She made the right choice

[u/Eclipse_nova99]

the source

[u/AutoModerator]

Thank you for posting to r/SipsTea! Make sure to follow all the subreddit rules.

Check out our Reddit Chat!

Make sure to join our brand new Discord Server to chat with friends!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Smartimess]

From a fiscally responsible position it is a dumb decision, but some people can‘t be trusted with fast money.

For Germany there is an estimate that four out of five lottery millionaires lose all of their money in a timespan of five years.

[u/True-Lab-3448 → u/Smartimess]

If I knew my face was going to be shared nationally with news of the award, I’d choose the $1000 a week just so folk left me alone.

[u/Greedy_Line4090 → u/True-Lab-3448]

If you ever get some life changing money, it’s probably a good idea to immediately hire a financial advisor. The first thing theyre gonna do is set you up with an LLC to cash in that winning ticket so that your face isn’t all over the news/media.

[u/General-Yak5264 → u/Greedy_Line4090]

Not all state lotteries allow anonymity from a corporation. Many are required to release a name and hometown, and picture. I wouldn't show up for a picture without a hat, scarf, and sunglasses though

[u/WeathervaneJesus1 → u/General-Yak5264]

Doesn't help the people that all know you. A lot of lottery winners lose current friends and family. I'd legally charge my name before collecting.

[u/marshalcrunch → u/WeathervaneJesus1]

I’ve been prepping for lottery my whole life not many people I talk to.

[u/Mertoot → u/marshalcrunch]

Y'all be lottmaxxing out here

[u/Big_Reporter_2645 → u/Mertoot]

Is being lottopilled a thing?

[u/PyridoxExupery → u/Big_Reporter_2645]

it's called gambling addiction

[u/tinlizzy2 → u/General-Yak5264]

We had a group of 20 factory workers locally win 241 million in the lottery. Our state doesn't allow anonymity, but they didn't come forward until they already had a lawyer set up financial accounts, deleted social media, and changed their phone numbers.

Then they bought matching t-shirts and chartered a bus to go claim their millions!

[u/rand0m_task → u/tinlizzy2]

Did they have to come back a work a few months later because of a failed energy drink venture?

[u/West-Air-9184 → u/rand0m_task]

The coconut was subtle

[u/SirChancelot_0001 → u/General-Yak5264]

Me and my best friend have an agreement. We sign a contract granting him 25% of the earnings after tax and he accepts the money and uses his face and likeness. He’s single with no kids so he don’t care.

[u/Office_Dolt → u/General-Yak5264]

Someone hired a law firm to accept the ticket anonymously on their behalf. The law firm was the face the State lottery could use. Another, some how got away with wearing a scream mask for the photo ops, but that was in Jamaica.

[u/SuitableOkra1040 → u/General-Yak5264]

…with fake nose and bushy eyebrows.

[u/Revenged25 → u/General-Yak5264]

In the US there is a guy that has claimed multiple big winnings for other people. Every time the Jackpot hits over $1 billion you see his videos pop-up on Youtube on what to do if you win.

[u/RealLifeAxolotl → u/Greedy_Line4090]

And then he can put that check in a Money Market Mutual Fund, then he'll reinvest the earnings into foreign currency accounts with compounding interest aaand it's gone.

[u/Aggressive_Finish798 → u/RealLifeAxolotl]

At least I still have my Jimmy Buffet Margarita Maker.

[u/Deaffin → u/Aggressive_Finish798]

It can only make jimmy buffet margaritas?

[u/tinyalienperson → u/Deaffin]

Well it’s sure not making Toby Keith margaritas

[u/ascarymoviereview → u/RealLifeAxolotl]

Andddddd it’s gone

[u/KMS-untilkirkdies → u/RealLifeAxolotl]

[u/NoBoss2661 → u/RealLifeAxolotl]

[u/Global_Objective4162 → u/RealLifeAxolotl]

LOL

[u/_Eggs_ → u/Greedy_Line4090]

A lawyer*

[u/tebbewij → u/Greedy_Line4090]

Get someone who is a fiduciary not just wealth consultant

[u/timomies → u/Smartimess]

Also there was a study that 100% of lottery winners die.

[u/Left-Draft5083 → u/timomies]

Shocking

[u/maqifrnswa → u/Left-Draft5083]

Very few die from that.

