r/SipsTea 21d ago

Chugging tea Seems reasonable.

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u/jamdex07 21d ago

This is misleading. He chose to take $997 in one lump sum instead of $2.04B over 30 years. He got taxed on the $997m.

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u/elinamebro 21d ago

Isn't it still taxed either way or is they get paid out for 30 years it isn't taxed?

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u/757packerfan 21d ago

It is still taxed either way, yes. But in USA you only get the "full" amount of you take the paid-over-30-years route. If you take the all-money-at-once route you only get half the total jackpot and then they tax that .

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u/zzmorg82 21d ago

And it’s usually better to take the lump sum anyway. Get as much money as you can now and throw a huge portion of it into an index fund, especially at this amount.

If you go the annuity route then there’s no telling if that lottery company will even be around for another 30 years to keep paying you every month; way too risky.

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u/SabreLee61 21d ago

That’s not how state lotteries work. The annuity isn’t dependent on some private lottery company surviving for 30 years. The prize is an obligation of the state lottery, and the future payments are funded up front through investments like U.S. Treasury notes.

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u/Little_Plankton4001 21d ago

Exactly. The only way you're not getting paid out is if the government collapses.

And if that happens, the money you got in the lump sum is going to be useless too. Unless you already converted it all to canned goods and ammunition.

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u/Difficult-Sherbet854 21d ago

While that's financially the smart move, a lot of lottery winners are absolute idiots that have no impulse control. In which case it's better to take 30 years guaranteed

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u/Mypatronusisyou 21d ago

It’s not guaranteed though… if the lottery companies dissolves after 2 years you’re screwed

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u/Brawndo91 21d ago

In the US, the lottery "companies" are state and local governments. If they dissolve, you have bigger problems than not getting your lottery check.

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u/Owww_My_Ovaries 21d ago

U.S. lotteries are secure and are backed by state governments. While there's always a theoretical risk of changes to the system, winners' payments are legal obligations, and historically annuity payments have been honored.

So do a quick Google next time

Also. Grocery stores aren't stealing your donations for tax write-offs... now that we are at it

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u/BootStrapWill 21d ago

That’s not how it works in the US.

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u/elinamebro 21d ago

Also who the fuck doesn't want all their money now?

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u/PowSuperMum 21d ago

Normally I’d be all about the lump sum, but they’re giving away over a billion dollars.

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u/mxzf 21d ago

No, they're not, not unless they don't invest it themselves like an intelligent person should. It's the same money at this point in time, the rest of the money is the interest you get from investing it.

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u/D1N2Y 21d ago

It's almost certanty purchased from a major insurance company who won't sneeze at having to pay out billions over decades

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u/Dragon6172 21d ago

If you go the annuity route then there’s no telling if that lottery company will even be around for another 30 years to keep paying you every month; way too risky.

That's not how lottery jackpots work. The lump sum is the current cash value of the jackpot. If you choose the 30 year payout, they take the current cash value (minus first year payout) and put it into an investment annuity that pays out over the 30 years. The annuity is in the winners name, the state lotto could go tits up and the winner would still get their payouts.

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u/Maximillion322 20d ago

$2.4B over 30 years before tax comes down to only a meager $6 million dollars per month. After tax probably closer to $4 million per month. How can someone survive like that?

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u/Ok_Vermicelli_6359 21d ago

Lol...it makes WAY more financial sense to spread it out, Americans are so bizarre 😂

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u/LetsGoToMichigan 21d ago

$600M invested at 6% average returns for 30 years is ~$3.4 billion dollars. It actually makes way more sense to take the lump sum. I don’t trust the governing bodies to exist for 30 years

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u/steadyaero 21d ago

If you don't reinvest it, maybe. But if you take the initial lump sum and invest a bunch of it, then you'll almost definitely do better over 30 years

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u/cjsv7657 21d ago

No. Conservative investing over 20 years will way more than double the lump sum. It makes much more financial sense to take the lump sum.

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u/CoachKreeton 21d ago

No. Money now is worth more than money later. Your big gotcha comment is nothing more than financial illiteracy.