North Carolina Lottery Winner Makes An Unusual Choice

North Carolia lottery winner makes an unusual choice about his million dollar prize. Donald Ledford is the talk of Canton, North Carolina after getting really lucky on his $30 Millionaire Maker Scratch off. But then he had a tough choice to make.

Many people take the lump sum on a prize like that. Opting for the one time $600,000 after taxes and fees payday. Ledford broke with tradition and opted instead for the annuity. That means he will receive his money in smaller increments over the next twenty years. He tells the North Carolina Education Lottery, "It will be like winning $50,000 twenty times". According to our source, the Charlotte Observer he says "now we can enjoy this for many many years".

Ledford purchased his winning ticket at "a popular mountain tourist destination in Asheville". He plopped down the $30 for the ticket at the Fastrac Food Mart and voila, big money. Ledford says he plans to put his winning prize money towards a house. That is good thinking.

The North Carolina lottery winner makes an unusual decision about his million dollar prize. Lottery officials call it "pretty rare". I think if it were me, I would take the $600,000 lump sum. There is so much you can do with that amount of money all at one time. You could buy property, take care of people or invest your money. But there is something to be said about having the patience to take a smaller amount over a longer period of time.

Donald Ledford is reportedly from beautiful Haywood County. And currently lives in Canton. We hope you enjoy your new winnings! To learn more about this story get all the details from our source, the Charlotte Observer, right here.

There are some states that are luckier than others. There is no doubt about it. North Carolina made the list of 15 lucky states in the United States, according to OLBG. Everyone has fantasized about winning the lottery, whether it's the Mega Millions or the Powerball. Whether you're planning a lavish vacation, buying a house, treating a loved one, giving to charity, or all of the above, when we buy a ticket we always have a little bit of hope and our imaginations go wild when we hear about the unclaimed winning ticket...

When it comes to winning big on the lottery, which states are the luckiest? To determine where in America has the greatest likelihood of winning the big bucks, OLBG analyzed all lottery winners in the U.S. with a jackpot of $300 million or more. You can see the top 15 states below.

California was ranked 12th luckiest state despite having the highest number of big lottery winners, primarily because the state has such a large population that there are very few lottery winners, and the average winning ticket for a California winner is only $190.5 million.

North Carolina has won a whopping $1.1 billion between both lottery winners, making its average winning ticket $550 million, the highest in the country. As a result of its higher population, North Carolina didn't quite capture the title by itself, with a lower percentage of its population winning than New Hampshire.

In terms of lottery jackpot winners, New Hampshire and North Carolina share the gold for the luckiest states. Residents in New Hampshire have won a total of $693.7 million, which is an average of $346.85 million per winning ticket. As one of the states with the highest percentage of people who have won over $300 million, New Hampshire has the third smallest population.