David Schultze, like so many people who play the lottery, figured there was no way he had won. So when the numbers were drawn on Jan. 24, he didn’t bother checking, mentally writing off the cost of the ticket as the price tag for a fun game of “what if?”
About a month later, though, he came across the ticket again and figured “what the heck?” And looked up the winning numbers. The first was a match, then the second—and by the time he got to the end of the winning numbers, he realized that person he’d heard about who had won $8.4 million was him.
The 68-year-old “spent the whole weekend in shock,” Oregon lottery officials said, then came in on Feb. 25 to claim his winnings.
A retiree from Milwaukie, Schultze told lottery officials he generally doesn’t play, but when he saw the jackpot “getting up there,” he decided to give it a shot. The store where he bought the ticket will pick up an $84,000 bonus for selling it.
As for the winnings, Schultze says he doesn’t plan to do anything especially extravagant. Most of the money will be invested, he said.
That’s a smart approach. One of the biggest mistakes lottery winners make is treating the winnings like they’re not real, spending them without much thought. Experts say the best thing you can do if you win a lottery, whether it’s the PowerBall or a comparably smaller win like Schultze’s, is find an experienced financial advisor to help you manage it, along with an attorney and a tax expert who all work together to protect your winnings and your financial future.