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Post by eyeseetwo on Jan 27, 2024 23:41:49 GMT -6
I am bringing this short over from another forum I post at. I hope you enjoy it.
Well crud I wasted twenty bucks on the latest Powerball scheme.
And darn it I won a bit of dough.
Not the big win, but I got five of the elusive numbers.
Turns out the biggest Powerball ended up being 1.7 billion buckaroos.
Nothing to sneeze at and all the hype of folks going bankrupt selling out their 401 k's and going into deep bankrupting debt to get the win made the headlines.
No one got the five numbers and extra number.
So four other unlucky souls and I shared in the big win with five out of five.
And the Powerball rolled over to an even 2 billion.
Us five winners got to share in 22 million a piece.
Being from a state that allows anonymous winners, I was the only one of the five winners to not have my name and photo splashed across the headlines.
I had to wait six weeks to get my first check. Yep, I chose the 30 year payout.
As an oldster I wanted to not waste any of the winnings and had too many no contact relatives I did not want to deal with if they found out I had win big bucks.
I paid my hefty initial 25% federal tax. Thank goodness I lived in one of the few states that did not charge a state income tax.
I had downloaded the Winners Manuel and learned that I could wait 180 days to collect the winnings.
So I did.
On day 173 I walked into a district branch of the Lottery office and had in tow with me a gal I hired to be my financial adviser.
I found her on the Dave Ramsey web site.
At first she did not believe me when I told her at our first appointment that I was the "missing" winner.
All the other winners had quickly claimed their share and the ensuing PR nightmare. And huge hassles with give me dats trying to get their "fair share" of the winnings.
All the while the world had been going deeper in the crapper and I just put my ticket in a zip lock baggy after I signed it and I stuck in an old table top atlas in my small cabin.
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Post by eyeseetwo on Jan 27, 2024 23:46:27 GMT -6
I waited to claim my prize because I wanted to end the school year on a good note and not abandon my class of students.
Yeah, silly of me.
All the while the world was getting crazier and crazier.
I did not need a lot to live on and I wanted to spread my joy of winning with some deserving organizations and be able to exit my work life on a sane note.
I used my previous savings to hire Amanda.
She thought I was nuts to wait and she did not like my plan on how to spread out the first year winnings.
But she followed through on investigating the best ways to save the resulting 50% net of the winnings.
I did not even tell my beloved husband of the win until I had some knowledge as to how to best preserve the net winnings.
For awhile while thinking on things I naively thought we could continue living on our little homestead in the hills.
And after reading horror story after horror story of past winners wasting away their funds or being harassed or harmed by folks who knew of their big win, I decided I would retire and that we would have to sell our place and relocate.
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Post by eyeseetwo on Jan 27, 2024 23:48:19 GMT -6
About two weeks before the end of the school year I asked my husband if we could go out to a nice dinner to celebrate the end of another school year.
We went to one of our favorite "special" places called T-Bone Pickings a very nice steak house on the coast.
Hubby was fretting over the stock market and world affairs and said, "Dang, I wish you could just retire and enjoy the homeplace with me."
I looked at him and said, "Well hun, this is the last year I will be a teacher. I am retiring, officially as of June 20th."
The look of shock on his face was priceless.
He said, "Heck why did you not tell me?"
I said, "Well you see, you know how I share my slot winnings with you from the local casino?"
"Yeah, that it why I have my ocean fishing boat and the new hydro system."
"Well honey, you remember how there is an unknown winner from the Powerball last January?"
"Crap, you know I hate that Powerball and all the folks throwing good money after bad, I tolerate your slots cause you have given me half of your take, but that Powerball is just nuts."
"Well dear I want to show you something."
I handed him the zip lock bag with a print out of the winning numbers.
He was in the middle of taking a bite of steak and he looked at it.
Then he started to choke.
As he went to the floor I grabbed the zip lock bag and tucked it into my purse and the fella at the table next to us came over and picked up my dear love and helped him stop choking.
