A RETIREE has pocketed considerably less than the $1million jackpot he held the winning ticket for after making an unpopular choice.
In West Boylston, Massachusetts, a suburb about nine miles north of Worcester, resident Paul Bashaw, 66, hit the jackpot and cashed it in on the same day he retired.
On July 17, Washaw informed his employer of over 20 years he'd be retiring by the end of the month and bought a scratch-off ticket a few days later during that same week, per the Massachusetts State Lottery.
He ended up scratching off a $1million prize from the state's $5 million 100X Cashword instant ticket game.
Although likely elated at the win, Washaw kept the newfound wealth a secret from the staff at the job he was leaving.
After his very last day of work, on July 28, Washaw then went to the Massachusetts Lottery headquarters in Dorchester to claim his winnings.
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The retiree told lottery officials that the win was one of three events he'd never thought would happen before he died.
“I told my wife there were three things in life I never thought I’d see happen: the Patriots winning the Super Bowl, getting a hole-in-one, and hitting the lottery," Washaw said.
"Now, I’ve hit all three."
Washaw bought his winning ticket at the convenience store J & J Variety in the West Boylston area, which will be awarded $10,000 for selling the ticket, per local CBS News outlet WABI.
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He told lottery officials that he plans to use the cash to travel after choosing the lump-sum distribution of just $650,000.
The lump-sum distribution option is a highly controversial choice, as the taxes that are placed on the jackpot amount considerably decrease what a winner actually pockets.
In Washaw's case, the taxes cost him $350,000.
The argument could be made that annuity payments wouldn't make sense for the retiree, given the average projected lifespan for an American male is about 73 years, per Verywell Health.
The annuity payments would have resulted in Washaw keeping more money throughout smaller dispersions over two decades.
Legal expert Andrew Stoltmann, who has represented at least 10 clients who won considerable lottery jackpots, says taking the lump sum distribution is a big mistake he sees 90 percent of players make.
In an exclusive conversation with The U.S. Sun, Stoltmann argued that the winners "don't have the infrastructure" to handle the money.
This has to do with financial education and the typical socioeconomic background of lottery winners, according to Stoltmann.
"They tend to be from lower socioeconomic backgrounds,” the lawyer told The U.S. Sun.
“So they then take this massive sum of money and they just don't really know what to do with that.”
"It's a pretty big mistake," Stoltmann continued.
With the annual payments instead, he said winners who obtain considerable amounts of money could make mistakes and not lose their whole fortune in the process.
However, many lottery winners still opt for the lump sum because of the perceived benefits, which include avoiding long-term tax implications and the opportunity to invest in real estate or stocks, per Annuity.org.
This could have been a contributing reason that Washaw did what he did.
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For more related content, check out The U.S. Sun's coverage of a woman who claimed she won the lottery but officials refused to pay up and lawmakers wouldn't help.
The U.S. Sun also has the story of a lottery winner who said her bank wouldn't cash the $100,000 check and even threatened to close her account.
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