New Mexico Lottery officials have announced that Wednesday night's $93.4 million winning Powerball ticket was sold at a retailer in the metropolitan Albuquerque area.
Additional information about the retailer is not being released at this time.
No one claiming the prize had come to Lottery headquarters in Albuquerque by the time offices closed for the weekend late Friday afternoon.
Additionally, no credible calls were received from an individual or individuals claiming to have the winning ticket. The Lottery claim center re-opens Monday morning at 8:30.
"It is not unusual for large winners in New Mexico and elsewhere to take their time before claiming a prize," said Lottery CEO Tom Shaheen. "We hope that our Powerball jackpot winner is using this time to seek professional legal and financial guidance before calling us to make an appointment and come in."
This is the New Mexico Lottery's third winning Powerball jackpot. If claimed by an individual, the $93.4 million annuitized jackpot or the $52.2 million lump sum would be the Lottery's second-largest prize.
As part of the New Mexico Lottery's retailers' incentive program, retailers selling Powerball jackpots are eligible to receive a $50,000 bonus.
This is the New Mexico Lottery's third winning Powerball jackpot. If claimed by an individual, the $93.4 million annuitized jackpot or the $52.2 million lump sum would be the Lottery's second-largest prize.
Which ain't quite accurate. If the person takes the lump sum the actual amount will be $36 million after the State and US taxes are confiscated before the payment is made.
Jack
I would guess they not only checked their ticket, but are now checking their options before making their claim. Once they make their claim, they are going to have to deal with all the people who will want to give them some bad advice.
The people who might be qualified to give them 'good' advice probably aren't handing it out. The professional advice-giving legions aren't necessarily a fountainhead of un-biased suggestions devoid of motives involving getting some of that win for themselves.
Jack
This is the New Mexico Lottery's third winning Powerball jackpot. If claimed by an individual, the $93.4 million annuitized jackpot or the $52.2 million lump sum would be the Lottery's second-largest prize.
Which ain't quite accurate. If the person takes the lump sum the actual amount will be $36 million after the State and US taxes are confiscated before the payment is made.
Jack
I understand your recent series of complaints about this, but that's been a fact about how jackpots are measured for many years now.
Your argument is like saying that when someone who makes $100,000 in their job goes to apply for a mortgage, they should not be allowed to tell the bank that they make $100,000, because the government takes out 32% in taxes, plus the state takes another 7%.
Oh, and then they decide to have deductions for medical insurance and a 401K plan, another $300 per month, so they should only be allowed to say they make $57,400 per year, and they are lying if they claim to make $100,000.
Just because the government takes taxes doesn't mean that they didn't actually win the amount that was taken out.
Just because they decide to take the cash option does not mean that they did not actually win the full jackpot, because it was their choice to take the present cash value, rather than the full annuitized amount.
If they did not make that choice, then they would receive the full amount promised.
For these significant reasons, I do not agree with your position on jackpot amounts.
We'll have to agree to disagree on this one, Todd.
If they want to advertise the jackpot amount, they could as easily say, $55 million ($93 if you let us keep it for you). They don't . They call it a $93 million jackpot, $40 odd million of which doesn't exist today. Won't exist unless they draw the interest they predict.
A person can't raffle off a horse that he plans to buy with the proceeds he gets from the raffle. It's illegal.
Seems to me there's not much difference here.
Jack
In my example above, you also don't make your $100,000 until the year is over, even though you claim to make $100,000. IMHO, it's just basic financials, and totally above-board, although I can certainly see how people could feel how you do.
I personlly have no problem with the way they advertise the jackpot, because they naturally want to put the best spin on it. However, I do like the UK Lotto and Euro Millions prizes better, because they are all cash, with no taxes taken out.
Todd,
You need to also mention Canada where their jackpots are lump sum and
tax free.
You also get your money within a couple of hours of claiming it instead of
a couple of weeks in the US.
You should be able to get your money that day or the next since all tickets
are bought with cash.
Why let the states collect interest for 2 weeks?
Mike
When someone in NM does have the winning ticket, I hope it comes soon. What would happen if NM's winning ticket isn't claimed? How long will it take before the ticket expired?
in most states you have 180 days to claim your prize.as far as it not being claimed i think they put it into whatever state program thats being funded....
not the whole jackpot. each amount is returned to the state, and the state does whatever it wants with it.
not the whole jackpot. each amount is returned to the state, and the state does whatever it wants with it.
that would be quite a bit of money for the state to just do whatever they wanted with it.what would a state do with a big chunk of cash like that?
not the whole jackpot. each amount is returned to the state, and the state does whatever it wants with it.
that would be quite a bit of money for the state to just do whatever they wanted with it.what would a state do with a big chunk of cash like that?
