Mega Millions and Powerball!
Wow, no winner last night in the Mega Millions. Tuesday's drawing is projected to be $1.6 Billion. Yes, BILLION with a "B". The cash option would be $904 Million!!!
The Powerball is projected to be $470 Million tonight, with a cash option of $268 Million!!!
That's crazy money right there. Who is playing? I haven't bought any tickets so far. Might have to get some.
Also, what would everyone do if they won? I'd retire and be out of NJ, that's for sure.
Calico696 
Mark Mc. 
DannyC I think I would start buying the good quality paper towels.
I might, just might be able to afford quality healthcare coverage. That's only if I hit the larger jackpot. I'm not sure a measly 268 million is enough to cover the costs for long in this country as it is now.
I too would remember NJ as just a fond memory....
Also, everyone of my friends and family would get a million dollar check so they too could have a bit of fun!
Then I would create the largest most humane animal refuge/sanctuary I could build.
Greg 
maja2 Well they did say they were changing the algorithms so there would be fewer big amount winners and larger pots.
So, the pots are 2x as big, but now your chances of winning are 2x worse!
JeffersonRepub Everyone talks about leaving NJ. I didn't win a lottery but I left NJ anyway and I didn't look back. I regret having to leave lifetime friends and relationships but the cost of real estate and taxes makes it much easier to handle.
mac I'm leaving NJ when I retire regardless of the lottery. The issue is that you have to make your money here and then relocate to a place with a cheaper cost of living. Salaries in those places are nowhere near what you can make in this area.
Back to the lottery, I would probably open a awesome bar or a really cool brewery wherever I move to. Oh and travel, travel, travel..........
"Back to the lottery, I would probably open a awesome bar or a really cool brewery wherever I move to. Oh and travel, travel, travel.........."
WHAT?!?!? Create more WORK with your winnings? I have misjudged you... lol
I'm with you on the travel, that's what I'd do. Make sure my family and close friends were "taken care of", then travel.
And build a relatively self-sustaining compound so I could live in relative un-caring-ness for the politics of the country LOL.
They also increased, a while back, to $2.00 per ticket. Added some numbers to increase the pot. Greg...you’re right about the healthcare comment. Think about Christopher Reeves. Robin Williams paid his medical bills.
So...what would you all do, if you won something like this ,after waking up from the fainting spell?
I want to start a foundation, to assist people with medical care. Treat myself to a Chrysler convertible (not into luxury names), a small shore home, and buy the kids a 4 bedroom, middle class home. I would hand cash to homeless people, everyday..as long as I could. Veterans would get help with whatever they need. I don’t trust charities. With that kind of money, there’s no need to steal (not that I would do that, anyway). Fun to dream. Definitely worth $2.00 just to imagine it!
Guilty-Remnant "Create more WORK with your winnings?"
Create delicious BEER! Also, who says I would work there? That kind of money hires a lot of workers and a full time driver. ;-)
Thanks , but no thanks we are all stupid to play lottery, tax the money that we already got taxed on already, the government and places selling lottery are the big winners here ,
TinkoDinko Well, you might think of it this way: If the government didn't "win" from the lottery (through extra taxes), then taxes would have to increase, anyway. At least, this way, it's quasi-voluntary . . . and everyone has a chance to be the Big Winner.
CondoShopper 
happiest girlI would talk with my new tax accountant, legal team and private banker before making any decisions.
Jono Definitely the cash. I believe that most people pick that option. I wouldn’t trust the money would be there, if I took the annuity. Even though it’s supposed to be put into a trust, I think of Enron. Cmon, happiest girl....complicated enough trying to figure out what I’m going to do with all this money..LOL..(still dreaming)..:-)
Definitely a record high! Don’t forget, we’re close friends, from high school (just in case YOU win). Wouldn’t that be cool if there were ten winners...100 million each, from our area? Good luck, everyone.
If I won I would also talk with my new tax accountant, legal team and private banker before making any decisions. I would also be concerned about my safety and the safety of my family once my name became public. Unfortunately you cannot remain anonymous here in NJ when you claim a large lottery jackpot.
Lenny Rock That's conservative at 100 million x 10. It's presently 1.6 B. I predict by Tuesday it will be in the area of 2.5 B.
I don't know where I would live. I'd love to live in Hope, Blairstown or Knowlton with at least 20+ acres. Maybe Maine, Montana, Colorado, Alaska or Wyoming? Heck, maybe even live in another country.
So nice to dream......
positive I would be all about 2 residences. Heck, with that kind of money how about 3! One for winter, one for the rest of the year and one for fun. But definitely tons of acreage. It would be great for my husband to have acres and acres of his own land to hunt on.
My fun residence would be St. John USVI. My favorite place. It's like heaven on earth.