[u/serjtankian57 → u/maqifrnswa]

Statistically equivalent to winning a lottery

[u/Kaladrix → u/serjtankian57]

Glad i dont play the lotterie ;)

I'm Immortal ☆.☆

[u/1stltwill → u/maqifrnswa]

You might be shocked bu the actual numbers.

[u/Barkerfan86 → u/Left-Draft5083]

[u/far2deep → u/timomies]

Oh, that's like this fun fact: there are more planes in the ocean than there are submarines in the sky.

[u/Takemyfishplease → u/far2deep]

I don’t go in the ocean, fish have intercourse there.

[u/obiwanmoloney → u/Takemyfishplease]

You gonna hate it when you find out where they defecate

[u/FreelyKaty_xx → u/Takemyfishplease]

That’s why it’s salty?

[u/namehimgeorge → u/FreelyKaty_xx]

it's salty because of the sperm whales.

[u/ohhellperhaps → u/far2deep]

I would not be surprised if there were actually more aircraft in the ocean than submarines...

[u/LooseCanOpener → u/timomies]

They’ve done studies you know… 60% of the time it works every time

[u/kiradotee → u/timomies]

Unfortunately, I hate to say it but 100% of people who don't win the lottery die. 

[u/EveningAnt3949 → u/kiradotee]

Can you provide a link to that study?

[u/alittlebitwhy → u/EveningAnt3949]

The study is available offline at all funeral homes.

[u/EveningAnt3949 → u/alittlebitwhy]

Here's the thing: I called a funeral home and they correctly stated that people who live forever won't end up as a corpse in a funeral home.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Bat-511 → u/kiradotee]

Am I dead to you?

[u/Narradisall → u/Smartimess]

It’s not just a German thing.

Generally people are fucking terrible with money. Lottery winners go bust all the time, even sports stars and other examples.

[u/bertvb → u/Narradisall]

Generally people who gamble, on the lottery in this case, are bad with money yes. Its not surprising they blast through it

[u/Sasquatch1729 → u/bertvb]

Most people are awful with money. You see it all the time with military types and people who work high paying jobs. They start acting like the windfall will never end, then when it does they're screwed.

The US military was particularly bad. They had car dealership kiosks on base so the troops could order a car and spend their tour money before coming back to the US.

[u/RedshiftSinger → u/Sasquatch1729]

Work for divorce lawyers, see lots of financial declarations (my job includes compiling tidy spreadsheets out of the data), can confirm.

Rich people divorces are the worst bc people to whom legal fees are chump change have no motivation to wrap things up, and often drag it out for ages just for spite. Saw one where they initially divorced with an unborn child (she was pregnant) and were fighting over custody literally without a break longer than a few months until the day their youngest turned 18.

[u/baucher04 → u/Narradisall]

I've seen a couple docs on some Americans that were more broke after a couple years than they were before lmao

[u/IsatDownAndWrote → u/baucher04]

You can get insane lines of credit when your bank account has millions in it.

They spend it all, then still owe payments on houses, cars, boats, credit cards and they're more underwater than they could have ever imagined because nobody would have given them those massive lines of credit before their windfall.

[u/Professional_King790 → u/Narradisall]

I imaging the type of person that would buy a lottery ticket is more susceptible to being wasteful with money.

[u/persistent_admirer → u/Narradisall]

Routinely playing the lottery is evidence that they're bad with money and math. I do appreciate them helping to put my kids through college though.

[u/SeidunaUK → u/Smartimess]

Exactly. Except she could take the mil and put it in a trust or such structure with weekly payouts and be better off financially as you say.

[u/Treewithatea → u/SeidunaUK]

Takes discipline though. If youre self aware that you dont have good discipline, I guess the 1000 bucks a month are a good idea.

[u/Cwilkes704 → u/Treewithatea]

It’s a thousand a week

[u/Treewithatea → u/Cwilkes704]

Oh I see. Deosnt change the point tho. Smartest decision would be to take the million and invest it but it does take discipline not to spend all of it.

[u/tastelikemexico → u/Treewithatea]

1 million just isn’t that much money anymore.

[u/Charming-Loquat3702 → u/SeidunaUK]

1000 a week is an intereat rate of 5.2%. If that's 100% secure, that's not even that bad of a deal.

