Floridian, you took the "age" comment completely wrong! An annuity is often a good way to protect yourself from losing everything should you become ill. However, if someone continues to receive payments as income from a lottery, I don't think that money is protected because it is income. You are actually receiving the interest only on an investment. Someone over 70 might want to contact an attorney to make sure Long Term Care and other important issues are addressed. Also, when you die if you leave more than $2 million to your family they have a huge tax burden. Keep in mind that in 1988 she had no choice. Florida did not offer a lump sum. Also back then the annuity was for only 20 years, not 30.
I've seen Ms Ryan's picture and heard her story many times. Just a trip to the FL web site and there's a big picture of her in the winner's section. Yes, she was certainly a generous person and died only a few years after she won. She made a big difference in the world. Like you wrote, she won a lot of money, so that is a consideration too.
It's definitely a great story, like Rick said. So I don't want to sound like the naysayer here, but I've also seen plenty of poor people living in RVs give their last dime until payday to a neighbor for a meal. Ms Ryan was a retired real estate broker who was comfortable and lived in a mobile home. She wasn't married and never had any children. I doubt I'd change much either, except I'd buy a house and a new car. We have no idea if she bought a big home or went on a lot of cruises either. But I have a neighbor who has 5 children, 14 grandchildren and a few great grandchildren. He might have a different plan if he wins the lottery like college trusts and other family matters. Still, being the center of all the attention wasn't all rosy for Sheelah. From a 2003 article:
But Ryan's good fortune had a dark side, her former attorney, Evelyn Cloninger. A stranger once followed her into the post office asking for money. Another jumped over the security fence of her home to beg for assistance. She was inundated with thousands of letters and phone calls asking her for help. Toward the end of her life, she grew suspicious of people.
On a personal note, I think the media loves to show rich people giving away money. It was a very long time ago, but sometimes a TV show stays in your head. I remember Martin Sheen appearing on The Tonight Show and Johnny praising him for giving his $6M paycheck from Apocalypse Now to the homeless. He looked at Carson and said something like "I have a mansion in Malibu, luxury cars and a big boat. Don't get me wrong. I still love my material possessions." (this is not a quote..just remember the general message.) Florida uses Sheelah Ryan as a model. In 2003 the jackpot had rolled over many times to $75 million and this was one headline followed by her story:
Florida charities, facing dwindling donations, hope the winner of the $75-million Lotto will care to share.
The only reason I am bringing this up is she won 18 years ago and she was and still is the main story on the FL web site. Her foundation donates approximately $200,000 a year to charities. Sure that's a wonderful legacy. I'm guessing that many people in Florida donate much more to charities, but the lottery is trying to send a message.
Getting back to the main subject, I'm not sure the decision people make is always based on greed. If, like Sheelah, I won over $55 million and took a lump sum of 57% (about average in FL) less taxes I'd have about $21M and I could take "just" $1M and live very well off of it. A lot depends on what you are starting out with too. So then I'd have $20M. There are many fairly safe investments that would pay a 7% to 8% annual average over 10 years. (Depending on your age, you should be able to double your money about ever 10 years.) But even with a modest 7% I could share about $1.5 million annual interest with family & charities and still have my principal when I die and leave $20 million. Not a bad gift.