Not all that much, really.
Probably give themselves a few raises over in the lottery authority, hire a few cops and prosecutors to keep other folks from doing what they're doing, first thing you know it's all gone.
Never was a lot, however. Never was 93 million.
Jack
I begin to understand why people don't buy tickets for Powerball unless the jackpots have rolled enough to get some bulk to the cash prize.
Win a $10 million dollar jackpot in New Mexico, you'd end up with a candy-bar, a coke, a bag of potato chips and enough left over to buy a lottery ticket.
A person might well come out better with the five white ball bonus and the multiplier, rather than winning the jackpot. Might do so in other States, as well.
Jack
in most states you have 180 days to claim your prize.as far as it not being claimed i think they put it into whatever state program thats being funded....
New Mexico is the only state I know of with only 90 days to claim your prize.
If you want Powerball info for all the different states, including this topic, USA Mega is the best place to find it. (The Ways To Win page has this particular answer.)
Seems to me, in all fairness to all parties, that Lotteries SHOULD be tax free or the ACTUAL amount won should be expressed accurately. Now, I don't agree or disagree with anyone, I just think it should be done differently and I like the fact that they are tax free in Europe, Aussie, UK, etc... Why don't we do that in the USA, the lotteries certainly make enough money. Tax-free lotteries would only increase participation, thereby increasing profit, I think we all agree on that.
Seems to me, in all fairness to all parties, that Lotteries SHOULD be tax free or the ACTUAL amount won should be expressed accurately. Now, I don't agree or disagree with anyone, I just think it should be done differently and I like the fact that they are tax free in Europe, Aussie, UK, etc... Why don't we do that in the USA, the lotteries certainly make enough money. Tax-free lotteries would only increase participation, thereby increasing profit, I think we all agree on that.
I don't see the US lotteries ever doing away with taxes on lottery winners (or anything else, once they've got a lock on it).
To be honest, I don't even object to the first-crack-out-of-the-box jackpot being, what? $5 million and some change, before taxes? Maybe $3 million after taxes.
What I object to is the fact that those billboards advertise something that isn't so. I believe they do it because they know if they announced in billboard letters how much they're actually giving away, people would begin to ask themselves where all the rest of that money is actually going.
Some of it's going to fund education, as they claim. But since the lottery is a quasi-public institution, the 'administrative costs' such as salaries of employees ought to be public information. Just as it is with State employees.
Those lottery operations are an ocean of money all the way up and down the pike. Players know they don't stand a lot of likelihood of taking a swim in it, but they buy tickets thinking there's at least a remote chance that if they get lucky there's a significant piece there for them. Lottery officials (smile slyly and) help them to believe that.
But after the wink and the nod, all the while they're calculatedly and deliberately setting up a system where there are no winners except themselves with a smoke and mirrors routine involving annuities created from dollars they aren't taking from the actual ticket sales, but rather from bets on their own investments.
They're promising winners money that doesn't exist while pocketing the bulk of the money that does exist to pay their own salaries and dropping a pittance into the State Education Funds.
Jack
Sorry to keep disagreeing, but since the state lottery actually does give away the amount on the billboard, I don't any reason why they have to advertise the worst-case scenario.
Just like my employment example, where an employer is not going to try to lure a candidate to a CEO position by saying, "Come to my company, where the salary drops by 50% after you subtract out the taxes and benefit contributions! You may think you're going to get $200,000, but when you take out all the taxes, we're actually only going to give you $100,000! What a deal!!"
Like I have said multiple times, I wish that there was no tax on lottery prizes, but in the United States, the reality of the situation is that the government would never approve a government-run lottery unless they make some money off of it. And since the STATES run the lotteries (not the Federal gov't), there needs to be some mechanism for the Feds to get a cut of the money, and that naturally comes out of the prizes.
If you want to know exactly what you're going to receive after taxes, go to the Jackpot Analysis page at USA Mega, not the billboards.
I have to agree with you Todd. Before the whole Cash-Option choice came about all prizes paid were annuitized over so many years. So the jackpot was worth the cash value plus all the interest. This is what lotteries have been doing for the life of them. There is nothing wrong with this. Acutally I don't see why lotteries invest the money for annuities in such low interest bearing bonds. They us a ~1.6% right now when you can get government securites that average over 4%. Now that would increase the jackpot by almost double. As long as the lotteries continue to give us Cash Values of the jackpots they can advertise whatever they want...since I will be taking the cash value anyway.
