It was all smiles for 47-year-old production manager Richard Wahl when he walked into the lottery headquarters to collect his $533 million check! If you’re thinking that this jackpot amount is pretty high, then you’re right. This lottery prize is the fourth highest Mega Millions jackpot, ever!

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When Wahl recalls the moment he realised he was a lottery winner, he initially thought he won $1 million. He remembers thinking that this win was “life-changing money”. He ran to tell his wife the good news and some of the first words out of his mouth were that they were going on vacation. It was not until they reviewed the winning numbers almost 15 times, that he realised he actually won much much more than $1 million!

$1 million was life-changing for Wahl, so once he realised that he actually won $533 million, Wahl decided to stay indoors all weekend. When Wahl and the family finally went to the gas station where he bought the winning ticket, he couldn’t miss the reporters standing outside. He made a beeline back home, leaving without filling up for gas and a bit more on edge than when he arrived.

After waiting two weeks to collect his winnings, New Jersey Lottery officials didn’t waste any time to call a conference.

Shocking everyone, Wahl chose a lump-sum payment and is expected to walk away with $175 million. If you’re already doing the math, Wahl’s handing over a whopping $358 million to pay income taxes.

Sure, there were many other options to help save Wahl millions on taxes and leave him walking away with a few million more in the long run, so why did he make the choices he made? Wahl had the option to move states in order to save on taxes or to take the annuity plan, which would leave him with millions more. We’re not the only ones asking these questions, and they were brought up in Wahl’s conference. Wahl was quick to add that “we’re a humble family and we’re going to keep our roots”, later adding that “we are not the type to run out and spend all the money and have a great time and party it up”.

With a team of financial advisors behind him, Wahl appears to be in safe hands but already has a basic plan of how he would like to spend his money. He has plans on rebuilding a 1964 Corvette and donate some to charity. Sounds like a good plan to us!

This article forms part of our Mega Millions Resource Centre.

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