS,

One of those 'great charities' you mentioned, NPR, was paying one of their station managers $750,000 a year. That sound like a charity to you

Reply #13

billionaire2bee — Wed, 15 May 2013 22:22:40 GMT

I'd go for option one....but if I could only work for myself...have my own business

Reply #12

whiteballz — Wed, 15 May 2013 22:16:18 GMT

In this scenario how much would each lottery ticket cost? What would the matrix be like for this game? If you were to say the ticket price stays the same at $2 each and the matrix stays the same with having to match all 6 white balls out of 59 and then matching the red powerball out of 35, then I would stop playing the lottery. I would also imagine lottery sales would plummet sharply and the lottery goes out of business in 2 months.

For me to spend $2 per ticket and go up against ridiculous o... [ More ]

Reply #11

rdgrnr — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:35:55 GMT

OK.

I recommend St Jude's Children's Hospital, The Salvation Army, Wounded Warriors, The Smile Train, Tea Party Patriots, Oath Keepers, The 10th Amendment Foundation, the NRA, the GOA, your local Church, Catholic Charities, your local hospice and your local no-kill animal shelter.

Giving to NPR or PBS, who already take money out of our checks every week whether we like it or not, is nuts.

Reply #10

maximumfun — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:31:06 GMT

whoo-hoo! sign me up

Reply #9

ginmqi — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:26:08 GMT

If you can learn knife skills while skydiving that would be impressive and likely covered expense. :D

Reply #8

ginmqi — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:25:36 GMT

Just examples of what people could choose to donate to. You can donate to whatever charity/organization you'd like. If NPR/PBS is too liberal/left-wing for their taste then that's fine by me.

Reply #7

maximumfun — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:21:46 GMT

so... if i am learning knife skills while skydiving that would be ok but shooting guns while skydiving would not

Reply #6

ginmqi — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:19:43 GMT

Yup, Option 1 is all about having basic neccessary life and self-improvement. Kids and Gkids can have their college paid for as well. And yes any skills classes would be covered under educational expenses so yeah if you want to get better at cooking that's fine. Of course there will be greay area when it comes to fun classes like learning to shoot guns or learning to skydive...haha

Reply #5

yoho — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:19:09 GMT

Whats the amount? for example if you win a billion, even at 90% tax you're still doing pretty good. So it depends on the amount.

Also, for option 1, can I eat anything I want, live where I want? A big mac a day in a 1 bedroom apartment is very different from living in scottsdale in a

12 mil mansion eating foie gras and wagyu every day.

If I could get 150 bucks a day on food, around a 2 mil house in scottsdale or similar city, I might consider option 1.

But I'd say... [ More ]

Reply #4

rdgrnr — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:18:43 GMT

NPR?

PBS?

Why'd you leave out the DNC

Reply #3

maximumfun — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:16:54 GMT

hmm... college or educational expenses willl be paid for...

a. for all direct kids and g'kids as well?

b. would a class in 'knife skills' (for better cooking) be covered or only classes that are 'on some list'?

if yes for both a b... then I will cheat no more and I will chose option 1.

Reply #2

ginmqi — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:12:19 GMT

LOL. Okay man that's cheating. The annuity will also be heavily taxed every year since the govt wants to tax the super rich and those with 1M+ annual income.

You can only choose option 1/2. I will have to update my post to reflect the annuity option as well. Also it's no fun if people just take Option 3. Point of this post is to make you think about choosing between two very tough choices.

I think I may go for Option 1. Also I want to add that any outstanding debt you have will be wi... [ More ]

Reply #1

maximumfun — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:10:01 GMT

well if those are the only 2 options... then I will have to choose option 3... take the winnings in annuity form... then I'm not in the 1%... and not taxed at 80-90% but rather are taxed at 50%+... and then I can give AND spend...

so... if only options 1 2... then I choose 3

If you can choose to give up your winnings in exchange for being never hungry or homeless...

ginmqi — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:05:29 GMT

Okay so here's an interesting thought that came to my mind and wanted to see what the LP community thought.

Option 1 - You had to give up all your winnings. And you give them up to great charities, (NOT the government since that would just be a 100% tax) so to places like Doctors Without Borders, Red Cross, NPR, PBS, cancer research, etc. And in exchange you will have all your basic needs taken care of like food, shelter, clothing, transportation to job, etc. So basically you will never... [ More ]