Brad
I have to agree with you Todd. Before the whole Cash-Option choice came about all prizes paid were annuitized over so many years. So the jackpot was worth the cash value plus all the interest. This is what lotteries have been doing for the life of them. There is nothing wrong with this. Acutally I don't see why lotteries invest the money for annuities in such low interest bearing bonds. They us a ~1.6% right now when you can get government securites that average over 4%. Now that would increase the jackpot by almost double. As long as the lotteries continue to give us Cash Values of the jackpots they can advertise whatever they want...since I will be taking the cash value anyway.
Brad
Acutally I don't see why lotteries invest the money for annuities in such low interest bearing bonds. They us a ~1.6% right now when you can get government securites that average over 4%.
Prosecution rests.
Jack
I agree Todd's employment scenerio, however this is different. You cannot write off 3 million lost on a game whereas you can write off all the expenses of being a CEO. I mean there is an actual process and a way to recover some of that. There really is no way for anyone to recover this money, I think that's what makes winning the jackpot very unique regarding taxation. I think that is whhy other countries don't tax it because it's prize money, not earned income. Yes, before you say it, you might be able to write off some of it but it will be too little to mean much of anything. I think Todd, even you would agree while is not wrong the way they announce the amounts it would be nice, it would be great rather if it was set-up like other countries and won that amount minus nothing. You win the face value amount, that would be nice.
Also look at what Powerball is doing. They are setting up their annuitized jackpot in a way where you get more money in the later years then in the earlier years...just a way to increase the advertised jackpot more and faster. If you keep more money in the securities for more years you will earn more interest. This is how they will be able to start it at $15m and watch how much the jackpots increase.
Brad
Also look at what Powerball is doing. They are setting up their annuitized jackpot in a way where you get more money in the later years then in the earlier years...just a way to increase the advertised jackpot more and faster. If you keep more money in the securities for more years you will earn more interest. This is how they will be able to start it at $15m and watch how much the jackpots increase.
Brad
This is how they will be able to start it at $15m and watch how much the jackpots increase.
Or, if you prefer, this is how they'll be able to start at $7 million dollars used from ticket sales to pay off the winners who don't care about having their money invested at a low interest rate by people they don't know, and have no reason to trust to act in their best interests.
The amount of money they're willing to pay out immediately to winners, after they've increased the odds against the players, will increase on the initial jackpot from roughly $5 million to $roughly 7 million.
That's the actual amount of existing dollars from the pool created by ticket sales that they're willing to part with for the people this entire lottery structure is all about: the players.
On the other hand, they're perfectly willing to invest the money at whatever interest rate they can get, claim it's invested at the lowest rate they can find, and pay out the lower rate to the person who's willing to accept it because it represents the actual amount they were promised on the billboards.
More skim for whomever's holding that money in trust. Good to have such folks looking out for our interests for us. Good, the government 'allowing us' the freedom to gamble within their monopoly.
Jack
.8/13TH...4:30PM EST
"MPJO"....I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOUR STATEMENT....about when the winner "should "recv the money as opposed to when the winner "actually" recvs his winning here in the States...it's unfair but as RIP SNORTER has alreadly carefully explained, it comes down to the States holding on to earn interest for themselves. After all, it doesn't take 5 mins to get Legal Reps to handle everything for you, and in this age of "HIGH TECH ELECTRONIC DEPOSITS"..It's takes only seconds to "wire the funds" to your checking or saving account. You can sit down later with your Reps and create Trust Funds, Tax Havens....ect... Also, "RIP SNORTER" I loved your comment about the "MAFIA" ......versus "STATE OFFICIALS"...although I cannot personally speak ill of the State Officials as I have not seen anything here in Maryland or the District of Columbia to complain about. CANADIANS are lucky to get their money on the day they claim it. If I ever win, I will agree to do a News Conference, only on the "very day" they wire the funds to my Bank Account....
Whether or not the USA is the best country in the world, Canada seems to do some things much better than here, like not taxing lottery winnings.
That's right, they just tax everything else.
EXCELLENT POINT.....regarding the Canadian Government's "NOT TAXING LOTTERY WINNINGS"
But we all know that the American Government is very greedy.....and taxes everything it can...even in "DEATH"....you cannot escape the greed of this Government...The only thing they haven't found a way to tax is:THE INTERNET.....(I better not say that toooo loudddd)hehehehhehe
BTW.......CASH ONLY.....what would you propose to do to keep Connecticut in the "Powerball"??