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The Mega Millions jackpot now stands at an astounding $1.1 billion before Friday night’s drawing — which would be the second-highest in lottery history.
Players in 45 states, Washington, DC and the Virgin Islands will be hoping Lady Luck smiles on them as they buy their Mega Millions tickets today.
How does it feel to win millions of dollars?
One person shares.
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Tim Schultz won $28 million in 1999 playing the Iowa Powerball.
“It’s just elation after you win,” he told Fox News Digital in a phone interview this week.
The Mega Millions jackpot is now over $1 billion. Drawing will be Friday night at 11pm EDT. (Nicole Pelletier/Fox News Digital)
Schultz worked at a gas station in Iowa and sold the winning ticket to himself.
At the time, he was a college student working his way through school by pumping gas. A few months before, he had a “very vivid” dream that he had won the lottery.
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That dream was so real, “I felt like it was probably going to happen at some point,” he said of winning the lottery.
He had a “hunch” when he bought the ticket, telling friends and colleagues at a card game that night that he would win.
Tim Schultz won $28 million in Iowa’s Powerball lottery in 1999. He spoke with Fox News Digital about what happened to him — and the secrets he shares for anyone else who might win the lottery this week or in the future. (Tim Schultz)
Then it really happened – he woke up the next day to find out he had won. It was “very surreal,” Schultz said.
Media reports at the time reported that one of Schultz’s co-workers, 20-year-old Sarah Eldar, said she wanted to buy half his ticket when he bought what would be the winning numbers.
After Schultz won, she said she wanted her share of the lottery winnings — and challenged it in court.
One man had a “premonition” when he bought a lottery ticket, telling friends and colleagues he was going to hit the jackpot, he said. (iStock)
It turns out that in Iowa you have to be 21 to play the lottery, so Eldar wasn’t eligible to receive any winnings.
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Eldar eventually relinquished all claim to the jackpot, Playusalotteries.com said.
The lottery can positively or negatively affect a person’s happiness, Schultz said — and every winner is different.
“At a certain point I felt isolated – none of my peers, family or friends had won the lottery.”
“Where you live, who surrounds you, who your friends are and how much you earn” are all factors, he noted.
“It was extremely exciting for me initially,” he said. “But once that’s gone—and it is—you’re still you.”
Customers buy Powerball lottery tickets at the CA Lotto store in San Bernardino County, California in January 2016. (REUTERS/Gene Blevins)
He continued: “The lottery doesn’t change who you are, but it increases your personality and your ability to do what you want to do.”
It wasn’t easy to have such a huge life event happen to him, Schultz said.
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“After that elation wore off, I was still extremely grateful for this life-changing win — and I never, ever take that for granted — but there were some things I had to learn,” he shared.
“If I wanted to go on vacation, I had to pay for other people [to go].”
“At a certain point I felt a sense of isolation. None of my peers, my family or my friends had won the lottery – and I was only 21 at the time, a struggling student working at a gas station to put myself through school.”
“I felt kind of like an outcast,” he continued. “If I wanted to go on vacation, I had to pay for other people [to go].”
Schultz said he “learned a lot of life lessons.”
“I learned that the lottery can buy you time [with others]and that’s priceless, and winning can be a very, very positive thing.”
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He added: “I’m the same person I was before I won – I’ve never been into material possessions, so I felt quite level-headed and relaxed about it.”
In Iowa, the identity of lottery winners is made public, and people “came out of the woodwork” asking for money after he won, he said.
Lottery forms for the Louisiana Mega Millions, Powerball and other lottery games fill the drawer at The World Bar and Grill, in Delta, La. (AP)
“I got a team of financial advisors, people who were qualified and trustworthy, who could tell me how much I could and couldn’t spend,” he explained, noting that was very important.
“Once I developed a game plan, I helped people as much as I could — people I loved and cared about, who were in my life — and did what I felt I could for other people. I did a lot of things for other people. “
“At first I got a lot of media attention, and at the time I was a pretty shy person who didn’t like that kind of attention. I couldn’t even go to a grocery store without people knowing who I was.”
Schultz now interviews other lottery winners on his YouTube channel, noting that they often “have very similar experiences.”
(Just below is his interview with a Money for Life winner.)
How well one handles sudden wealth “depends on who you are as a person and what your goals are in life,” he said.
Schultz does not share where he currently lives or his family or marital status, keeping his personal life private.
“At first I got a lot of media attention and at the time I was quite a shy person who didn’t like that kind of attention,” he said. “I couldn’t even go to a grocery store without people knowing who I was.
“My advice to anyone who wins is to relax, not make hasty decisions and seek qualified financial advisors.”
He added: “Now I don’t mind that sort of thing at all. I hug them.”
He said he enjoys talking to reporters now that he went to college for journalism and broadcasting. “I like interviewing people too.”
Schultz finds it “very cathartic and interesting” to interview other lottery winners.
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“It’s one of the rarest things that can happen to anybody. It’s a little club we’re in together.”
His advice for the person or people who win the Mega Millions?
He said: “First, congratulations! Next I would say, Buckle up because this can really turn life upside down. It’s one of the most potentially life-changing things that can happen to a person.”
Schultz added: “My advice to anyone who wins is to relax, not make hasty decisions and seek qualified financial advisors. Figure out what you can realistically do with the money – and then try to enjoy life.”
Deirdre Reilly is senior editor, lifestyle, at Fox News Digital.
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