Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot Now Over $1 Billion – Past Winner Shares Secrets

The Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot It now sits at an astounding $1.1 billion ahead of Friday night’s drawing — which would be the second-highest number in lottery history.

Players across 45 states, Washington, DC and the Virgin Islands will hope Lady Luck is smiling when they buy their Mega Millions tickets today.

What is it like to win millions of dollars?

One shares.

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Tim Schultz won $28 million playing in 1999 Iowa Powerball.

“It’s an excitement after you win,” he told Fox News Digital in a phone interview this week.

Schultz worked at an Iowa gas station He sold the winning ticket for him

At the time, he was a struggling college student, working his way through school pumping gas. A few months before that, he had a “very vivid” dream that he won the lottery.

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The dream was so real, “I felt like it was going to happen at some point,” he said of winning the lottery.

That night, he had a “gut feeling” when he bought a ticket telling friends and colleagues he was going to win.

And then it actually happened—he woke up the next day to find he had won. It was “very surreal,” Schultz said.

One of Schultz’s co-workers, 20-year-old Sarah Eldar, wanted to buy half of Schultz’s ticket when she matched the winning numbers, media reported at the time.

When Schultz won, she said she wanted a share of the lottery winnings — and challenged him in court.

In Iowa, you must be 21 to play the lottery, so Eldar is not eligible to collect any winnings.

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Eventually the Eldar waives all claims to the jackpotPlayusalotteries.com said.

Schultz said the lottery can affect a person’s happiness either positively or negatively — and every winner is different.

“At a certain point I felt a sense of isolation — none of my peers or my family or my friends had won the lottery.”

“Where you live, who surrounds you, who your friends are and how successful you are,” he noted.

“For me, it was very exciting at the beginning,” he said. “But when it wears off—and it does—you’re still yourself.”

He continued, “The lottery doesn’t change who you are, but it magnifies your personality and your ability to do what you want to do.”

It wasn’t easy for him to have such a major life event happen, Schultz said.

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“After that excitement wore off, I was still very grateful for this life-changing win — which I never, ever took for granted — but there were things I had to learn,” she shared.

“If I want to go on vacation, I have to pay for other people [to go].”

“At a certain point I felt a sense of isolation. I didn’t have any of my peers or my family or my friends He had won the lottery — I was 21 at the time, and a college student working at a gas station was struggling to get me into school.

“I felt like an outcast,” he continued. “If I want to go on vacation, I have to pay for other people [to go].”

She “learned a lot of life lessons,” Schultz said.

“I learned that the lottery can buy you time [with others]That’s priceless and winning would be a very positive thing.”

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He added, “I’m the same person I was before I became successful – I never loved material possessions, so I felt very equal and withdrawn about it.”

In Iowa, lottery winners’ identities are revealed to the public, and people “came out of the woodwork” after he won, he said.

“I’ve got a team of financial advisors, qualified and reliable people who can tell me how much I can and can’t spend,” he explained, noting that was very important.

“Once I made a game plan, I helped people as much as I could – I had people in my life that I loved and cared about – and I did what I could for other people. I did a lot of things for other people.”

“I got a lot of media attention early on, and I was a very shy person at the time and didn’t really want that kind of attention. I couldn’t go into a grocery store without people knowing who I was.”

Schultz now interviews other lottery winners on his YouTube channel, noting that they often “have similar experiences.”

(His interview with the “Cash for Life” winner is below.)

What a good man Dealing with sudden wealth “It depends on who you are as a person and what your goals are in life,” he said.

Schultz has not kept his personal life private, as to where he currently lives, or his family or marital status.

“I got a lot of media attention early on and I was a very shy person at the time and didn’t really like that kind of attention,” she said. “I couldn’t go to a grocery store without people knowing who I was.”

“My advice to anyone who is successful is to take it easy, don’t make hasty decisions and seek out qualified financial advisors.”

He added, “Now I don’t mind that kind of thing. I accept it.”

Having gone to college for journalism and broadcasting, she said she now loves talking to reporters. “I also love interviewing people.”

Schultz finds interviewing other lottery winners “very poignant and interesting.”

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“It’s one of the rarest things that can happen to someone. It’s a little club that we’re in together.”

His counsel for the person or People who win mega millions?

He said, “First of all, congratulations! Then I’ll say, because it’s really life-changing. It’s one of those things that can change a person’s life.”

Schultz added, “My advice to anyone who is successful is to relax, don’t make hasty decisions and seek out qualified financial advisors. Get an understanding of what you can realistically do with the money — and then try to enjoy life.”