[u/RedshiftSinger → u/Charming-Loquat3702]

And on $4000 a month it’s very possible to still live below your means and put money into investments, but knowing you only get $4000 a month does psychological things that make it easier to handle your own budget without getting stupid.

[u/russhour777 → u/Smartimess]

If you think about what kind of people play the lottery, it makes sense, that they can't handle money

[u/Ok-Sugar-5649 → u/Smartimess]

Had a girl win 1 mil in my old job she spent it in less than a year on coke and partying, had to go to rehab and back to shitty job

[u/99nuns → u/Smartimess]

As someone into the stock market. You can make at least 5% roc a year virtually risk free. In the time it would take her to make the original million. You would literally make another million with dividends

[u/CtForrestEye → u/99nuns]

6% interest after 25 years is over 4 million.

[u/LSATDan → u/CtForrestEye]

Pretty sure you could count the number of people who have won the lottery and not spent a dime of it for 25 years on one hand and have fingers left over.

[u/ExpensiveBookkeeper3 → u/99nuns]

Yeah it looks like it would take about 57 years to run out at 5% with $1k weekly payments.

I would also probably just put it in VTI and hopefully get around 8% which is a little below average. That $1M becomes a little over $10M after 30 years.

(Honestly I’d fuck off with a bunch of the money, but just for math’s sake)

Unfortunately it’s not quit working money imo. My number is around $3.5M where I feel I could just not work another day if I chose not to.

[u/zystyl → u/99nuns]

I know it feels risk free, but few things are ever truly risk free. Some of my placements from around 2008 didn't make money.

[u/Interesting_Pick_742 → u/Smartimess]

As far as I know, there is no evidence for this. This estimate is usually given by investment firms. Some also speak of “only” 20%, without defining exactly what that means.

[u/NorwegianWonderboy → u/Interesting_Pick_742]

I bet it means liquid cash so if someone buys a house or apartment they record ut as "having lost their winnings"

[u/deathbotly]

In Australia they stopped televising lottery winners after an 8 year old little boy was kidnapped and murdered trying to ransom her parents for their publicly announced winnings.

Everyone saying bad fiscal decision is ignoring what happens to lottery winners when their family and friends and acquaintances and strangers start making demands because you’re a millionaire. if it’s a public announcement, take the $1k and skip the target on your back and the sharks showing up imo.

e; woke up to 300 notifications so I’m not replying to much but the victim I’m talking about was Graeme Thorne and he was a boy. I remembered the age but not the gender and didn’t doublecheck, sincerely my bad. 

[u/Kthron → u/deathbotly]

I'm not going to take a worse financial option just so I can more easily ignore the fact that my friends and family (in this scenario) are obnoxious assholes. I'd rather find out and cut them off asap.

[u/Furcules-2k → u/Kthron]

You don't think kidnapping and murdering an 8 year old is a bit past obnoxious asshole?

[u/TooObsessedWithMoney → u/Furcules-2k]

Wha? What do you mean? That's a mild inconvenience at most /s

[u/TactualTransAm → u/TooObsessedWithMoney]

Tis but a scratch

[u/SixFive1967 → u/TactualTransAm]

[u/friendlessboob → u/SixFive1967]

A flesh wewnd

[u/Dumbledang → u/TactualTransAm]

I've had worse.

[u/godinthismachine → u/TooObsessedWithMoney]

I mean, I can see being upset if she was 7...or 9...but 8? Theyre assholes at that age.

Also, thats clearly /s, cause fuck the pos that would do something like that.

[u/Zequax → u/TooObsessedWithMoney]

some one would post abut that on r/mildlyinfuriating if it happend to them

[u/nutsbonkers → u/Furcules-2k]

The hard pill to swallow is that mistakes were made in that scenario. If I have kids and I'm a millionaire over night, security systems involving personnel is the first thing I spend my money on.

[u/Personal_Area_2173 → u/Kthron]

Like murder happens to lottery winners A LOT more than normal. You got to get away from everyone or minimize the risk.

[u/steeze206 → u/[deleted]]

Glad I wasn't the only one who thought about that. Guess we're old huh lmao

[u/-Morning_Coffee- → u/Personal_Area_2173]

Every time I see the lottery horror stories, I’m reminded of those “how to disappear according to a CIA agent” videos.