The steak piece lodged in his throat went shooting across the table and in a few minutes he was no longer blue in the face and he said, "I need a beer,
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Post by eyeseetwo on Jan 27, 2024 23:50:14 GMT -6
The manager came to our table and asked if dear hubby was o.k.
He replied, "I am better than o.k. I am not choking on a fine piece of steak and I am with my beloved. Nothing could be better."
The manager left and then hubby gave me that look.
You know, the what the heck is going on look.
I smiled and handed him a legal folder.
He looked at me and said, "What is that?"
I calmly replied, "A budget and financial plan."
I told him I had already cleared out my classroom of my personal things, got the report cards and cumulative records done and that I would be coasting through the last two weeks of school.
After school let out, we would be getting our first check.
I told him of my plan to put our property up for sale and hire some folks to help us pack up the homestead and put everything into storage.
Even with the supposed anonymity as winners, someone was sure to find out and that we needed time to decompress and go over the plans for the first years dole out.
I explained that we would be lucky if we ever got a second payout due to the worsening conditions in the economy and that I hated paying the feds anything.
Originally I had thought about making significant improvements at our place but realized that if we spent that amount of funds folks would think we either won the lottery or were pot growers. That would not do.
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Post by eyeseetwo on Jan 27, 2024 23:52:04 GMT -6
He read through the contents of the folder and agreed that the plan was doable and that he regretted we would have to move.
I had informed the school district three weeks before the end of the school year that I had planned on retiring and that yes I planned to pay for the two years of COBRA health insurance.
They were shocked since it was so expensive and they knew my monthly retirement did not cover the cost of the insurance.
I gave them the banking information to take out the premium electronically from an out of state credit union.
The human services officer was curious as to what my plans were.
All I said was "Enjoy life while I can."
Over the last two weeks of school I gave away twenty years of teaching resources to the newest teachers at my school.
They tried to pay me a little bit for the "stuff" and I told them not to worry. And good luck next year.
Word got out that I was retiring and some folks wanted to throw me a little going away get together and I told them, "Nope, you all treated my like crud while I was here, why would I want to go to dinner with you?"
So it was a wee bit chilly for me the last week of school but plenty of parents and former students came by to say goodbye to me. That was heartwarming and made the parting so much sweeter.
At the high school graduation I passed out cards to students who I knew and admired and a few who were the outcasts of the school.
In the envelopes for the outcasts I placed applications for scholarships I had set up with a local foundation. For a few others I put in crisp one hundred dollar bills. For others just a card wishing them well. Yeah, I am picky and if a student was a total jerk, they just got the plain card.
The last day of school went quickly and I drove off in my old rig and smiled. Yes, I made it this far and have so much to do in the coming days.
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Post by eyeseetwo on Jan 27, 2024 23:56:45 GMT -6
I drove home and was met by my beloved and he said, "We are ready to go and pick up the first check."
The fur kids were in boarding and he jumped in the rig and we headed to the lottery office. A nice five hour to the state Capitol.
We checked into a Hampton’s Suite git dinner and went to be early.
The next morning we drove to the Lottery Office and Our accountant was waiting for us at the front door of the office.
The lottery official was wanting to take a picture of us with a huge cardboard check.
Hubby and I both said, "Nope." She had sign off a gazillion forms, checked my identification, noted our new email address and handed us the first check and we followed Amanda to the credit union who had been alerted that we would be there to deposit a substantial amount.
We deposited the check and then immediately withdrew all but 400,000 in cashier checks and the 35,000 cash they had on hand for us.
I paid Amanda her fee and she drove off very happy.
We then went to ten other banks and credit unions and opened accounts and deposited cashier checks
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Post by eyeseetwo on Jan 28, 2024 0:07:50 GMT -6
Amanda had earned her money by setting up the preliminary details with each institution earlier in the week. So the time it took to deposit the funds went smoothly and quickly.
The last bank was different.
We were ushered into the bank manager's office and she had coffee for us.
She said," Well Mr. and Mrs. Smith, we may have a problem arising sooner than later. You deposited the maximum allowed to be covered by the federal insurance program. You need to read this memo we got today."
She slid the paper to us and said, "I will be back momentarily."
