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BY BOB HOLT
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
No winning tickets were sold in Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing, making Friday’s $312 million jackpot the second one to crack $300 million in 2011.
The lump-sum payout value of Friday's Mega Millions jackpot is $198 million.
Lotterypost.com reports 26 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $250,000 prize, none coming from New Jersey. The latest huge prize is the result of 14 draws without a winner.
But experts warn against any potential winner doing anything hastily with that kind of financial windfall. They say to take at least a few weeks, or a few months, before making any significant economic decisions.
Mark Cortazzo, a Certified Financial Planner and founder of MACRO Consulting Group in Parsippany, NJ. recommends not spending more than 10% of the total lump sum in the first 12 months.
Diahann Lassus, a Certified Financial Planner and the president and co-founder of Lassus Wherley, a fee-only wealth management firm headquartered in New Providence, NJ., takes another perspective.
MEGA MILLIONS WINNING NUMBERS FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2011:
22, 24, 31, 52, 54, and Mega Ball 4
She told walletpop.com it's a bad idea for windfall recipients to put themselves into a financial straight-jacket and never enjoy the money. Instead, she says: "Plan on taking some percent of it, maybe up to 5% or so depending on the size of the windfall, and then just go out and have fun to get that out of your system."
Afterwards, Lassus says, you can think long term.
Russell Graves, the Executive Director of Consumer Credit and Budget Counseling in Marmora, NJ, agrees. His non-profit financial counseling agency assists individuals and families who are having difficulty with debt of all kinds. Even for people who are cash-strapped and struggling, Graves thinks a windfall should be cause for at least a modest celebration.
The average player nationwide spends $150 a year, according to the 1998 National Survey on Gambling. Some states have averages several times higher than that.
According to southwestcc.org, a New Jersey study found that the average lottery players making less than $10,000 a year spent 21 percent of their incomes, or about one out of every five dollars, buying the government’s lottery tickets.
According to MSN, spending lots of money on tickets doesn't always do much for your chances of winning the lottery. The odds of winning the Mega Millions are 1 in 135,145,920. Buying two tickets bumps your odds only to 2 in 135,145,920.
There's a real simple rule: Play only if you can afford it, and play only for fun.