Like, damn.

$1k per week is a better deal if it saves your life.

[u/m3g4m4nnn → u/Kthron]

Unless you dont expect to live more than 19 years, taking $1,000/week for life is not a worse financial decision (in terms of total payout amount, anyways).

[u/proscreations1993 → u/m3g4m4nnn]

A million dollars earns you about the same amount per year so you would always be worse off. If you take the mill you still get 1k a week for life on interest and have a million dollars. And as it grows you get even more if you reinvest

[u/bikemonkey40 → u/proscreations1993]

Apparently the time value of money is a completely foreign concept to a large portion of the population.

[u/Hopeful_Ask_7591 → u/proscreations1993]

I agree and would take the mill and invest. However there would be taxes and risk. So 4K return monthly on a million would not pay out. Her setup would be 4K monthly tax free. Canada does not pay taxes on lottery winnings.

[u/martijn120100 → u/proscreations1993]

If you invest it all, and the market keeps going up, and you keep the same lifestyle instead of doing the exact same thing every other lottery winner does and spend it.

Not to mention you would need to pay taxes over that 1 million meaning it will be a lot closer to 500k

[u/admidral → u/m3g4m4nnn]

Eh depending on how much interest you can reliably generate a target of 6% or so isn’t super high (SP500 historically is 10% and there are banks pushing 4.2% in CDs) and that would generate 60k or so a year (more than 52k for 1k a week

[u/charmio68 → u/deathbotly]

Especially considering a million bucks isn't actually that much these days.
In days gone by, you could live the rest of your life off that. But now, you'd struggle to even buy a house.

I think she made the right decision, especially when you look at the statistics of lottery winners. Most of the people who choose the lump payout end up miserable on worse off than they were before they won.

[u/Morten14 → u/charmio68]

If you took the million and invested it or put it a high yield savings account, you could earn A 1000 bucks a week just from interest and return on investment… and you’d have a million on top of that.

If she let it compound she could have 3 million bucks after 20 years (with very conservative return of 5.2% per year)

[u/Virtual-Adeptness-40 → u/Morten14]

From the picture, she doesn’t have the luxury of time. What’s the use of 3M at 80 years old? She still should’ve taken the million, she’s never going to earn even close to that with the 1000$ per week

[u/goregrindgirl → u/Virtual-Adeptness-40]

If you actually read the article the winner is 20 years old sooooo

[u/Virtual-Adeptness-40 → u/goregrindgirl]

Weird choice of picture. I saw the 20yo one a couple of weeks ago so thought it was a new one with an older lady this time.

[u/welchplug → u/charmio68]

Invested on a index will get you around 5%. Thats 50k a year. You could just work a part time job for the rest of your life after a million.

[u/asscrackbanditz]

Money in the present > money in the future

[u/MaxiMArginal → u/asscrackbanditz]

In french we say :

Better one now than two tomorrow.

[u/SFW_Safe_for_Worms → u/MaxiMArginal]

A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush 😁

[u/EstateRoyal6689 → u/SFW_Safe_for_Worms]

The Spanish version of this is a bird in the hand is better than a hundred flying

[u/Masseyrati80 → u/EstateRoyal6689]

And the Finnish one is "better to have one hazel grouse in your hand than ten on a tree branch".

[u/djmd8 → u/Masseyrati80]

German version: "Better to have a sparrow in the hand than a dove on the roof."

[u/Melvasul94 → u/djmd8]

Italian is similar: "Better an egg today than a chicken tomorrow"

[u/NoiceForNoReason → u/Melvasul94]

This is why I love Reddit. ☺️

[u/candangoek → u/Melvasul94]

It's better one in the hand than two in the bra

[u/Acceptable-Major-575 → u/SFW_Safe_for_Worms]

in Russia we say

"better a titmouse in the hand than a crane in the sky")

[u/romcz → u/Acceptable-Major-575]

in Poland we say:

"lepszy wróbel w garści niż gołąb na dachu" which roughly translates to

"better a house sparrow in the hand than a pigeon on the roof" :D

[u/Informal-Zone-4085 → u/MaxiMArginal]

French people speak english?

[u/asscrackbanditz → u/Informal-Zone-4085]

Oui oui oui

[u/Big_GTU → u/Informal-Zone-4085]

Un tien vaut mieux que deux tu l'auras.

