Chapter 3: Claiming My Prize

Wednesday, September 27, 2028 (continued)...

“Good morning, Mary. I’m Carl Simmons. I have an appointment with Mr. Nobel. Is he ready for me?”

“Yes, he is, Mr. Simmons. Come with me and I’ll show you to his office.”

Mary led me down the hall and she stepped partway through an open office door.

“Bill, Mr. Simmons is here for his appointment.”

Mary stepped back into the hallway and gestured for me to enter the office, and once I entered, she left pulling the door closed after her.

“Good morning, Mr. Simmons. I prefer a casual approach to doing business with my clients, so call me Bill.”

“Alright, and I prefer Carl.”

“Nice to meet you, Carl. What can I do for you today?”

“I need to find a Tax Attorney and an Investment Counselor. My Financial Adviser, Bob Thompson, said that you might be what I’m looking for as a Tax Attorney and that you might be able to suggest a good Investment Counselor. Would you mind explaining your fee structure to me?”

“Sure, Carl. My billing rate depends on the type of work I am doing for my client. If you need me as a CPA my rate is seventy-five an hour. It’s a hundred an hour for tax advice, and for any legal work it’s one fifty. My staff is sixty an hour for all support work. Is that acceptable to you?”

“Yes, it is. A bit higher than what I thought it would be, but considering what I need and what Bob told me about you, it seems fair.”

“Good! I don’t negotiate on my fees. Now is there something specific that you need help with today or is today just a shopping trip?”

“Based on Bob’s recommendation, I think you will do nicely, Bill. So for now, I’ll give you a go at being my tax person. I won a good bit of money in the Lottery, so I need tax advice. I am also going to start my own business, so I need help incorporating the business and would appreciate any recommendations you can offer to get me started.”

“I can do that for you, Carl. How much did you win and what type of business do you want to start?”

“I won the one point four billion dollar Lottery Jackpot, and I haven’t decided what type of business to start.”

“Wow! That is a good bit more than I thought when you said, a good bit of money. I assume you told Bob about your winnings.”

“Yes, and we discussed how to invest my winnings and a few other things.”

“Okay, but first let’s start from the beginning. Have you submitted your ticket?”

“No. I’m doing some research first.”

“That’s good. Next, do you have a preference as to the deferred payment option or the cash payout option?”

“I’m planning on the cash option, Bill. Do you think that the deferred payment option would be better for me tax-wise?”

“Not really. That choice should be based on how good you are at handling money. However, with the amount you won, that is sort of academic. If you go with the deferred payment option, you will be getting around seventy million a year. For most people, that is far more than they would ever squander in any single year. You would really have to work hard to spend that much money a year for twenty years.

“I’d have to get out my calculator to get an accurate number for the cash payment option, but it should be around five hundred and fifty million. Since you are working with Bob on investing it, I would suggest going with the cash payout option.

“For the deferred payment option, the Lottery invests all but the first payment in a long-term investment and the dividends the investment will earn is included in that one point four billion dollar figure they publish. For the cash option, Bob can get you a better return rate, so your cash payout winnings should out earn the Lottery’s investment. If you were to invest the entire amount with Bob, you would end up with more money in twenty years than the Lottery would pay you. Of course, the Lottery payment is guaranteed, while investments have some risk. One of the few things people think of is, the investment is in the Lottery’s name, not the winner’s name. Therefore, if the investment out-earns what the Lottery promises to pay the winner, the Lottery gets to keep the additional dividends. Of course, the reverse is also true.”

“The cash option seems to be the best for me right now, Bill. I know that there is nothing that you can do about the cash payout amount being less than the advertised amount, but is there anything that you can do for me tax-wise?”

“Unfortunately, No. Most people hope there is something people like me can do to help them to significantly reduce the amount of tax they have to pay in the tax year they collect their winnings. I can help you to a certain extent, Carl, but there are significant limits.

“I recommend contributions to an Individual Retirement Arrangement and charitable contributions to most people to get them into a lower tax bracket. For you, an IRA contribution would reduce your Adjusted Income slightly, but there is a maximum annual contribution limit for IRAs, and at your income level, that maximum won’t help you. Charitable donations could also put you in a lower tax bracket, but I doubt you would want to give away over ninety percent of your winnings in order to drop into a lower tax bracket.”

“No way, Bill. I doubt that I have ever felt that charitable. Will it make any difference to my taxes if I collect my winnings this year or next year?”

“It can if the government changes next year’s tax rates. From what I’ve heard, next year’s maximum tax rate won’t decrease. However, there is a rumor that next year the government might increase the tax rate. If you submit your ticket now, you should receive your winnings this tax year. If you decide to wait, you could submit your ticket in December or January and hope the maximum tax rate for twenty twenty-nine decreases. But, as I said, I heard it might increase, so I doubt it will go down.”

“So, by me waiting until December or January to submit the ticket, I will be bucking the odds on reducing my tax liability. Is that right?”

“As of right now, that’s the way I see it. This is an election year, Carl, so the government doesn’t want to increase the tax rates. If possible, they would have cut taxes, but they didn’t. So, if the rate changes next year, it will most likely go up. However, between now and then, anything could happen.”

