PA United States
Member #22,982
October 6, 2005
2,229 Posts
Offline
I'll gladly take any "bothering." I have been through the worst my whole life, and have been prepared for the best for about 20 years now. Key word "preparation." Most lottery winners assume they are never going to win, and have no clue what to do until they do, and even then don't know what to do. People can send me all the mail they want, I will hire someone to take care of all of that. Mail would also be dependent on jackpot amount, and again where you live and how much publicity you get.
Few people structure their entire life and plan around winning a jackpot, and the ones who do probably rarely ever win. I am looking forward to being the minority...
PA United States
Member #22,982
October 6, 2005
2,229 Posts
Offline
Quote: Originally posted by Captain Lotto on Dec 19, 2007
I think doing the press conference does get it (most of it) out of the way. Give the reporters a chance to ask their questions and do a story, and then usually it dies down. People who know you that ask for money maybe don't go away as quickly, but the press usually just wants a story... preferably before anyone else gets it!
As far as taxes go, you have to pay taxes on your winnings based on the time you take possession of your cash. They can't tax you for money you don't have yet. It usually takes a few weeks to process a multi-state claim. In Missouri, it doesn't matter where you live - a certain percentage will be WITHHELD. People who live out of state have to file paperwork to get any of that back from the IRS.
Likewise, lottery winnings are taxed as INCOME. That means you'll have to pay those taxes in any calendar year you make a claim. After that, your earnings, if you have any, will be taxed at the applicable rate (interest, capital gains, etc.)
So you're saying that even if I have enough money that I do not need to collect interest, they can still tax me year after year on the same amount? How can they continue to tax you on the same amount they already taxed you on already? It is not earned income, it is only left over income. If that were true, your money would eventually dwindle down to nothing! Although you would probably be better off collecting interest and paying the tax on it, especially with a large jackpot.
Wandering Aimlessly United States
Member #25,359
November 5, 2005
4,461 Posts
Offline
Quote: Originally posted by sirbrad on Dec 21, 2007
So you're saying that even if I have enough money that I do not need to collect interest, they can still tax me year after year on the same amount? How can they continue to tax you on the same amount they already taxed you on already? It is not earned income, it is only left over income. If that were true, your money would eventually dwindle down to nothing! Although you would probably be better off collecting interest and paying the tax on it, especially with a large jackpot.
I think it's obvious that you & Captain Lotto are talking about 2 different animals here. You are talking about getting a lump sum, paying the taxes and not dealing with the IRS again except for interest earned on your savings. Captain Lotto is talking about annual payments and paying the IRS for the earned income as you receive your check every year. Of course you'd want to get interest. Even 5% or 6% is better than anything. I've already said that on many threads, so I won't keep repeating myself. However, a solid tax deferred investment on the money you aren't spending might also be a good idea, especially if you have a family to protect should you become ill. I realize that the majority of people on LP are writing about the present and not what will happen if I get sick or die, but estate planning is important when you are very rich. Even if you are young, you don't want your money to go to hospital bills, so making sure you have good health coverage, etc. (all the things many of us cannot afford now) is a must. I'm not sold yet on LTC, but that's another consideration.
Wandering Aimlessly United States
Member #25,359
November 5, 2005
4,461 Posts
Offline
Quote: Originally posted by Perfect Timing on Dec 21, 2007
Hi Texas Dream!
Where can I find your posting on "irrevocable sprendthritf trust?..........
How does that work?
How do you go about setting one up?
Perfect Timing, as another member said here - if you win a lot of money, get professional counseling. Do you know what "irrevocable" means? It means you lose control over your money. There are so many posts on LP about Trusts as if they are a means to avoid taxation. A Trust is mainly to set up an estate so when you die your heirs will be protected from probate. It's also a way to control how your beneficiaries receive funds so they don't blow their inheritance all in one place. However, chances are if you win millions of dollars, you will end up paying the maximum federal tax of 35% less deductions. (Texas has no state income tax.) A good estate planner and tax attorney or CPA can help you with those investments. There are many, many write-offs to lower your tax burden, but trying to hide your money in a trust isn't one of them.