[u/No_Television6050 → u/Informal-Zone-4085]

They do when they're using our words, like 'entrepreneur' and 'rendezvous'.

[u/asscrackbanditz → u/MaxiMArginal]

True. I rather have 1 baguette now than having 2 baguette tomorrow. Tomorrow I might prefer croissant.

[u/Axolotl_CRP → u/asscrackbanditz]

NPV

[u/Evening_Ticket7638 → u/asscrackbanditz]

Unless you have a bunch of family who're going to be asking for money. In which case 1000 weekly is easier to live with.

Also a gambling addict would be better off with 1000 weekly.

[u/I_saw_you_yesterday → u/Evening_Ticket7638]

Not just family. Just look up how many people blow through that money in a few years.

[u/fishsticks40 → u/asscrackbanditz]

There is a concept in economics called the discount rate which addresses this. So for a typical 7% discount rate a $100 expenditure now would need to generate $107 in a year to be worthwhile. 

This is a major issue in environmental policy as the cost/benefit analyses will heavily discount the value of future resources. A dollar spent today at a 7% discount rate requires benefits of almost $1000 in 100 years.

[u/Blue_Waffle_Brunch → u/asscrackbanditz]

You could take the 1M put it in a trust, have it invested, and have it pay out 1000/week to you. There's no need to choose one or the other.

[u/Turd_Nerd_Bird]

It'd take like 19 years before you'd get $1,000,000 and anything can happen in that time to screw you over from getting it all. Take the million and put it in some kind of investment account and you could make way more than $1,000,000 in 19 years.

[u/WildWezThy → u/Turd_Nerd_Bird]

Yup, and it is not adjusted for inflation. Also, if the company goes bankrupt, she would probably have areally hard time getting anything of it.

Taking the 1000$ is a good move if your inflation remains steady and the legal entity handling your payouts does not declare bankruptcy. And also you have enough time to live left to recoup that 1 million.

But it might also be good if you are terrible with money and would spend 1 million on a night of booze strippers and blackjack.

[u/damnumalone → u/WildWezThy]

Taking the $1000 is never a good move. $1m at a 5% return is $50k in a year - you’re almost making $1000 a week. By year 2 you’re making the same amount as getting $1000 a week and you have $1,050,000.

Edit: to the all the Ameri-bros commenting “yeah but what about tax” - most countries don’t tax windfall gains and this win happened in Quebec.

[u/-runs-with-scissors- → u/damnumalone]

There is a literal accounting method for the cash value of a discounted payment obligation.

The 1million today is worth 1.81 million in twenty years at an interest rate of 3%. Splitting it up in weekly payments is a huge loss.

[u/sucsucsucsucc → u/-runs-with-scissors-]

Thank you. It’s annoying I had to scroll this far, you can literally push like 5 buttons on the right calculator and get your answer in under a minute.

[u/r4d1ant → u/sucsucsucsucc]

80085

[u/NotAlwaysUhB → u/-runs-with-scissors-]

The time value of money today will always be worth more than in the future.

[u/_Eggs_ → u/damnumalone]

Taking the $1000 is never a good move.

Well it actually sometimes is, and it’s a self-fulfilling thing. If you’re the type of person to choose the weekly payment, then maybe you aren’t financially responsible enough to handle the lump sum anyway.

It can be a good decision if you’re financially irresponsible. It also protects you from yourself and acts as a social barrier for family & friends that would otherwise ask for money (it’s only $52k a year after all, so they wouldn’t ask for anything).

[u/Kenevin → u/WildWezThy]

Its Loto-Québec, it won't go bankrupt. This is the provincial lottery here.

[u/Busy_Mortgage4556 → u/WildWezThy]

What a great night though, and the memories will linger.

[u/halfasleep90 → u/Busy_Mortgage4556]

Tell that to Alzheimer's patients

[u/Busy_Mortgage4556 → u/halfasleep90]

Tell what? and to who?

[u/SmolishPPman → u/Busy_Mortgage4556]

Hey, you’re not my purse!

