Why is it that so many lottery winners are older couples? In fact, think about it for just a moment. How often do we even hear about luckyyoung people who are just starting out in life suddenly becoming millionaires?
Maybe it has something to do with living long enough to take up some really good karma that it finally pays off in your old age? But by the time you’re a senior citizen, you’ve probably already spent a somewhat small fortune buying Powerball tickets every week for many years and it’s only on your trillionth try that you finally hit a jackpot?
But there are rare instances when multi-million dollar Powerball winners are younger than 25. In fact, anyone who’s lived to 25 might not yet have racked up enough great karma to land a windfall, but that’s not for us to judge!
Perhaps, we think, the lottery has nothing at all to do with good karma. Maybe it has everything to do with random and sheer luck.
Do you agree?
Well, here’s a look at some of the youngest ever lottery winners that we do know about.
Well Done, Jim!
When Jim Schultz won a mega 28 million jackpot way back in February 1999, he was just 21 years old. Jim hails from Des Moines in Iowa. At the time of his big windfall, Jim worked in a local convenience store. He ended up having to split his prize and a settlement was reached with his 20-year-old co-worker called Sarah Elder who made claims that she’d purchased half the ticket. Iowa Lottery rules say you must be 21 years of age to play, so Jim just cut the mustard there.
Fabulous for You, Frederick!
On January 13, 2016, a 19-year old man from Florida won a staggering $2 million in that day’s Powerball draw. Frederick Walker was just the Powerball away from scooping his share of the Powerball’s record-breaking $1.58 billion prize pool. But, since he added the Power Play option to his lucky ticket, Frederick managed to double his second division prize.
Frederick’s win came after he bought his first ever ticket. In fact, he picked up a Powerball ticket that somebody else had filled out and purchased at that.
Isn’t that bizarre? Apparently, Frederick decided to try his luck when he heard about the historic Powerball jackpot. When he got to the store, there was already a completed play slip, so he figured “why not?” That certainly paid off!
Jackpot for Jonathan
Jonathan Vargas from South Carolina was only 19 years old at the time of his win. He might have been young, but it didn’t stop him from knowing how to play Powerball when he managed to pick the 6 winning digits to walk away with a little over $35 million in May 2008.
A former construction worker, Jonathan dove straight into living it up and partying hard with his new-found wealth, and no doubt new found friends. But, unlike a majority of lottery winners, he did put some thought into how to maintain his windfall, and he even went as far as to enroll in a personal finance course.
Despite putting his fingers in a few pies and working on a couple of different business ventures, including the creation of a female-only wresting show for TV, his efforts flopped. The TV show only lasted one season and all his other investments eventually fizzled out. The last we heard, Jonathan was broke.
Fortunate Farrah
In June 1999, then 21-year-old Farrah Slad from Minnesota scooped a whopping $150million Powerball prize. Farrah opted for the cash payout which left her with a lump sum payment of a little over $78 million. Farrah had just bought a whole $5 worth of tickets when she went to fill up her car. After her win, Farrah was inundated with requests for money from loved ones and strangers alike, eventually saying that winning the lottery was both the best thing and the worst thing to happen to her.
A few years after winning, she told reporters that she took to spending her time at home, away from celebrity status or packed bars.
Could You Be Next?
While many of these young Powerball winners simply faded off into a quiet life, the fact remains that they tried their luck with a lottery ticket and it paid off.
You could be the next youngest Powerball winner!