'A major ongoing financial burden': $2B Powerball winner buys 3rd multimillion-dollar home, Porsche 911 reports say. Experts call it a mistake — 3 ways to better diversify your portfolio (2024)
If you were to win the lottery, what would you do with the money? Perhaps purchase a $50 million mansion, complete with a champagne room and DJ turntables?
That’s apparently what Powerball winner Edwin Castro has recently done, according to USA Today.
The publication reports Castro bought a luxury Los Angeles property for $47 million in September. It’s his third high-value home purchase since he won his $2 billion jackpot last year — he’s also bought a $25.5 million mansion in Hollywood Hills and a $4 million home in Altadena, California.
And luxury homes aren't the only thing Castro seems to be spending his money on. Apparently, he also got his hands on a sweet set of wheels. According to the New York Post, Castro has been spotted cruising in a $250,000 vintage Porsche 911.
Castro definitely seems bent on enjoying his riches, but despite such a large jackpot win, can one afford to keep spending at such a pace?
Financial observers believe Castro is making big mistakes with his newfound fortune. Experts interviewed by Fortune say that buying up luxury items like fancy cars and houses after a big windfall can put you on a fast track to bankruptcy.
Paul Karger, co-founder of wealth advisory firm TwinFocus, told the magazine that luxury homes often become “a major ongoing financial burden that [can take] several years to sell.”
Simply maintaining a home can cost 1% to 4% of its value annually, which means Castro could potentially spend millions of dollars each year just to hold on to such properties. This alone could take a chunk out of his winnigs.
So if real estate isn’t necessarily the best way to spend your fortune, what are other ways to diversify your investments?
Alternative real estate investments
Buying million-dollar homes may not necessarily be wise for lottery winners, but clearly nobody told Castro about alternative real estate investments. These are investments that get you in the real estate market without having to own a physical property.
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are one of the ways to do just that. REITs own profitable real estate investments, like apartment buildings and shopping centers. You receive dividends from the rent that they collect – all without the hassles that come with being a landlord.
Billionaires don’t invest in art just for a pretty picture on the wall, but because it can be a great investment. ArtTactic reported a 64% increase in single-owner sales value in 2022.
Though some art pieces can sell for millions of dollars, you don’t need to win the Powerball to invest. You can become a fractional investor in a classic work of art. It’s similar to investing in a stock: you don’t own the entire painting, but just a share of it. Plus, you don’t have to spend hours scouring galleries for the right piece or store it yourself.
Alcohol investments
It’s said that wine gets better with age. That goes for taste and sometimes value as well, as bottles of fine wine become more rare with each passing year.
It’s possible to invest in wine by purchasing your own bottles — but that requires a place to store them at the right temperature, and wine cellars can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Since not all of us have won the lottery, there exist wine investing platforms that do the hard work for you. That includes selecting, storing and insuring bottles of wine — and they’ll even suggest good times to sell.
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Final ticket sales pushed the grand total to $2.04 billion. After months of vetting through the California Lottery, Castro officially claimed his grand prize on Valentine's Day, Feb.14, 2023.
In 2002, Jack Whittaker won a $314 million Powerball jackpot — the biggest lottery prize in history at the time. The West Virginia construction worker, known for his outsized cowboy hats and even bigger personality, remains one of the most extreme cautionary tales about the lottery's power to ruin lives.
Cheng “Charlie” Saephan said he is sharing the prize with his wife, Duanpen Saephan, and friend Laiza Chao. The trio chose the cash option of over $422 million after taxes. Chao will receive 50% of the earnings and the Saephans will each take 25%.
What is Powerball lottery winner Edwin Castro doing now? Since his historic win in 2022, Castro bought three multimillion-dollar homes in California and at least five vintage cars.
For most, winning the lottery is a distant dream. But for Edwin Castro, it became a reality when he struck gold with a $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot in November 2022, the largest in history. Choosing a one-time lump-sum payment, Castro received an astonishing $997.6 million, just short of a billion.
The vetting process can take weeks or months before a winner can be declared, according to Becker. However, that didn't stop Edwin Castro from being sued by a man who claimed the winning lottery ticket was actually stolen.
Nearly one-third of lottery winners eventually go bankrupt within three to five years, which is more likely than the average American, according to the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.
Man sues Powerball lottery after $340M 'win' is denied : NPR. Man sues Powerball lottery after $340M 'win' is denied In early January 2023, John Cheeks saw that the winning Powerball numbers online matched his lottery ticket. But when he tried to redeem the prize, he was told it was a "mistake." Now, he's suing.
According to the National Endowment for Financial Education, 70% of lottery winners go bankrupt within a few years. Obtaining more money often leads to careless spending and the desire to get more money, and the greed can be destructive to the lives of winners and their families.
“I am born in Laos, but I am not Laotian,” Cheng “Charlie” Saephan said at a news conference after his win. “I am Iu Mien.” SALEM, Ore. — Cheng “Charlie” Saephan wore a broad smile and a bright blue sash emblazoned with the words “Iu-Mien USA” as he hoisted an oversized check for $1.3 billion above his head.
The Oregon Lottery said it had to go through a security and vetting process before announcing the identity of the person who came forward to claim the prize. Under Oregon law, with few exceptions, lottery players cannot remain anonymous. Winners have a year to claim the top prize.
During a press conference at the Oregon Lottery Headquarters in Salem, Oregon, husband and wife Cheng and Duanpen Saephan and their friend Laiza Chao were announced as the winners of the massive lottery drawn earlier this month.
Edwin Castro won the largest-ever lottery jackpot, and he opted for a lump sum of $997.6 million, just shy of $1 billion, according to the California Lottery.
The biggest jackpot of all time in America was a $2.04 billion Powerball win on Nov. 7, 2022, in California. Who won the $2 billion jackpot? The winner of the greatest jackpot in a national lottery was Edwin Castro, who was the 1-in-292.2 million winner of the biggest lottery jackpot of all time.
Powerball is an American lottery game offered by 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and overseen by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which also manages other large jackpot games such as the Mega Millions.
Overnight billionaire Edwin Castro claimed his $2.04 billion Powerball prize on Valentine's Day 2023. He took the lump sum of $997.6 million, just shy of $1 billion. Only once in the history of the game did Powerball reach a $2 billion grand prize. Mega Millions has yet to achieve this.
California resident Edwin Castro is the sole winner of the record-breaking jackpot from November 2022. The California Lottery is maintaining it verified the rightful winner of the record-breaking $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot, after a man claimed he had the winning ticket before it was stolen from him.
Billion-dollar lottery winner in California identified
Yanira Alvarez bought the winning Powerball ticket at Las Palmitas Mini Market in Los Angeles last July. Her win ended a 39-draw winless streak for Powerball. It was also the first of back-to-back billion-dollar winners in California.
Introduction: My name is Chrissy Homenick, I am a tender, funny, determined, tender, glorious, fancy, enthusiastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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