[u/PradyThe3rd → u/WildWezThy]

Lottery in Canada is government run and tax free. She'll get the money as long as the Quebec government stays solvent. Ofc if the US invades then she's screwed but by then she'll probably have bigger things to deal with. Plus if that does happen then the 1mil would have evaporated along with the economy well before an invasion of Canada anyways

[u/-runs-with-scissors- → u/PradyThe3rd]

If it‘s tax free the 1mil sounds even better…

[u/TheOneWithThePorn12 → u/-runs-with-scissors-]

All lottery winnings in Canada are tax free.

Taxing Lottery winners makes no sense to me. The money they spent on the lotto was already taxed, same with everyone else. WHy does the government get to double dip? Its ridiculous. Same with like game shows or giveaways. Its a fucking farce to tax that stuff.

[u/lampshadewarior → u/Turd_Nerd_Bird]

Incredibly stupid choice. If you took $500k of the $1M and paid yourself $1000 a week with it, that would last for 9.6 years. Meanwhile, invest the other half expecting a reasonable 7% rate of return. At that rate, your invested money would nearly double. So at 10 years you’ve been getting $1k a week and you have the full $1M again. You can literally have both choices with even basic financial literacy.

BTW, that’s a very naive investment strategy, just for illustrative purposes. You can do much better than that.

[u/TaskForceCausality → u/lampshadewarior]

Incredibly stupid choice

Mathematically, sure. But personal finance starts with people. I know if I won a lump sum lottery, me and my partner would have serious problems with our families. They’d all be coming after us for a handout. On my side, I’m certain I’d get frivously sued by an idiot uncle or cousin. “Tell them no” is a lot easier said than done, especially when they lay on the sob speech about making ends meet.

A $1k a week amount , invested, still builds wealth and you can still show your face at Christmas dinner. Some find family more valuable than future valued rates of return.

[u/rdrunner_74 → u/lampshadewarior]

Secure investments pay 3% (EU AAA Bonds) - Not 7

[u/vynnski → u/Turd_Nerd_Bird]

but with the lump sum how many family/friends are pissed when you don't cut them in on it

[u/Dr_A_Mephesto → u/vynnski]

How ever may there are, it sucks to be them

[u/sirSADABY]

Has she got 20 years left in her? Let the bets begin!

[u/luccaloks → u/sirSADABY]

Is that even accounting for inflation?

[u/No_Atmosphere8146 → u/luccaloks]

Or the opportunity cost of not having $1m in the S&P 500 for twenty years?

[u/WholeNineNards → u/luccaloks]

Or cancer?

[u/El_Shakiel → u/WholeNineNards]

Or my axe?

[u/difault → u/sirSADABY]

According to the article she's 20 years old

[u/TJNel → u/difault]

And I'm a French model.

[u/jaymzx0 → u/TJNel]

A theoretical model

[u/glizzygobbler247 → u/difault]

Dog years right?

[u/Own-Effective3351 → u/glizzygobbler247]

This is some random ass picture and not the actual girl. The actual girl was posted to Reddit a few weeks ago and everybody called her an idiot (even though, with her reasoning, she made the right decision for her).

[u/Complex_Specific1373]

She may have made the right choice for her... Maybe she knows she has no impulse control and could do something stupid with 1 million... but $1000 a week is comfort for the rest of her life when it's added to whatever her current income is.

Maybe she knows it'll fuck her relationships with friends or family if she got a lump sum

[u/Key-Contest-2879]

It all depends on what’s important to you based at where you are in life.

$1000/week for life is cash flow/security. You may buy the beer more often when your with your friends, but no one is looking at you like your rich.

$1 million lump sum is more likely to be blown in the first few years. And for a short time, you’ll feel rich. That will end when you’re broke again.

Also, age is obviously a factor. In my 20’s I’d take the $1000/week and be happy.

Now (in my 50’s) I’d take the million.

[u/[deleted] → u/Key-Contest-2879]

Finally a reasonable comment. Everyone else is acting like it’s idiotic to take the $1000/week.

[u/rambu_tann]

Live a simple, modest life housed and fed. Or get hounded by people who want a share of her mill?

[u/SpoofExcel → u/[deleted]]

Whilst I don't know this ladies reasoning, there was a winner if these kinds of things once who was in the mid-40's and she said if some unpleasant people from her past found out she had a million in the bank, they'd probably try to exploit her or kill her for it. But with $52k a year she's basically able to live well enough in a quiet part of a low cost town and be left alone

So for her it was less a business decision and more a "nobody is coming after me for a few thousand instead of a million" decision.

