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One lucky ticket holder from Oamaru is $ 18.25 million richer tonight after winning the Boxing Day Powerball jackpot.
The jackpot increased to one of the biggest winnings of 2020 on Wednesday after no one recorded the winning numbers.
Tonight’s winner, who bought his ticket at New World Waitaki in Oamaru, receives $ 18 million for Powerball and another $ 250,000, a quarter of the $ 1 million First Division prize that was divided among four players.
The other three tickets that did not have the correct Powerball number are worth $ 250,000 each, their share of Division One.
They were purchased at Four Square Matarangi in Whitianga, at MyLotto by a player from Tauranga, and at Countdown Church Street in Timaru.
Also raffled off tonight was the Lotto Triple Dip Christmas promotion with over 300 additional prizes, including a $ 1 million cash prize, five Jaguar cars and 300 $ 5,000 cash prizes.
One lucky player from Auckland won the first promotional prize of $ 1 million. The winning coupon was sold at Mountain Road Pricecutter in Auckland.
The winning Jaguar coupon numbers and locations are:
The victory ends a year of great prizes for Lottery players, especially in the first months of 2020.
In May it was revealed that Lotto had created 21 millionaires in the first 21 weeks of the year.
And at the end of the fifth month of the year, there were 16 millionaires overnight with Lotto and Strike, with another five billionaires with Powerball.
In the biggest drawing of the year, 10 lucky winners won $ 5 million each after sharing in the gigantic $ 50 million Powerball jackpot in August.
After winning big Lotto prizes, winners are directed to the Lotto head office in Auckland, where they are taken to a special room stocked with champagne, chocolate and even tissues for the emotional ones. Winners also receive a book full of helpful tips.
“The decision about what you do with your earnings is entirely up to you; you will shape your future,” the 60-page book says.
“We hope this brochure helps you understand the steps ahead, make your goals easier to achieve, and of course, enjoy your earnings!
“We wish him all the best for the future, and we hope he remembers the day he discovered he was a winner as one of the happiest days of his life.”
The action schedule
Winners could be found at a high level, understandably, after a big lottery win, but right after a win was not the right time to splurge.
One of the steps that Lotto advised winners to take is to create an action schedule to help determine what the winners wanted to do with their money.
Immediate action
• Decide who you want to tell;
• Deposit the money into an interest-bearing bank account;
• Decide if you want to spend money right away: how much and on what?
• Talk to close friends and family about what you could do;
• Decide if you want professional advice and, if so, who you will ask.
Within a month
• Calculate your new financial situation: how much money do you have and do you owe?
• Start prioritizing what you want to do with your money;
• Make a list of priorities.
• Visit a financial advisor to discuss your new position and options.
One to three months
• Review your priority list;
• Start making a financial plan to figure out how much money you have and what you could do with it;
• Update your will or make one if you don’t have one.
Three to six months
• Review what has happened since your huge victory;
• Modify your priority list, if necessary;
• Complete your financial plan.
Six months to a year
• Review your financial situation and get more help if you need it;
• Ask yourself if you are getting what you want from your victory.
• If not, write down what is wrong and the steps you can take to correct things;
• Take action to improve things.
Tips from previous winners
• Think before you spend: it is best to spend some time thinking about your profit and what you really want to do with the money before you start to shell out;
• Secret: be very careful who you decide to tell about your good luck;
• Financial advice: get help from a professional, they know what they are doing;
• Have fun: It is important to remember to take the time to do the things you always wanted to do for fun, once you have secured funds for the future.
Interesting Facts About Big Lotto Winners
• 85 percent of the big winners kept working, staying in the same job they had before they won;
• 98 percent of the big winners continue to buy lottery tickets regularly;
• 73 percent of the big winners surveyed won with a Lucky Dip ticket;
• 32% were at their Lotto store when they found out they had won, 27% checked online and 26% were watching the Lotto draw live;
• 19 percent only told their other half, 31 percent told their immediate family, 8 percent told everyone, and 5 percent kept it to themselves;
• 23 percent kept the winning ticket in their purse or wallet, 11 percent in a drawer, and 5 percent under their pillow.
