First $1.1 billion Mega Millions prize of the year goes unclaimed, and winner can remain unidentified

Posted by Theodore September 27, 2024
First $1.1 billion Mega Millions prize of the year goes unclaimed, and winner can remain unidentified

WHILE a Texas player recently claimed the $810 million Mega Millions jackpot, a much larger prize from earlier in the year remains unclaimed.

The person who won the huge $1.128 billion first Mega Millions prize of 2024 has still not come forward.

USA Today said that this prize is the fifth biggest in Mega Millions history. The winning ticket was drawn on March 26 in New Jersey.

The lottery says that the player from New Jersey still hasn’t claimed their prize even though six months have passed.

Winners of the jackpot in New Jersey have up to one year from the date of the drawing to claim their prize.

The winner still has time, but the fact that they haven’t come forward yet has sparked interest, especially since state law lets the winner choose to stay anonymous.

Winners in New Jersey can hide their identities, but they still have to show valid identification at the lottery offices when they come to claim their prize.

Some states require that the winner’s name be made public, so this choice to remain anonymous is a rare treat.

GOTTA CLAIM

Even if no one claims this huge win by the end of the year, the money will still be used for something good.

The money that each state put into the Mega Millions prize pool will be sent back to those states, where they are usually used for different projects, according to the New Jersey Lottery.

In New Jersey, lottery prizes that aren’t claimed help pay for state employees’ retirement plans.

This includes firefighters, teachers, and police officers, so prizes that aren’t claimed can still have a good effect.

MORE MEGA WINS

This year has been full of exciting Mega Millions wins.

It was worth $552 million, and it was won by a player in Illinois on June 4.

This sum was also claimed, leaving only the big prize for the winner in New Jersey to be claimed.

Last but not least, the $810 million prize from the September 12 drawing was won by a player from Texas.

Now, they can choose to take the $409.3 million all at once.

Lottery winnings: lump sum or annuity?

Players who win big on lottery tickets typically have a choice to make: lump sum or annuity?

How much money you get from your prize can change between the two payout ways.

A lot of the time, annuities pay out slowly over 30 years.

When you get a lump sum, you pay all at once, but the amount you get is less because taxes are due all at once. That means Uncle Sam gets 24% of your prize right away. Wins are also taxed in many states.

Annuities can give winners time to get their finances in order before they get a life-changing amount of money, but big sums are taxed only once, which is an advantage.

When making a choice, you should also think about inflation, since benefits don’t change with the value of a dollar. In other words, the money you get from an annuity will probably be worth less as the term goes on.

Since prize payouts are different for each state and game, it’s best to check with your state’s lotto to make sure you know how to get your money. A financial expert can also help you think about what’s good and bad about each choice.

Different experts have different ideas about whether you should take the lump sum or the pension.

It was sold at a Murphy USA in Sugar Land, Texas, and it matched all five white ball numbers, which were 1, 2, 16, 24, and 66. It also matched the golden Mega Ball, which was 6.

The Texas player was celebrating their huge win when the Mega Millions prize went back up to $20 million. It was up for grabs again on Friday, September 13.

In an interesting turn of events, Mega Millions said that seven jackpots had been won on Friday the 13th in the past. This made the upcoming drawing even more exciting.

Some people have been lucky because they won other Mega Millions gifts and got them in time.

It cost one woman an extra dollar to get a ticket that won $1 million, but she lost almost half of it to taxes.

Someone else who played Mega missed a $681 million prize but won $1 million instead.

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