Meet Idaho's Newest Millionaire

According to The Idaho Lottery Charles Zettner is Idaho's newest millionaire. Charles just won the the big $1,000,000 Raffle.

Charles told ktvb “I saw a crawl on the TV that said the winning ticket was sold in Jerome County,” Zettner added. “I went to work and there was an article in the paper, on the front page. When I looked at the number, I thought, I’ve got a ticket that’s close to that number.”

Personally I think I would of freaked out and ran home during my lunch break and verified the number on the ticket but he had the will power to work all day before going home and checking his winning ticket. He laid low for a few days before cashing in on Monday at the Idaho Lottery Office. This is the part that impressed me and made me want to share this story with you. Unlike most lottery winners that end up broke within five years Charles plans to take a trip and them invest the rest of the money. It's a million dollars why wouldn't he lose his mind and buy everything he's ever wanted? When presented with the check he said “That’s a lot more than I had yesterday.” and he intends to keep it and make it grow.

I don't mean to count other peoples money but investing the money makes a lot of sense. Think about these two scenarios.

1. After taxes you take your $700,000 ( depending on your tax bracket) you quit your job and live on 70k a year, ten years later you're broke.

or you could do this....

2. Invest your $700,000 in something that pays you a 10% return and in those same 10 years you will have $1,815,619.72 that would mean that your $700,000 made you an additional $1,115,619.72

I know not all of us are going to win the lottery however compounding interest works at any dollar amount. Think about that the next time you get your stimulus check or a bonus.

Oh yeah and thank Charles for the inspiration.