Mega Millions Players Ponder How to Spend Record $1.6 Billion Prize
October 22, 2018
•6 min read
The Powerball jackpot also has climbed. It’s up to an estimated $620 million for Wednesday’s drawing. That would make it the fifth-largest jackpot in
But much of the focus has been on Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing and what would be the largest jackpot prize in
From
“Well, first I’m going to give something back to charity. That’s what I’m going to do,” White said. “I am. I’m going to give back to charity and then I’m going to splurge. Put up college funds for my kids and just set myself up for the rest of my life.”
Then she told everyone who was at the gas station where she bought two Mega Millions tickets on Sunday that she would give them $1 million each if she won. She went on to add that she planned to buy more tickets later.
Nathan Harrell was in downtown
“It’s gotta be in the news for me to think about it,” the 36-year-old, who works in finance and lives on the city’s north side, said.
He said he and his wife have talked over the years about what they’d do if they won, and she said she’d keep working. “So she probably wouldn’t want me to quit my job,” he said.
Harrell said that as he rode the train to work, he had thought about what else he would. He figures he’d set up a trust fund for his two children.
“We wouldn’t sweat the small stuff anymore,” he said. “Nothing crazy, but who knows.”
In
Masterson paused when asked what he’d do with the money if he won. After looking at the wide variety of beers and ales on the shelves, he said: “I’d buy a brewery.”
“Other than paying off bills and taking care of family, I think I’d have the most fun going around and doing surprise good deeds for people,” said Connaghan, 48, as she picked up pizza for her family and a Mega Millions lottery ticket at an
“And I’m sure we’d take some pretty awesome vacations while we were going around doing our surprise good deeds.”
In
“I’d spend it carefully. I’d be prepared before I cash in, go see a financial adviser,” he said, saying he would invest the money.
“I’ve got two jobs. I’d retire from one, maybe two. When I win the billion dollars, I will decide which one to quit.
“I would donate some money to charity, think about the homeless, people with less than me. I would help somebody.”
Guillermo Carrillo, 42, of
Carrillo, who was buying tickets in suburban
For himself, he would buy a house in the
“It’s a lot of money and I hope we win,” he said.
Dan Higgins isn’t typically a lottery player, but he decided to give it a try as he grabbed a coffee at a 7-Eleven in the
“When it gets over a billion dollars it becomes compelling, so for $2 to potentially get $1.6 billion, that would be a pretty nice return on that investment,” said Higgins, 51, who lives in nearby
First on his agenda, should he win: putting in his two-weeks’ notice at his sales job. Other than that, he says he would take care of the education of his two kids, who will be entering college soon.
“That’s obviously an awful lot of money, so I would really just help out my family in any way I could and probably buy a big house on the ocean somewhere.”
At an Exxon store in
Asked what she would do if she won, the 22-year-old said, “I would split it with my co-workers. We’re going to retire from here. And then I’d go to the
Beyond that: “I would invest in something, to keep the money rolling in. … You gotta think with it.”
Earl Howard, a lifelong New Yorker, said he plays the lottery “anytime it’s big,” even though he has never won anything. The odds of winning the Mega Millions grand prize are about one in 302 million.
“I’m still gonna do it. It doesn’t matter what the odds are. You got to be in it to win it, and if you don’t try you won’t succeed,” Howard said while shopping at a 7-Eleven in
Asked what he would do with the money, Howard said: “Move out of
Contributing to this report were Associated Press reporters Hannah Grabenstein in
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