Let’s fantasize for a few minutes. Both the Mega Millions and Powerball lottery jackpots were huge recently and both treasures went to one person each. Now imagine if you’re one of these two people with the winning ticket and I’m assuming it’s not a pool that has the ticket because usually those people come out right away as they know it’s hard to keep everyone in the group quiet and often these pools are at a place of work so word travels fast. Anywho, you’re that person in Maryland who won 731 mill! What is that feeling either the night you saw the numbers drawn or the next day when you checked your numbers? The ticket was sold at what looks like a ma and pa convenience store in a town called Lonaconing described as a “down-on-its-luck” former mining town. Well someone is up on his or her luck there now. Let’s go bigger and speculate on the Mega winner in Michigan who now has a piece of paper that’s worth 1 billion 50 million dollars! Not bad for a 2 dollar investment. Here’s the dealio, if you live by yourself I would imagine you would be in shock for several days and not tell anyone you won. If you live with other people you now have to convince them to keep their soup coolers shut but you know they’re all dialed up to say something to someone. The bit about having a lot of money suddenly is you have to stay under the radar. So a big lottery winner has to live pretty much like people in the Mob live. Guys in the Mob are always dealing with cash but they can’t draw attention to themselves because they don’t want the IRS up their ass which means they bury the money in the backyard or put it in a storage locker and live in modest homes and drive unfancy cars. In addition to that they’re always looking over their shoulder to see if someone is trying to bump them off. What’s the point of that lifestyle? In the case of a big lottery winner’s situation once the word gets out he/she will have friends, family, relatives, people with hard luck stories, and charities coming out of the proverbial woodwork asking for money AND the IRS. Separating lotto winners from Mob guys is you can buy a big house and luxury car(s) and not look like something doesn’t add up. Michigan is one of those states where the winner cannot be anonymous, the reason being I heard is some people think they don’t give out the money otherwise. So lucky people in Maryland and Michigan take your time and get all your ducks in a row and wait at least 6 months before you come out. Don’t be one of those people who wins and the next day is standing there with a giant check, in size and value, having put no sensibile plan together. The Mega money if taken in one lump sum after taxes will be around 500 mill. All for a 2 buck investment made at a Kroger store. What a great country!

Gunga, galunga
Garry