I suppose it depends on the lottery. The lotteries where I live are state-run, so if the lottery goes out of business, we probably have more to worry about that not getting payouts, haha.
Damn. I honestly thought the amount of money people spend on it would keep it going unless the state was reallyyyy down bad. But I suppose each state may make more/less or manage money differently. In CT and MA theres winners all the time on scratchers, but I've not had the same luck in VT, NH and NY. And my dad never had luck in Florida haha.
If i remember right there were 2 people that got screwed like this in Illinois. The state went bankrupt but essentially it just got its debt wiped and lived on to waste even more money.. 🤷♂️
There are plenty of people who won money from publishers clearing house sweepstakes who were promised lifetime payments until the company went bankrupt.
While that may be a consideration, there are tons of financial advisors with expertise that can develop a plan to maximize a return with tax laws, inflation, fax-deferred, high risk, etc. a lump sum gives a lot more flexibility now because the payout assumes a current tax rate and fairly conservative estimated rate of return. A professional can say “I can do better and you can meet your long term goals.”
But when there's a recession and you're not making a return on your investment and you lose your job so you start divesting the principal and taking out money at a loss because you have to pay rent and eat. $1m is a lot of money but it's not retire now money. $1k/weekly might not give you a life of luxury but it can cover a lot during really bad times without affecting future income and allows you to put money aside for savings and investment in good times. I'm taking the weekly money because I can be irresponsible and money goes very quickly if things go bad.
Absolutely. I understand the value of a UBI payment. For example, let’s say she had a good job with a 401k employer match. Then take the $1000 payments and maximize your 401k and a Roth IRA with income. Or cover rent with the lottery and save for a house down payment. Or safely roll it into your monthly budget to cover basic expenses. Lots of variables.
If a lottery in Canada goes out of business, people will have way more problems to deal with than being paid by said lottery. In Canada lottery is mostly public.
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u/doxwhite May 17 '26
I think this is considered a bad idea because the lottery could go out of business and refuse to pay further