You won the lottery! That?s amazing! But when you win the lottery you?re faced with a major decision, lump sum lottery winnings versus an annuity. A lump sum, obviously, is an amount of money you get up front, while annuities come in different lengths and time periods of payout. The two most common are set payments that happen over the course of 25 years, or payments made until death. Did you choose the annuity? Do you wish you had that money now? Don?t you want to receive lottery winnings today?
Surveys have shown that in the United States playing the lottery is the most widely practiced and popular form of gambling, and there were 34.8 million individual deferred annuity contracts in place by the end of 2013, exceeding $2.58 trillion. That?s a lot of money being payed out in dribs and drabs when you could use that money now.
You?re not alone in wishing you could receive lottery winnings now.
Sixty-four million people, or approximately 35% of the American population, said they had trouble with paying their bills or had substantial medical debt to pay off, in 2014, and by February of 2015, there was an average, daily, of 3,422 bankruptcy filings. From 2014 to 2015, outstanding student loan debt climbed from $1.21 trillion to $1.3 trillion, and outstanding auto loans grew from $866.44 billion to $943.76 billion.
But think of what you could do if you receive cash for lottery winnings.
- You could reduce debt and pay off medical bills!
- You could start a business! Estimates done by The Kauffmann Foundation show that it costs approximately an average of $30,000 to start a business, if you received lottery winnings today, you could start that business tomorrow.
- You could buy a home! If you?re looking to buy a home, most mortgage lenders will want a down payment of something between five and 20% of the sale price. That lottery money can be your down payment.
- You could go back to school! For the 2014 to 2015 school year, the average cost of tuition and fees, according to the College Board, was $9,139 for state residents at public colleges and $31,231 at private colleges. Lump sum lottery winnings can pay for schooling and a bright future!
Let?s see, get out of debt, put your life on track and manage your finances, look toward the future with a home, schooling, or making an investment? What are you waiting for? Receive lottery winnings now!