Let’s dream a little bit, shall we? Let’s say that for once luck has come your way. After a few really rough years of barely making ends meet and living paycheck to paycheck. Something has finally gone your way. Beyond all the odds, that Friday night lottery ticket that you have been buying for years is finally the winner. Dream a little bit more. You are not just “a” winner, you are “the” winner.
Finally, it looks like you are going to be able to turn all of the tables around and get your financial life in order. Finally be able to get to the place where you have always dreamed.
The biggest initial decision is to determine how you want to take your payment, your big winnings. Are you the kind of person who wants to make positive changes in your life? If so, you might want to contact a company who can help you get structured settlement cash now. You might realize that lump sum versus annuity discussion is an easy one for you to make.
Structured settlements allow you to get access to cash up front, instead of waiting for payments to come in slowly over many months, or even years, a direct funder with a relationship with national banks can give customers access to the most of their money at the best possible rates.
Off the top of the money you win, the lottery withholds 25% for federal tax. State taxes, depending on where you live and your tax bracket, will withhold another 6% to 9%. After taxes, you might be surprised to find that you will not be receiving the immediate cash flow that you might expect unless you work with a structured settlements adviser. Lottery payments can be tricky if you do not take the time to consult an expert.
For example, the Mega Millions annuity pays out as one immediate partial payment, and then follows with 29 annual payments. Each payment is scheduled to be 5% larger than the previous one. The Powerball annuity payout schedule, on the other hand, consists of 30 yearly payments that increase over time. In both of these situations, you can basically deduct the taxes you need to pay to the government, and then divide the rest of your winnings and divide them by 30 to determine how much you will get a year. This “dream” probably looks a little different than what you first expected.
If, however, you want to keep your dream of big winnings alive and get cash up front so that you can immediately begin to make the life changes you desire. Pay off debt. Pay for college tuition for you, a child, or a grandchild. If you name the dream, you will find the structured settlement cash now plan to help you reach them. Researching your options for structured settlements could be your next lucky break!
