Man Takes Citizenship Oath, Wins $1.89 Million Lottery The Same Day

[matcom]

<snip>

DES MOINES, Iowa --A man who immigrated from Kenya to the United States found prosperity beyond his expectations on the day he became a U.S. citizen.

Shortly after Moses Bittok, of West Des Moines, took the oath of citizenship on Friday, he discovered he had a $1.89 million winning ticket from the Iowa Lottery's Hot Lotto game.

"It's almost like you adopted a country and then they netted you $1.8 million," Bittok said Monday as he cashed in his ticket. "It doesn't happen anywhere -- I guess only in America."

Bittok said he took the citizenship oath at the federal building in Des Moines Friday then went shopping with his family. They stopped at a gas station to check his lottery ticket from the Sept. 21 drawing.

"For some reason, I'm calm," he said. His wife, Leonida, screamed.

Bittok, 40, an officer at the Iowa Correctional Institute for Women in Mitchellville, said he doesn't know exactly what he will do with his winnings, but a college fund for the couples 4-year-old daughter, Mindy, is top priority.

Bittok chose to receive his winnings in 25 annual payments of about $52,920 after taxes.

He came to the U.S. to attend college in Minnesota, then moved to Iowa to take the job at the women's prison.

He had purchased the winning ticket at a West Des Moines grocery store, where he once worked part time.

Hot Lotto tickets are sold in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota and West Virginia.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2005/09/27/man_takes_citizenship_oath_wins_lottery?mode=PF

[qnr]

1. More impressive if it was 1.776 million [random thought] n/t

[underpants]

2. EARL!

IF you haven't seen that show (NBC tonight at 9) you should.

[Zuni]

3. good for him

:thumbsup:

[anarch]

4. "Congratulations, citizen! Now hand over 30-40% of your winnings..." n/t

[BlueIris]

5. Great story. He's a wise man.

He did that thing that lottery winners so rarely do--annual payments instead of the lump sum deal. I read allll about the dumb things lottery winners do with their money in the MSN series on lotto millionaires last summer and the number one thing is: get the lump sum and blow it all within a couple of years of winning. That's--believe it or not--even more common among the mega-millionaire winners. They either blow it all on more gambling, quack get-even-richer-quick schemes, or, occasionally, giving tons and tons of money to needy family members and people and programs in their communities. But not Mr. Bittock. Good work, sir.

[matcom]

6. see, i have a very different take (not like i'm ever gonna win)

i WOULD take the lump sum (assuming we are talking multi-millions here) because i could make MORE just off the interest alone than i would need.

plus, why let the state make that interest?

[NewJeffCT]

I agree with you

In 20 years, $52,000 will not be a lot of money even with modest inflation rates. If you take the lump sum and invest a large portion of it... you should make more in the long run than the low interest rate the state is using to calculate the lump sum amount vs. the annuity payment. Even with returns a little below average stock market rates, you should be making a lot more than $52,000 per year in 20 years.

[NewJeffCT]

9. delete, double posted

double posted

[DS1]

10. I'd donate it to Freeperville

Then rat out their earnings to the IRS and have the place shut down forever.

Well, in reality I'd have a Porchse 911 Turbo THAT afternoon, and look at some long and short term investments.

[BlueIris]

11. Oh, I'd do the same thing.

It's just that I read that the majority of people who do (take the lump sum) don't do it for the reasons we would, and blow it irresponsibly as a result. Also, I would think that even for the smart planners like us, the temptation to make huge investments (or "investments") in things would be very great once you actually had your hands on the after-taxes prize money and it was maybe $40 million or more. Heck, when dreaming up what to do with my imaginary lottery money, even I was tempted to do outrageous things with it, and I've already resolved, should I ever win, to take MSN's advice and not do anything too extreme for many, many years.

[kick-ass-bob]

8. wise would be to take the lump sum and bank it.

In real dollars, you lose A LOT by taking the annual payments.

Those who took the lump sum would have extended their credit so far (if they took the annual payments instead), they would still be broke (thought process: I have all this money coming, I can pay it back later)

[RedCloud]

7. Only in America, land of opportunity!

But the lump sum, pays off the mortgage which is a huge bite in the rear. Then fix up the place. Then upgrade and if any is left...