Mega Million players are considering how to use record $ 1.6B prize
CHICAGO (AP) – With Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot on record $ 1.6 billion, people connect tickets across the United States
The Jackpot on Powerball has also climbed. It's up to an estimated $ 620 million for Wednesday's drawing. That would make it the fifth largest jackpot in American history.
But much of the focus has been on Tuesday's Mega Millions drawing and what would be the biggest jackpot prize in US history.
From San Diego to New York, people dream of how they would spend the money if they beat the astronomical odds of winning.
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Little Rock, Arkansas, housekeeper LaCrystal White said initially that her first order would be to pay off bills and student loans, buy a house and a car. But the 34-year-old was quickly reassessed.
"Now, I'll give something back to charity first. That's what I'm going to do," said White. "I am. I will give back to charity and then I will splurge. Set up college funds for my children and set me up for the rest of my life. "
Then she told everyone at the gas station where she bought two Mega Millions tickets on Sunday that she would give them $ 1[ads1] million each if she won. She continued to add that she plans to buy more tickets later. 19659009] Arkansas is one of 44 states in which Mega Millions is played. It is also played in Washington, DC, and the American Virgin Islands.
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Nathan Harrell was in Chicago's center for work on Saturday when he stopped at a 7-Eleven and gave the club's two $ 20 bills – one for 10 Powerball tickets of $ 2 each and the other for 10 Mega Millions at $ 2 each. It's been a few years since he used something on the lottery.
"It must be in the news for me to think about it, "the 36-year-old, who works in economics and lives on the north side of the city, said.
He said that he and his wife have talked over the years about what they would do if they won and she said she would keep working. "So she probably would not have me to quit my job, "he said.
Harrell said that as he traveled the train to work, he had thought what he wanted. He shows that he had set up a trust fund for his two children.
"We did not want to sweat the little things anymore," he said. "Nothing wrong, but who knows."
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In Phoenix, Tim Masterson, a 41-year-old researcher, ran into Kings Beer & Wine, an exclusive convenience store and beer bar to buy seven mega million tickets while his family waited in the car outside.
Masterson paused when asked what he would do with the money if he won. After looking at a wide selection of beer and beer on the shelves, he said, "I would buy a brewery."
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Nebraska mother Michelle Connaghan said she had mentioned the big Mega Millions jackpot to her children, which led to a discussion of what the family would do with all the money.
"Other than paying bills and taking care of family, I think I would have fun walking around and surprise good deeds for people," said Connaghan, 48, when she picked up pizza for her family and a Mega Millions lottery ticket at an Omaha convenience store. "I think it would be great to have the opportunity to help someone who really needs it."
"And I'm sure we would take some pretty wonderful vacations as we walked around and made our surprises good deeds." [19659002] ___
In the New York City financial district, Juan Ramirez, 69, said he would withdraw from at least one of his jobs. He works as a school maintenance worker and shorter order cookie.
"I want to use it carefully. I would be prepared before I cash, see a financial adviser, he said and said he would invest the money.
" I have two jobs. I want to withdraw from one, maybe two. When I win billions of dollars, I decide which one to end.
"I would donate some money to charity, thinking of the homeless people with less than me. I would help someone."
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Guillermo Carrillo, 42, San Diego, acts as a roofer and who dishwasher at a restaurant.
Carrillo, who bought tickets in the suburbs, dreamed of buying a house for his mother in his homeland Guatemala, then he would give money to each of his five sisters – also in Guatemala – to spend, but they like his five brothers would not have anything, he said.
For himself, he would buy a house in the San Diego area and replace his old pickup with a new one in his preferred color, red. He would also travel. His list is Paris, Spain, the ruins of Machu Pichu, Peru, and of course Guatemala.
"There is a lot of money and I hope we win," he said.
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Dan Higgins is not typical lottery player, but he decided to try it when he took a coffee at a 7-Eleven in Brighton area in Boston on sunday.
"When it gets over a billion dollars it becomes convincing, so for $ 2 to potentially get $ 1.6 billion, it would be a pretty good return on that investment," said Higgins, 51, who lives in nearby Brookline.
First on his agenda, he will win: insert two -Ware alert on his sales job. Other than that, he says that he should take care of the education of his two children who will soon come across college.
"It's obviously a terrible lot of money, so I'd really only help my family in some way I could and probably buy a big house at the ocean somewhere. "
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At an Exxon store in Nashville, Tennessee, clerk Quin Newsom said that almost everyone who comes in bought a Mega Millions ticket – including herself. [19659002] Asked what she would do if she won the 22-year-old, "I would share it with my staff. We are going to retire from here. And then I would go to the Bahamas. "
Beyond that:" I would invest in something to keep the money going. You have to think about it. "
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Earl Howard, a lifelong New Yorker, said he plays the lottery" whenever it's big ", although he has never won anything. The odds of winning the Mega Millions Grand Prize are about one on 302 million.
"I will still do it. It does not matter what the odds are. You have to be in it to win it and if you do not try, you will not succeed, Howard said while buying at a 7-Eleven in Brooklyn.
Asked what he would do with the money, Howard said: "Move out of New York. Take care of my mother and my children and my wife. That's it. Save the rest. Nobody wont know that I used to." [19659002] ___
As a contributor to this report, Associated Press reporters Hannah Grabenstein in Little Rock, Arkansas, Sara Burnett in Chicago, Anita Snow in Phoenix, Margery Beck in Omaha, Neb. Ron DePasquale and Julie Walker in New York, Elliot Spagat in San Diego, Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston and Travis Loller in Nashville, Tenn.
