If you held the winning lottery ticket to a 30-million dollar jackpot, how long would you wait to claim your prize?
If you’re Raymond Sobeski, apparently patience is a virtue, because he waited an entire year to claim his cash:
“I didn’t want to do anything rash,” Sobeski told reporters on Thursday when he claimed his prize. “I thought it was in my best interest to keep it to myself until I had everything all sorted out.”
Sobeski, who called himself “happily unemployed now,” said he had known since shortly after the April 11, 2003, draw but wanted to get professional and financial advice first.
That sounds reasonable, level-headed, and smart. Actually, Sobeski sounds like the complete opposite of someone who would play the lottery in the first place.
Sometimes fact really is stranger than fiction.
Update: Burnside points out that it seems that Sobeski had a good reason to wait so long to claim his prize: he was in the process of getting a divorce. Wow, if I were his ex-wife, I’d be pretty pissed off right now… and I’d be talking to my lawyer to get my hands on my share.
Update #2: The plot thickens even more. It seems Sobeski has two ex-wives and was behind on child-support payments. I guess all that “financial advice” was really something else, and it seems I have to revise my position and say that Sobeski seems exactly like the kind of person who would play the lottery. What ever happened to deserving winners?
It sounds moronic. How hard would it be to get the money and put it into an money market account and get interest. Even 1% of $30 million is a lot.
Furthermore what if something happened to the ticket, he would feel stupid for the rest of his life.
I’m with you, Segacs. Very wise move and very atypical of lottery players. This guy got some good advice and he probably won’t end up among the many lottery winners who end up declaring bankruptcy.
Well, now we know for sure why he waited so long to claim his cash:
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/04/02/canada/sobeski040402
Canada’s newest millionaire was recently divorced
[…]
“But other aspects of Sobeski’s life have surfaced. There are unconfirmed reports he has been twice married, and is the father of two children. The latest marriage ended in divorce just a few months before cashing in on his lottery win.”
He he, guess he didn’t feel like splitting half his 30 mils with his soon-to-be ex-wife. 🙂
That sounds a lot more plausible than the excuse he gave. Thanks for the heads-up, Burnside.
What ever happened to deserving winners?
Deserving Lottery Winners is an oxymoron. If you want to risk your hard-earned money in a million to one chance, you can’t be very deserving.
Do something with the money you have instead of flushing it down the toilet..
although, the more they spend in lottery tickets, the less taxes I pay..
but giving the government more money is always a bad thing. You just encourage them to spend more..