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TagsBY BOB HOLT
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
The opportunity to win a large windfall during our current economic times means much more than it has in the past. And that potential prize is still growing as the Mega Millions jackpot has jumped up to $127 million for Tuesday’s drawing.
Friday marked the ninth time that the drawing had taken place without a winner of the multi-state Mega Millions lottery, allowing the estimated jackpot for Tuesday’s drawing to reach $127 million, with a cash option for $79.4 million.
Swrnn.com reports that nine tickets had five numbers, but didn’t have the Mega number, none of them being from New Jersey. These tickets are worth $250,000.
As hard as it is to win a lottery prize, New Jersey residents have still had their reasonable share of luck. Back in January, lottery.com reported a winning Jersey Cash 5 ticket worth $149,940 was sold at Espinosa Market, located at 725 State Street in Perth Amboy, Middlesex County for the Thursday, January 13 drawing.
MEGA MILLIONS WINNING NUMBERS FOR MARCH 8, 2011:
3, 17, 19, 41, 55, Mega Ball = 24
Also, according to lottery.com, in the December 8 Powerball drawing, 21,179 New Jersey players took home $91,011 in prizes ranging from $3 to $100, with over one hundred of those players winning $100.
One of the more frequent questions about Mega Millions to come up is the difference between the annuity prize and the cash option. According to usamega.com, the Mega Millions jackpot is an estimated 26-year annuity value. When players choose the annuity option for their prize, the state lottery pays the prize out over 26 years by buying U.S. Government Treasury Securities, which earn interest and mature annually over the 26 years.
That annual return is the amount the winners receive each year for the 26 year period. With the cash option, the state lottery will take the amount of money that would have been invested and will pay it directly to the winner in one payment. Both payment options have federal and applicable state taxes deducted from them (New Jersey withholding tax is 10.8 percent), although with an annuity option you pay taxes gradually on each annual payout, not all at once like with the cash option.
Federal guidelines suggest that if you are a jackpot prize winner but did not choose the cash option at the time of purchase, you will have one last chance to choose the cash option.
Hopefully, some New Jersey resident will have this problem to consider on Wednesday.
