Every now and then you might play the lottery, not for the sake of winning but for the sake of the thrill. But what happens when you wake one day and receive an email saying “Congratulations! You’ve just won the lottery”? Well, How long would it take to get the money from a lottery win?
Will you be shocked? Happy? Thrilled? Anxious? I’m sure millions of feelings will go through your mind because you haven’t prepared yourself for this moment.
How did it happen? How did you guess all the numbers right and beat the odds? Was it luck? Maybe.
But now what happens next? There are a lot of questions lottery winners might think about, but the most predominant one is “how long does it take to get the money from a lottery win?”
And lucky you, this article will be telling you all about the lottery win and how to collect your prize! But first, you need to keep in mind some things.
Until you exchange your ticket for money, you’ve still haven’t won anything, in fact, at any given moment, your lucky day can soon turn into an unlucky day if you lose your ticket.
So what can you do to avoid losing your jackpot?
The first thing you need to do is to protect your ticket with all your might, you need to start making copies of it whether it’s paper copies or digital ones, if you’re not sure of the safety of the ticket within your own home then you can take it to the bank and put in deposit box. This way you’ll know it’s safe and not within anyone’s reach.
After this, comes thinking about your new life, winning the jackpot is a life-changing situation, anything is possible now! Make sure to take some time to process this situation and create a plan for the next few months or for the next year. Make sure to accept the situation before you claim your prize so that you can your money wisely.
Contact the lottery authorities to let them know that you’re the lottery winner and that you’ve received your congratulation email, and take a few days off before you take any rash decisions.
If you’re an impulsive person or someone who’s not good with money, then it’s best if you consult with a financial planner to help you decide what to do with the lottery win once you receive it.
You can even speak with a lawyer and an attorney to help you settle any issues that can come up with collecting your lottery win, make sure to invest your time wisely in this period because it’ll be the one to shape your soon-to-be-new life.
How long should it take for you to take your money?
If you think that all lotteries have the same payout policy, then you’re wrong. Every lottery has its own method of verifying tickets and cashing out the lottery win money.
For example, the way UK lotteries handle this isn’t the same way American lottery does, and so on. But even though they’re different, there are some similarities.
The one similarity that they all share, is that there is a period of time where you’re the only one responsible for your ticket. So as it has been said before, make sure to protect your ticket, you can even go to the extent of signing the back of it to make sure no one claims it as theirs.
Claiming Mega Millions & US Powerball jackpot prizes.
Both these lotteries are managed by MUSL which stands for Multi-State Lottery Association, it’s made up of 33 member lotteries and it offers Powerball and Mega Million lotteries in 44 states out of 50.
As it has been said, every state has its own rules when it comes to validating tickets and handing out prizes which you’ll have to check on your state’s lottery website. You’ll find out specifications there.
But in general, there are some rules that go for all states like these ones:
· In a state where these two lotteries exist, collecting a lottery win prize of $599 or less can be done at any lottery retailer as long as they’ve got enough cash.
· On the other hand, if your prize is $600 or higher, then it’s different. Your lottery ticket has to be validated by the state lottery and then you’ll need to fill out a claim form. You can either validate your ticket in person or by mail; although it might be a better option to do it in person so you don’t risk your ticket getting lost in the mail.
Waiting period
Now, what can you do? What is the answer to the big question? Well, for both US Powerball and Mega Million, you’ll have to wait 15 days to collect your prize after winning the draw.
During this period, the money for the prizes gets collected from ticket sales so you can get paid after 15 days. Now although you’ve won, make sure to validate your ticket during this period so you don’t have to worry about losing it anymore. If you validate your ticket, then you’re no longer responsible for it.
All you can do after this is wait for your money to be handed to you. If you don’t claim your prize the day after because you’ve been busy, then there’s nothing to worry about. You’ve got 180 days, to say the least, to collect your prize, but if you want to collect it in cash you’ll have to hurry because you’ve got only 60 days to do it.
Since rules change from a state to another, if you’re looking for more information, then your state’s lottery website will give you everything you need.
Is playing the lottery online worth it?
And the answer is yes, if you’re looking for a way to play the lottery then online is a good place to do it because it’s actually safer. Playing online means your ticket will stay safe in the local office of the company that offers “online lottery gaming” until you show up yourself.
Because of this safety measure, playing online can turn out more beneficial than in person because of how much risk your ticket can face. At any given moment you can find yourself a losing man instead of a winning one because you lost your ticket.
So when a company gets involved in the process, everything becomes much clearer and safer.