Lenny Rock,
The safety concern is very true and something I also thought about.
That's why I think taking annuity payments is a better choice, in addition to several other reasons.
Acreage, a "winter" home someplace warmer (not hot like FL), a summer home in Cape May, both near an airport so I could fly my DeHavilland Beaver back and forth between them.
And then a J3 Piper Super Cub, for wilderness backpacking trips.
No winner in last night's Powerball. Jackpot for Wednesday is $620 million with a $354 million cash option.
Dodgebaal I doubt I would need more than 10,20,30 Million. Build some gaudy residence or have a dozen of them? Keep it simple, a home or two and then first class travel for the rest of your life. Charity, start your own and direct it at who you want to help or just do it anonymously...
iJay They should have a lottery that offers lifetime health insurance that public employees receive. You win a card with a 5 dollar copay for medicine, no gatekeeper, and a 10 dollar fee to see any doctor in network.
Or just a lottery that allows someone at any age to collect Medicare.
Dodgebaal, this should be for everyone now like every other First World nation. The cost would be more taxes via consumption. Sales tax going from about 7% to 17% or more. On the plus side, if you are paying for healthcare now you stop.
Dodgebaal...we joke about something similar. We came up with a bunch of ideas, for scratch offs. Groceries for life. Lifetime of paid prescriptions. Pay off your mortgage. College and win, new car, one free hospital stay, etc...gotta picture the graphics.
To JR comments, the odds went from 260m to 302m to one and as Bill O'Reilly said "playing the lottery is a tax on the stupid"!~
hammer If I had Bill O’Reilly’s money, I wouldn’t need to play. I spend so little, on lottery, that for a couple of dollars to dream? Got to be in it, to win it. The odds are 305 million to one. Easy! It’s a voluntary tax on the poor and middle class. I wouldn’t necessarily say that we’re stupid. I’ve seen people who buy entire packs of $30 scratch offs, every day. Over $1000.00 per week. If I had that kind of money( or didn’t), I would NEVER spend it on lottery...especially scratch offs. My weekly budget for lottery is $5.00 per week, so I must choose wisely. Wisely and lottery. I don’t think those two words belong together. That’s why I stick to a “smart”, affordable lottery budget.
The worst thing is to get stuck on a certain set of numbers. Knowing them, by heart, stresses me out thinking “what if I miss tonight’s drawing?” Quick picks give out many doubles of the same numbers....that’s why it goes on, for so long. The upside to quick picks is not knowing or remembering the numbers, so there’s no freaking out if one misses the drawing. Could you imagine seeing ALL your regular numbers, on the Mega millions drawing, and NO winners that night....all because you didn’t play...that one day. Quick picks don’t offer the same type of agitation. Good luck to all...playing or not.
“Quick picks give out many doubles of the same numbers.”
Not on any one line. Doubles on multiple lines could actually be a benefit *if* those numbers are chosen.
Quick pick is random, just like the actual drawing. The odds are the same as picking your own numbers (which may have “meaning” to you, but are still random in the grand scheme of things).
It is so fun reading all the articles about the current lottery situation! They even had a 11 so called tips on how to win the big jackpots! But heck we all know you will not win unless you buy a ticket right? Its so crazy! I just hope multiple winners come out of it so its not a stressed to just one lucky person!
I believe that if it is your time to win something no matter how much you buy you will win, thats just me.
Goodluck everyone!
soccermom Who is staying up to watch the drawing on TV? Not me! Lol!! I'll wait til morning to become RICH.
GOOD LUCK ALL!
Botheredbyuu2 If I win, I promise you I will make a lot of posts on here about my absurd adventures.
Just hope you have a IASIP sense of humor.
So yea- that includes plenty of lawyers.
Keep working because you'd be bored? You just aren't thinking creatively enough. ;)
Josh I would LOVE to win just to hand out millions to my family and friends..........I really do love to give, when I'm able....it's usualy just a cup of coffee for the person behind me in line......
I taught my kids early on about giving without the expectation of recieving back. Christmas time we would make trays of candy and cookies and walk them around the neighborhood...........and a few neighbors would want to give gifts to my kids which we did not accept, they politely said no thank you.........they learned to give and the only gift back was the joy in giving.......
Just imagine how wonderful it would be to say Merry Christmas with a check for a million bucks to those I love...........No better feeling in the world, I'm sure....
littlelu Holy crap- ONLY ONE winning ticket was sold, in SC.
And here's some BULLSH1T for you:
"While most states require the winner’s identity to be made public, they may choose to remain anonymous in eight states -- Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas."
What crock! People should be able to remain anonymous if they choose!
What crock! People should be able to remain anonymous if they choose!
