18-year-old wins $26,000 a year for life in Florida lottery

Jul 26, 2017, 7:29 pm (16 comments)

Florida Lottery

One lucky Florida teen will receive $26,000 year after winning the top prize in the state's latest $500 a Week for Life scratch-off lottery.

Daniela Leon Ruz, 18, will receive the money in annual payments of $26,000 after choosing not to collect a lump sum of $410,000, according to a press release by the Florida Lottery.

The teen — or her estate if something were to happen to her — will collect the money for a minimum of 20 years, or for the duration of her life if it's longer than that.

Ruz purchased the scratch-off ticket on Friday for just a buck at a local Publix grocery store in Orlando.

She is the first person to win the game's top prize since the Florida Lottery introduced it July 3, despite the overall odds of winning being one in 6 million.

Following Ruz's $500-week-for-life win, Joseph Torraco III won a similar lottery near Tallahassee, Florida — the $5,000 a Week for Life scratch-off, which was also launched July 3. Like Ruz, Torraco, 40, decided to receive his money in annual payments: $260,000 for at least the next 20 years.

Ruz's win comes just a few weeks after a teen in California hit big on scratch-off games twice in one week in June. Rosa Dominguez, 19, was heading to the West Coast from Arizona when she purchased a $5 scratch-off lottery ticket during a gas station stop. It turned out to be the big winner, landing the teenager a grand prize of $555,555.

A few days later, Dominguez stopped at a different gas station in California and purchased yet another $5 scratch-off, which turned out to be the winning ticket worth $100,000.

"I was so nervous I just wanted to cry," Dominguez told the California Lottery.

It's unclear what the most recent winners will do with their newfound income. It's not uncommon for people to continue to work and go about their normal lives after winning the lottery. A 2013 Gallup poll found that about 68 percent of people said they would keep working even if they won as much as $10 million in a lottery, while only 31 percent said they'd quit their jobs. 

Meanwhile, a separate study, conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota, Rutgers University and the University of Haifa in Israel in 2004, found that 85.5 percent of Americans who won a lottery continued to work after hitting the jackpot. Sixty-three percent of the winners remained with their same employer after winning.

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Lottery Post Staff

Comments

Bleudog101

If I were her age this is the exception for me....annual payments vs $410K!

Tatototman65's avatarTatototman65

Congrats!!!

Smile

music*'s avatarmusic*

 Congratulations to this up and coming generation. Stay LUCKY  !!! Party and smart.

Stack47

Live long and prosper!

MzDuffleBaglady's avatarMzDuffleBaglady

 

A lottery player's dream!Party

noise-gate

This is one smart cookie.Banana Consider this: She could have taken the lump sum, partying, doing drugs, buying cars, having  leeches as friends hanging around- but she used her noggin.S500 a week, in all likelihood, those " friends" will stay away- not enough money to go around. 

fibis235's avatarfibis235

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

Quote: Originally posted by noise-gate on Jul 26, 2017

This is one smart cookie.Banana Consider this: She could have taken the lump sum, partying, doing drugs, buying cars, having  leeches as friends hanging around- but she used her noggin.S500 a week, in all likelihood, those " friends" will stay away- not enough money to go around. 

Smart ? Yes, so long as she doesn't "Call J.G.Wentworth when she needs cash now !

play4shekels's avatarplay4shekels

Smart kid! I just hope she's wise enough to use that money to help pay for an education. Cuz 20 years from now, that $26,000 will only be worth half of that in today's dollars. And if she lives to be 80, well...that check might pay for a week at DisneyWorld. On the bright side, she'll probably live long enough to see the day when she doesn't have to pay a dime in federal taxes!

MillionsWanted's avatarMillionsWanted

She's young and smart. Hope she's smart enough to invest some of the money to keep up with the inflation.

noise-gate

I Agree!....The fact that at her age, she could make a decision on whether to take the lump sum or monthly payments, speaks volumes. If she screws up a month or two, she has time left to right her ship and learn from the mistake.Who knows,  perhaps she has a family member or relative, who is a financial planner that is guiding her on the right course.

Bleudog101

Inclined to think she will get an annual check vs. weekly checks.  Other states do that even though it says xxx amount of money/week, they just cut a check once/year.

Interesting read under Florida's FAQ in their lottery about how long does it take to get a check cut.  Under $250K MAYBE the same day; over that wire deposit TWO DAYS later to the bank.  Many state lotteries ought to be ashamed making folks wait weeks and weeks, or being held hostage for their money like some states have done recently.

eddessaknight's avatareddessaknight

Congrats Daniela Hurray!

A lottery win can fill the gap between your dreams and your reality ...

 

Eddesa_Knight with Lucky Light Sun Smiley

Artist77's avatarArtist77

She made a wise decision. I don't assume every or even most 18 year olds would spend it on drugs or partying but the lump sum is still too much for an 18 year old.  This will make her think long term.

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