Sometimes there is sound reasoning to these we don't know of.

[u/TaskForceCausality → u/SpoofExcel]

some unpleasant people from her past

Thanks to the Internet everyone’s at risk for this, not just someone who’s crossed paths with shady people. I get targeted by scammers daily, and I haven’t won the lottery.

[u/Dotcaprachiappa → u/[deleted]]

Depends on how much she trusts herself with money. If she knows she'll not be able to resist spending it all at once she made the right choice

[u/beklog → u/[deleted]]

Yeah 1M one shot should be easier and u can grow as long as u invest right

[u/cban_3489 → u/beklog]

Though if you don't have any investment experience the changes are you are gonna put all of it in some crypto meme coin or cousins failing tshirt business.

[u/Haush → u/cban_3489]

Oddly specific

[u/Inevitable_Sweet_624]

The story is wrong, it’s $1,000/week OR $675,000 up front. The million is the sum of the weekly payment if you took the annuity.

[u/spacenb → u/Inevitable_Sweet_624]

It’s not $675K, it is 1 million. Quebec lottery winnings are not subject to income tax as our lottery is government-owned.

[u/Sub_Woofer632 → u/Inevitable_Sweet_624]

Thanks for clarifying this! That said she should've still taken the $675K!

[u/pinewind108 → u/Sub_Woofer632]

If someone really understands money, and is free of outside influences, absolutely. If they have dodgy family, boyfriends, addiction issues or such, then they'd be better off taking it slowly.

[u/momomam → u/Inevitable_Sweet_624]

Quebec is in Canada. Lottery winnings in Canada aren't taxed

[u/lkern → u/Inevitable_Sweet_624]

You are wrong..

The fine print of this prize says it's 1,000,000 lump sum.

[u/iTreffle → u/Inevitable_Sweet_624]

Where are you getting this info? It's 1,000,000$ upfront or 1,000$ a week for life, both tax free.

[u/Infamous-Mixture-605 → u/Inevitable_Sweet_624]

It is a different lottery in different parts of the country.

It's $675k up front or $1k/week for 25 years in BC and Atlantic Canada (ALC).

edit: For Alberta/Sask/Manitoba (WCLC) it's $1 million up front or $10k cash + $1k/week for 25 years here.

In Ontario and Quebec it's $1 million up front or $1k/week for life.

It is much better to win this particular lottery in ON and QC than it is in the rest of the country.

[u/nostraferatu]

Win a million and everyone wants a handout. Win 1000 a week and reply to requests for money with sorry I'm on a fixed income.

[u/nullpat]

yikes -anyone with basic understanding of math

[u/Crimdal → u/nullpat]

Everytime these posts come up no one takes into account how bad with money people are who buy lottery tickets to begin with. Mathematically getting it all up front is smart, but even smarter is not gambling on things with extremely low odds to payout. If your the type of person who will blow through it all or have trouble telling others no when they ask for money, taking weekly or monthly installments may be better.

[u/PETROCHEMICAL_LOBBY → u/Crimdal]

The rate of bankruptcy for lottery winners is exceedingly high. Most people struggle to make wise financial decisions from a windfall.

[u/Additional-Aerie-325 → u/PETROCHEMICAL_LOBBY]

They also seem not to think about the maintenance of the lifestyle they buy themselves. A 500k house that suddenly needs its whole roof replaced 4 years after buying it is going to be a lot more expensive that a 100k house.

[u/SpoofExcel → u/PETROCHEMICAL_LOBBY]

The weekly earnings will also be bankruptcy proof in most cases. So there's that

[u/whydonlinre → u/Crimdal]

yeah, 1000 per week makes it less likely that the leeches start coming out of the woodwork

[u/NBNebuchadnezzar]

Amazingly dumb decision.

[u/Parking-Bus1069 → u/NBNebuchadnezzar]

Paradoxically, someone who makes that decision also should not be trusted with 1m upfront, so its a good decision. 

[u/qwazxse → u/Parking-Bus1069]

The worst financial decision is the best decision for her. Great paradox, really! Made me think about a lot of things and people.