I think you can ..... a lawyer friend once told me that you would need to create a trust, and the put that trust within another trust. I may not have the terminology completely correct, but that was the jist. Oh well, I'll probably never need to worry about doing that anyway! :-)
Rob Durana "Don’t worry... it wasn’t mine."
This was the first thing I thought when I heard SC. I was all.....damn Mark will be getting some serious new weapons if he's the one who won all that cash!
I hope the winner is smart and uses the money wisely.
“damn Mark will be getting some serious new weapons”
Haha, first on the list is a mini-gun... on a helicopter...
That's insane you should be able to be anonymous. Too many crazies out there that would try to abduct you and rob you...
Metsman 
jnnjr I'm not sure I was told the accurate information, but I was told that if you get a representative (ex. lawyer, financial advisor) to sign your ticket, rather than signing it yourself, you have the option of remaining anonymous. Does anyone know if this is true? I know I would prefer to remain anonymous.
Parental Unit I agree - should be able to stay anonymous.
P/U - Not quite (at least in NJ). I read somewhere that in NJ, you would have to set up 2 trusts - one to collect (which you could not be a member of) and the other trust to have the money sent to - basically funneling/laundering the cash. NJ does not make it easy to stay anonymous. Granted, there is nothing preventing you from "hiring" a representative to collect the money for you and having another contract with that person to hand over the money, but I believe there are a lot more tax issues in that setup than with the trust. Just remember, whoever signs that ticket owns it so don't let them sign until you have a contract in place first!
Thank you for the information and advice jmnjr. I was just curious about that. But there really isn't much chance I would ever need it. I didn't even have one number in this last draw, and although I do buy tickets regularly, the most I've won is $2, and that happened twice. This was purely out of curiosity.
Parental Unit
jnnjr is correct. The person that signs the ticket collects on the ticket. I doubt if the person you have sign it would write up some kind of ironclad contract that they couldn't weasel out of either, You'd have to have complete power of attorney over them to (hopefully) prevent them from doing anything untoward.
By buying the ticket you agree to the Lottery Commission's terms which include using your name, etc. in advertisements for NJ State Publicity.
It sucks for anyone who wins, but that's why they say to hire a lawyer and financial consultant first before you come forward. Obviously ones you can trust, but of course that begs the question, who can you trust with that much money on the line. The MOST important thing to do is to sign it with your name immediately, before anybody else has a chance to!
Phil D. So the winning ticket was sold in Simpsonville, SC...
That's just a few towns from where I work, and where the site director for our facility lives... and he didn't come into work today ;)
(Actually he was already on vacation... but I'll still have to check on all my co-workers who live there too!)
Seems a 10 thousand dollar ticket was sold in Hackettstown......on Rt 57. I think its that free standing deli on the same side of the street as Weis.......so check those tickets!
Mark...you got a lot closer than I did. :)... I live much further away. Double check the floor, in your car.....you never know.
The NJ laws regarding lottery payouts, bonuses for retailers who sell the winners, etc.....stink!
The dude where the mega millions ticket, for 10 grand sold said the guy spent 1500 hundred on tickets...........I just think that's nuts, did his chances of winning anything really go up that much or was he just lucky as hell that he made his money back and then some...to me he was taking a big chance on flushing 1500 down the drain.........Obv. his choice, I don't have that kind of money to chance it or even do it lol to each his own.....
I just heard that the winner of the $1.5 billion ticket has not yet come forward. Whoever has that ticket, has 60 days to claim it or the money will revert back to all the states participating; not back into the lottery.
If a person gets three numbers and the powerball # , prize $100 (in NJ)...odds for a $2 bet are 1 : 14,494! Two #s plus the powerball...prize = $7 odds: 1 : 701!
Mega millions: To get $10k, he matched 4#s plus the bonus ball. prize $10,000. Odds:
1 : 931,001! He got REALLY lucky to win. And I’m happy for him. Technically one has to spend almost a million bucks to win $10k. Spend $700 to win $7.00. Bookies have much better odds. Still nice to dream for $2. If I could afford to spend $1500 on lottery, I wouldn’t need to play in the first place. That’s crazy....but that’s his biz. Worse odds than a slot machine. I can’t believe no one has claimed that big ticket, yet. They are probably in the middle of a divorce, not knowing that they only have 60 days to claim. Trying to screw each other over and lose it all. Wouldn’t THAT be a hoot?!
I can't load the link, but 1 tix hit last night. Tix was sold in Phillipsburg. Check those tix.
The ticket was sold at the Quick Chek on New Brunswick Ave. in P'burg.
https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/phillipsburg/2019/03/someone-in-nj-is-267m-richer-after-winning-the-mega-millions-lottery.html
Damn, i bought a couple in Warren County at a Quik Check.......but not in Phillipsburg!
