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TagsBY BOB HOLT
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
There's a new member of Forbes' money list just waiting to happen, and it's only a matter of time until it occurs. And that person might be you, or someone in your New Jersey neighborhood.
Mega Millions lottery players across the United States are anticipating the Tuesday evening drawing, which is now the largest Mega Millions grand prize since August, 2009.
The estimated jackpot of the January 4, 2011 Mega Millions drawing was raised Monday from $290 million to $355 million because of heavier than expected sales in all Mega Millions states.
MEGA MILLIONS WINNING NUMBERS FOR TUESDAY, JAN. 4
4 8 15 25 47 +42
Lotterypost.com reports the lump-sum cash value of the grand prize was raised to $224.2 million, an increase of $41.6 million from the initial estimate made early Saturday morning.
The jackpot rolled over one more time after Friday's drawing, when 21 players matched the first 5 numbers for a $250,000 prize, 2 coming from New Jersey.The largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history was for $390 million, and won on March 6, 2007 by two players. One ticket was sold in the state of Georgia. According to the Cape May County Herald, the other winning ticket was sold at Campark Liquors in Woodbine, New Jersey. Elaine and Harold Messner of Dennis Township walked away with $116,557,083 before taxes.
And the largest single ticket winner hit the $315 million jackpot in 2005.
Slumz.boxden.com reports that a secretary and six laboratory workers at Kaiser Permanente in California held the winning ticket for the $315 million Mega Millions jackpot.
According to global-lottery-review.com, the largest jackpot won on the New Jersey Lottery Mega Millions so far has been the $ 258 million claimed on September 16th 2005 by Helen and Harold Lerner from Rutherford. This win is still the largest ever in New Jersey Mega Millions history and also in the history of the New Jersey Lottery itself.
The second biggest win on the New Jersey Mega Millions to date has been the $ 216 million won by 10 co-workers from Chubb Commercial Insurance in Whitehouse Station on March 3rd 2009.
Of course, everyone likes to dream about it, but what would you do if you actually won all that money? Essortment.com reports you have up to one year to claim your prize. Think about whether or not you really need to claim those millions right away. Consider what happens when the news gets out.
Once your news is out, you'll suddenly find that you have friends and relatives you never knew before. It's wise to keep the news quiet until you've decided what to do with your millions. Problems, problems.
You want to put your ticket in a safe place, perhaps the safe deposit box at your bank. It's wise to write your name and address on the back of the ticket. This way it'll be easy enough to prove it was yours in the first place. Make copies of the ticket prior to locking it away.
You might want to consult with a financial advisor to see what the best option might be as far as taking the lump sum payment or annuity. You'll want to see what taxes need to be paid right away.
Financial advisors recommend placing your prize in an interest-bearing bank account for the first few weeks at least. Even though you may want to immediately quit your job, you should consider a leave of absence instead. It's best not to make any major purchases until decisions have been made about your future. Once you've made provisions for the future, see how much money is left to spend on party time.
Knowing what to expect can mean the difference between a year of impulse buying and a lifetime of comfort. Oh, to have such problems.
Tickets will remain on sale for the rest of us typically until 10:45 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, although players should check with a lottery retailer in their state for the exact sales cutoff time.
If the jackpot is not won on Tuesday, the Friday jackpot may become the largest lottery jackpot in history.