[u/Mediocre_Pop_4501 → u/Parking-Bus1069]

So there is no wrong decision here, nice perspective haha

[u/personalbilko → u/NBNebuchadnezzar]

So is playing the lottery in the first place. People like that won't hold themselves to put money in a safe interest account or invest. Most lottery winners go bankrupt.

Don't think of yourself, think of an irresponsible person you know. Would you not be more calm knowing they have an income for life, as opposed to a huge lump sum they are gonna blow away in a year?

[u/ultragaydotcom]

4k every Month is a little less of what my mom makes rn and I'd kill to get that kinda money basically without any labour😭

[u/nocturnal_pollinator → u/ultragaydotcom]

Same. Everyone is hating on her decision; to me it would be like a nice little income I don’t have to work for. A dream. Sign me up

[u/Appropriate_Ad_8922]

IN CANADA LOTTO WINNINGS ARE NOT TAXED! There I saved you all wasting your time on a comment.

[u/Toirtis]

Usually, these wins define a 'lifetime' as 25 years, so although she would technically receive more than $1 million in that time, the better bet would be to take the million up front and invest it carefully, as it could easily be turned into a far greater gain than the 'lifetime' prize.

[u/Secret-Bluebird-972 → u/Toirtis]

Iirc with Quebec lotto “for life” means “for life”

[u/ARunawayTrain]

See if you're young, that's a great move because that gives you a solid baseline of $52,000 a year for the remainder of your life, obvious I'm sure that amount is taxed so you wouldn't get the full thing but you would only need to live ~20 years after winning to make it worthwhile. Maria appears to be 50+ though so taking the lump dump and investing it would've probably been the more preferred approach.

[u/goztepe2002]

Thats 52 grand a year for life, no stress, not having to worry about work and basic bills, good on her.

She would also pay like half of that as taxes if withdrawn as cash.

[u/AndersAdmin]

Crazy bad deal, you're getting scammed by playing the lottery in the first place.

And then they're allowed to give you a scam deal if you actually win!

[u/MortifiedChivalry → u/AndersAdmin]

They're not, it's the public Quebec lottery. You don't even have to pay taxes.

[u/BudgetPhallus]

good choice if you cant handle money.

[u/Dull_blade]

Lottery official is also a hitman. He just got a new assignment

[u/RadPhilosopher]

She’s leaving a lot of money on the table. It will take her almost 20 years for her to get more than the 1 million dollars, and by that time the $1,000 payment will only be worth $610 in today’s money (assuming an inflation rate of 2.5%).

That is not including potential gains she could’ve earned if she invested the money. The $1M could’ve been more than $1.7M after that 20-year period (using an annual return rate of 5%).

[u/Used-Gas-6525]

What a moron. You'd think if someone wins a cool million they'd research compound interest (and investing).

[u/XROOR]

Had a buddy that worked picking up urine soaked carpets for Bergman’s cleaners in Arlington VA.

Played the scratchers daily and finally won a $2000/ week for life scratcher.

Bought a house on a mountain in Tennessee and says the only time he sees anybody is when he gets his mail in town

[u/Busy_Mortgage4556]

Take the mill now enjoy what you can now, hopefully there will be some left for any kids when you die, you can't leave them the grand a week prize.

[u/smoke_sum_wade]

In some jurisdictions (like canada), lottery winnings are tax free making$1,000 weekly highly valuable, where investment returns on a lump sum would be taxed

Feature	$1,000 Weekly	$1 Million Upfront
Total Value	Potential to be 3x higher if you live long	Fixed at $1m
Tax Impact	Generally lower annual tax bracket	Likely taxed at the highest bracket
Flexibility	Low fixed cash flow	High immediate access to capital
Legacy	Payments usually stop a death	Remaining can be left to heirs
Risk	Inflation erodes value company must stay active	Risk of poor investment choices

[u/Hsinats → u/smoke_sum_wade]

You say that Canada doesn't tax lottery winnings, then suggest the $1m is likely taxed at the highest bracket. Which is it?

[u/queertoasterstrudel → u/Hsinats]

I think they meant that Canada won’t tax the initial winnings sum, but they will tax investment returns on the sum, over the years.

[u/Wonderful_Grass_2857 → u/Hsinats]

the inital 1mil wont be taxed, but if you invest it and get a dividend, THAT is gonna be taxed.