Hackresident Damn. That's where I buy my tickets. Didnt buy any for this particular drawing however, unfortunately.
ianimal The winner of last year's $1.5 billion in SC had until April 15 to claim their winnings. He/she finally came forward. Let someone in front of them when they were in line to buy. There's some good karma!
The guy who won is from Alpha. The funniest part of the story is that he got divorced last October. She has to be the most bitter person on the planet today, lol.
Lets trust that the guy gets good tax, financial and legal advice. I wish him a healthy and happy long life. Watch out for the free loaders, family and friends. Be sure to have a rock solid pre-nup next time around. Good luck. Not that you need it.
Whomever was nice enough to give the clerk the tickets that he forgot to bring with him should be found and given a nice bonus!
https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2019/03/megamillions-jackpot-winner-from-alpha-says-he-initially-forgot-the-ticket-at-the-store.html
The Rhyme Animal I hope he doesn't make bad decisions and squander it. The cousin in the photo with him just got out of jail for drug dealing.
Frankie the "Warren County Oxycontin Kingpin" as the prosecutors dubbed him.
I think Michael Cohen is going to serve more time. Stillo got out after only 28 months...
"I hope he doesn't make bad decisions and squander it."
Too late... he already dropped $60k on a Ford truck (-;
"Too late... he already dropped $60k on a Ford truck (-;"
LOL, yes that was a bad decision.
His ex-wife wants a cut. Taking him to court. What makes her think she should get anything? They are divorced! Good luck with that.
Serious question. What do you do with a check worth $165 million? Can you deposit it in a checking account?
I would stick it in a Vanguard S&P index fund..and go live off the interest in a hammock somewhere :)
Maybe if she's taking him to court, it's to end the spousal support she's paying to him. https://nypost.com/2019/03/07/i-dont-want-my-lotto-winning-ex-husband-back-even-for-273m/
Josh, you would be better off in some of the bond funds that are tax free. Anything from the S&P would be taxed as capital gains. Even if the bonds are only 6% or so a year you can get some that are triple tax free so your principal remains and all the money you get is tax free.
MK The wife sounds like she has morals, put up with a lot, supporting him while he’s unemployed and then asking to be left alone. He should give her whatever she paid him, over the years....depending on all the facts. His life was better because of her support. He should do the right and fair thing. Even just a 100k....which is like $10 to him, would make her feel whole again. But she’s not even asking (hinting kindly, from what I read), him for anything, except to stop the spousal she pays him. Lots of weird karma, in this story. Leaving the tickets. A Good Samaritan finding them. Just recently divorced...wow!
Thanks for the link, maja2.
Yes he should do the right thing. But what would that be?
Just watched GMA. There wasn't a customer who found the tix and turned them in. The cashier found them and held them for him. Nice kid.
Good luck to all involved.
It's funny when people rag on Ford trucks. Must be envy ;)
F-150 the best-selling truck of all-time (42 years in a row).
For 30 years, best-selling VEHICLE of any kind in the US.
Mine's a 2005 and still going strong; no repair more major than needing the brake calipers replaced (which I did myself).
Love 'em.
Well, GM isn't far behind (in sales) when you combine Silverado and Sierra, which are effectively identical other than sheet metal.
My 2012 F-150, in 72K miles, has had the HVAC system fixed twice for the same problem (once under warranty and once out of pocket at $1,200). It's had the back window replaced because the defroster stopped working. I just recently replaced a stuck thermostat and both front brake calipers because one was dragging and darn near caught my wheel on fire. The "integrated wheel ends" (IWE) that actuate the 4WD are dragging and grinding. I also have to schedule a quick recall visit at the shop to reprogram the transmission because some trucks decide to randomly shift back into 1st gear at highway speeds (mine hasn't exhibited anything like that though...).
That being said, I think it's got awesome power (I have the 6.2L V8), pretty good amenities, and I like the looks. Also seems to be a heck of a lot more rust resistant than my '00 Sierra (that's still kicking at 165K miles albeit without ABS, power windows, a half plugged cat, and leaky exhaust manifolds). On that truck I've had to replace bumpers, brake lines, and spring shackles due to rust... as well as just sawzall off some of the lower sheet metal that wasn't really "metal" anymore.
Early 90's-
Best selling car in the country- Ford Taurass
Best car built however- Toyota Camry. This was the pinnacle years for them.
Guess which you see on the road still quite often....
Just because something sells a lot doesn't mean it is good. Usually means it has a larger marketing budget, sold with big discounts so people think they are getting a deal.
Pretty much true for anything- the most common brands are not the best- true for cars, stereos, computers, lawnmowers, watches, tools, beer... :)
People are a combination of cheap and unaware of details when making most decisions in pretty much every aspect of their lives.
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