We read the paper and hubby said, "I think she is breaking some kind of law or regulation."
She walked in and said, "Do you want to reconsider your deposit?"
"Yes." I answered, "What do you suggest?"
She replied, "Well I know you are supposed to be anonymous, but word does travel here in the capitol, in the banking circles. I understand that you waited to claim your winnings and Amanda explained to me your structuring of your new found wealth. She also talked about financial preparedness as well as spiritual preparedness and physical preparedness."
She continued, "I think this is the beginning of wealth redistribution and Amanda has helped me in my personal plans for my family and I believe you to be on the same page as she is. Folks do not think things will get worse in the markets but I am certain they will. Amanda spoke of many things to me and please be assured she did not speak of your specific plans."
We ended up staying late in the bank manager's office and ended leaving with a few totes of greenbacks as well as gold cards and debit cards to access our funds.
Our journey took us back up the coast to gather the fur kids, a stop to drop off some bucks to the in-laws and a new used older rig to take us onto Idaho. I had it commissioned by a local mechanic who was into post pooey hit the fan vehicles.
Hopefully our stored goods would be packed up and shipped quickly to our new home in a different set of mountains before the stuff hit the fan. We had chosen a nice little ranching and farming community in Idaho. I cashed out my Roth IRA to pay for the moving and storage costs in our home state and in Idaho.
We now had the opportunity to start fresh in a new locale, and hopefully the folks we invested in would join us in our digs.
We found over the next five years that even with all the turmoil and drama in the world, with quakes, saber rattling, and civil unrest we had our life to live.
We chose a small town in which to own a modest home on five acres at the outskirts.
We invested in run down rentals and rehabbed them and provided housing to folks who were trying to just get buy. Garden beds and chicken coops were encouraged in the rentals. As well as large pantries, grid tied solar and in a few we had wood stoves. We were quick to help folks, but just as quick to encourage dead beats to move out with our strict leasing terms and cash for keys to rid ourselves of the very few bad tenants.
We owned a bigger piece of property of five acres out of town in a calm beautiful valley surrounded by mountains.
We followed the lead of the fella who owned the Wendy's chain and invested ten percent of our dole each year, lived on ten percent and tithed out the rest in micro loans and gifting to a large amounts of organizations helping folks gain employment skills, education, disaster relief and the local volunteer fire department.
If folks looked at us they saw worn jeans and carhart jackets, and aging couple with lots of wrinkles and grey hair. No fancy watches or rigs. But durable rigs that got to point A to point Z.
Six years after the big win the other four winners had no funds left. But the crazy fool who took out the 30 year payout was still getting checks and no one had figured out who the lucky winner was.
Except Amanda and the bank manager who had quit her job and moved Idaho and was part of a growing network of folks with increasing wealth who shared a lot of it to the communities they moved to.
A story too far fetched you say?
Just who is your neighbor?
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Post by eyeseetwo on Jan 28, 2024 0:09:48 GMT -6
Having read a ton of "Gosh this person is ubber wealthy and have the funds to buy the ultimate bug out locations stories" I had decided that one, I did not want or need the "ultimate".
My beloved husband was into gardening, no longer like cats and could not do the physical building/splitting of fire wood and up on a roof type of labor.
So my plan was to buy a modest house in a smaller community that had excellent health care with a larger property outside of town.
We first found the big property but it was far too spendy, even with our winnings.
We rented a small home in town the first year out.
Hubby gardened there and we spent a ton of time in the county office researching land ownership, foreclosures, and property titles.
Like most towns these days there was a level of lawlessness due to meth and no industry.
So while we looked for our "dream" property we decided to start a business hubby had though of when our son passed away nigh on thirty years ago.
The area we settled in had been in a long depression due to the lack of work in the former mighty industry of logging.
Yet there were many private holdings, many with fine cabinet quality hardwoods.
While Mr. Smith was in his mid seventies, he still had vim and vigor and was concerned over lack of opportunities for the young ones to stay local.
So he created a program with a retired high school vocational ed teacher ie. shop teacher to design a casket building program at the local high school.