What the irrevocable spendthrift trust is designed to do is to keep a person who is a careless gambler who inherits money from pissing it away. So it is "irrevocable" meaning that the beneficiary cannot have a say in what he gets and where it goes. Would you really want to turn that responsibility over to someone else? This type of trust is tricky because people often think it protects them from creditors. Yes, it might, but it probably won't because (1) a "creditor" is not the IRS and (2) you cannot commit fraud. I don't live in Texas, but in general if the creator of a such a trust (called a self-settled trust) is also a beneficiary of the trust, there is the implication that the creator is trying to defraud his creditors, and therefore cannot benefit from its creation by transferring funds without penalty.
NY United States
Member #23,834
October 16, 2005
4,772 Posts
Offline
Quote: Originally posted by bashley572 on Dec 18, 2007
Ky Floyd you mentioned
"Forcing somebody into a press conference they don't want to attend sounds like a bad idea. "
Wouldn't you like to be the person that teaches them its a bad idea? Just show up and don't say a word. Stand there mute and then put a small sign that says
"I am here only because this is required, and will NOT answer any questions, please pay me and we all can get on with our lives, thanx - New Jackpot Winner"
I would love to be forced to attend such a press conference, as long as I'm the guest of honor. Ideally, it would be for a huge, record breaking jackpot, and attract enormous amounts of attention. I don't know that I'd say anything bad, but I would like to hold up the big check after I've crossed out the fake annuity value and filled in what they're really giving me.
As far as the possible attention, I wonder if a press conference might potentially be beneficial. I'm guessing that many of the people you'd prefer didn't know about your win are more likely than average to be paying attention, and youll have a soapbox to stand on. I'd announce my plans to be very generous to worthy causes, but be very emphatic that I will never give money to anyone who asks me for money, no matter how worthy (or desperate) their cause, or invest in anything that I don't come across on my own. You'll never be able to comletely avoid the scammers and those who really need help, but I'm not sure that a press conference make it any worse. That press conference may be another good reason to wait a while before claiming the prize. I two months I could be pretty fat and hairy, so that the photo the lottery uses for promotional purposes wouldn't look like me after another couple of months. FWIW, I think I may have seen Jack Whittaker in a liquor store in Ashland a few years back. The face looked right, but it was the cowboy hat that made me think it was him. Of course it may have just been somebody with the bad luck to look like him, live fairly close to him, and have a fondness for cowboy hats.
PA United States
Member #22,982
October 6, 2005
2,229 Posts
Offline
Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Dec 21, 2007
I think it's obvious that you & Captain Lotto are talking about 2 different animals here. You are talking about getting a lump sum, paying the taxes and not dealing with the IRS again except for interest earned on your savings. Captain Lotto is talking about annual payments and paying the IRS for the earned income as you receive your check every year. Of course you'd want to get interest. Even 5% or 6% is better than anything. I've already said that on many threads, so I won't keep repeating myself. However, a solid tax deferred investment on the money you aren't spending might also be a good idea, especially if you have a family to protect should you become ill. I realize that the majority of people on LP are writing about the present and not what will happen if I get sick or die, but estate planning is important when you are very rich. Even if you are young, you don't want your money to go to hospital bills, so making sure you have good health coverage, etc. (all the things many of us cannot afford now) is a must. I'm not sold yet on LTC, but that's another consideration.
OK, so I would not have to deal with the IRS if I did not collect interest? Yes I was speaking of a lump sum. Also are there ways to beat the 50% death tax crap? I heard the ladies on the view even griping about that, and saying it should be capped at $2 million. I don't really have much family at this time, and I think the majority of all insurances are unnecessary scams, and most only want to give it when they know they do not have to pay out anytime soon.
United States
Member #10,720
January 23, 2005
935 Posts
Offline
I would continue to live as I do now except not being worried about which bill is crying for attention or what if this happens or that happens, and have a few new things that I may eventually get anyway but quicker that way. The best day would be one day off to go to Lawrenceville and take a photo with the big "check".
We visited Mike's Corner Deli today, being it is only 5 mi. from here. They were closed at first with a sign saying "Back in 10 min." so we waited and then went in and I played QP and non-QP and some scratch-offs for the tree. The guy is nice there. The area where the store is however is eerily quiet, and I didn't see any signs saying "Lucky Location" or whatever. Even the jackpot sign was blank. There was no news reporter standing outside like at Leprechaun a few years ago. You'd not know anything happened there, as there was little activity even given the Super Beehive Christmas Rush at the nearby Rockaway Townsquare Mall. It's very likely the winner lives very close by. Even being 5 mi. away I had never gone up that road or known that store was there.