The shop teacher came out of retirement and local school board was astounded at the grant they received from an out of state foundation to pay for the teacher salary and benefits and materials to train local students to make the caskets. Amazon was the outlet for selling the basic boxes to carry the deceased to their final reward
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Post by eyeseetwo on Jan 28, 2024 0:11:26 GMT -6
Within three months the demand was so high for the simple, yet elegant caskets that local economic development corporation was desperate for an entity to set up a factory to manufacture the caskets.
Again the out of state foundation played a key part of sending a sound business plan and funds to convert a long closed mill site into an economic development business park and tool up a factory to build the caskets.
No one locally except the shop teacher knew who was behind the plans.
The foundation also set up micro-loans to local folks who were struggling to kick start their own little businesses.
Mrs. Smith had been busy being the local volunteer librarian for the small hamlet.
Over the course of the year the tiny library was refurbished with funds from the foundation.
The local high school vocational education department grew to include concrete form building, carpentry, domestic and industrial electrical courses as well a very strong metal working program with instructors who moved in from out of state and their salaries paid for by the foundation.
As more folks moved into town into paying jobs the town became wee bit stronger economically.
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Post by eyeseetwo on Jan 28, 2024 0:14:56 GMT -6
The local politicos were astounded at the influx of funds into the tiny community.
They had no idea who was behind it and lots of rumors were floated about, many which needed a tight tin foil bonnet to contain the outlandish claims of foreigners taking over.
By the third year of their payout Mr. and Mrs. Smith had found their dream land. They turned their original five acre property into a rental and bought the large disused used parcel that was a nice mix of forest, fields and a run down century home and outbuildings.
They knew they were far too old to do all the physical labor to establish a homestead so they called upon dear friends from back home who were ready to leave the Blue state.
Among them were long trusted folks who had wisdom and the connections to find younger folks who wanted to live the dream but did not have the funds.
So the business plan expanded to include the young and eager families to move east and begin anew.
Now the only thing Mr. Smith missed was the ocean and fishing it.
So he would leave their new home for the coast to get some fishing in.
He invested in a local micro-business there with a tribal group and he would ship east fish from the ocean. His time on the ocean would calm his soul and he would be able to come back east to endure the snowy winter and spend time in his tiny study to make further plans.
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Post by eyeseetwo on Jan 28, 2024 0:17:56 GMT -6
Mrs. Smith had always wanted a wood cook stove. So as she and Mr. Smith designed their very small home they included a nice stove they found in a barn that had been refurbished at much expense by the fella in Mt. Shasta California.
It had a nice water jacket and was a perfect fit in the micro-hydro/solar system array.
Their cabin was very well built and the basement below was three times the size of the cabin above it.
They had built five identical cabins on the land they bought.
Over the last five years they brought in two young couples with children to manage the farm which produced hay, fruit, cattle and sheep. The other three cabins were set aside for family who eventually moved east as well.
The world continued to spin, the wars and rumors of war continued and the economy had its ups and downs.
As the couple aged more and Mr. Smith passed away, the casket was built by high school students and he was buried in the small graveyard at the land.
And life continued on and the town prospered and families continued to have work and stayed in the county. And life was good.
And when the final crashed happened there were farmers, loggers, bakers, doctors and dentists and life continued on during the coming storm years.
No one ever did find out who the town's benefactors were.
The foundation was lost to the waves of the tsunami and no one the wiser. Except a few who would lift up a toast for Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Yes, the Powerball did help more than a few. Even if they did not know it.
The End
Or is it the beginning?
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Post by rep1270 on Jan 28, 2024 6:42:21 GMT -6
A great story. Thank you. Ralph
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Post by gipsy on Jan 28, 2024 8:29:05 GMT -6
Thanks
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Post by CountryGuy on Jan 28, 2024 10:30:20 GMT -6
Nice Story.
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Post by cashless1 on Jan 28, 2024 17:11:21 GMT -6
very interesting thanks
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Post by feralferret on Jan 29, 2024 1:09:38 GMT -6
Thank you, eyeseetwo.
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