“Alright, it sounds like my best option is to submit my ticket now, so my winnings are taxed at this year’s rate. Will I need you to go with me to the Lottery Office?”

“If you want me to, Carl, I will. However, the process is pretty much straightforward and there is little I can do. Most of the people who take a lawyer with them do so because they need their hand held. You don’t impress me as that type of person. In a few cases, their lawyer has told them he can help them. The lawyer puts on a small show for his client before and at the Lottery Office, but he doesn’t really change anything.”

“You’re right. I don’t need my hand held. If everything goes the way I’ve read about on the Lottery’s website, all I am going to do is turn over my signed ticket with a filled-out claim form. Is that right?”

“Yep, that’s all there is to it. Although you should keep a printed copy of the ticket and the signed claim form for your records. I would suggest you also keep electronic copies of both the ticket and claim form. Mary can scan and print a copy of your ticket and claim form for you, if you can’t do it yourself.”

“No need, Bill. I have a multifunction printer that has both the scan and copy functions.

“What about future tax years, Bill? Is there anything I can do to reduce my taxes then?”

“Yes, I can help you there, more than I can this year. The main thing you need to do, is to have me run an analysis to determine the best investments for you. I’ll coordinate with Bob, but for most of my clients, I suggest non-taxable and tax deferred investments. But going that route is only advisable if the long-term, projected net income on the investment portfolio exceeds your projected after tax earnings on a taxable investment. If your projected Adjusted Income is still too high and your tax rate is still at the maximum tax rate, we can look at charitable contributions to see if they will reduce your tax burden to make them worthwhile. We will also need to take into account the limits on charitable contributions. Of course, if you decide to support a charity for reasons other than cutting your tax obligation, then I can let you know how your contributions are likely to affect your tax burden.”

“What are the charitable limits you mentioned?”

“The limits only apply when your contribution exceeds fifty percent of your Adjusted Income. For you, exceeding that fifty percent limit would probably mean you giving away far more money than a reduced tax rate would save you. But as I said, you may want to do that for a personal reason.”

“Oh! That doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. I may find a charity worthy of supporting, but I doubt I would want to finance it.”

“Yeah, taxes on the income of the ultra-wealthy are not always pretty, Carl, unless they own a large business. Now tell me about this business venture you’re thinking of.”

“Well, I plan to quit my job once I collect my winnings. Once I do that, I will want something to do. My idea is to start my own business, but that’s as far as I’ve gone with that idea.”

“Have you considered a charitable business? You could fund it personally, and take a major deduction when you file your taxes.”

“No, I hadn’t considered doing that. Actually, I am not that charitable of a person. I don’t mind donating a few dollars here and there, but doing charitable things is not me. Although, I suspect that my few dollars here and there will be a good bit more than it has been in the past. However, I doubt that I would ever be interested in doing charitable work like helping out in a soup kitchen.”

“That’s fine, Carl. I can definitely help you with the legal aspects of setting up a business, once you decide what you want to do and how you want to run the business.”

“What does the way I run the business have to do with setting up the business?”

“The simple answer, Carl, is that the business’s structure will determine the type of legal structure we use to create your business. For example, the simplest business structure is you owning and running a business as a single person. The main advantage for you is autonomy; you get to make the decisions about issues immediately, without having to submit the issues to a Board of Directors for discussion and approval. In contrast, you could set up a business that requires a Board of Directors and a Company Charter, but that would be far more complicated to create, and cumbersome to run. However, the more complex structure would only be needed if you needed help managing a very large business or if the company issued stock.”

“Okay, I’m thinking of just a small business maybe three or four employees with a very simple structure and no stock. How much would the legal fees be to set something like that up?”

“I’ve set up that type of business in the past for a flat fee of five hundred plus filing fees and other costs. The additional costs are usually around two hundred. If you plan to do something that requires special permits, like a restaurant, I can help you with obtaining the permits also.”

“Thanks, Bill. What about an Investment Counselor to help me figure out what type of business I want to start, and give me advice on how to run it?”

“I have a couple of possibilities in mind. I can talk with them to see if they can take on another client, but I will need to know how much capital you intend to allocate for setting up the business?”

“Bob and I decided on twenty-two million. Five million to set up the business and twenty million to run it for ten years. He said we can add to that pot of money if the business needs additional capital.”

“Hopefully, your business will make a good profit, Carl. So ... you shouldn’t need more than a year or two of backup capital once you are established. I will talk with my contacts, and then get back to you. What type of work do you do now, and is there any type of work that you might like to do?”

“Right now, I’m a scheduler for a freight company. I schedule which trucks are to make pickups and where they are to go to deliver their loads. It’s not something I want to do in the future, if that is what you are thinking. I like to work with my hands and I don’t mind dirty work around the house.”

Well, that is about all I can do for you now, Carl, until you start carrying out your plans, or unless there is something else you haven’t mentioned. If you want, I will talk with Bob about financing your business, and I will also call around to see if any of the Investment Counselors I trust need another client.”

“Sounds good to me, Bill. Once I have a better idea of what I want to do, I’ll get back to you. I’d better get out of here so you can get to your next appointment.”

I decided Bill was right about submitting my ticket now. It was almost eleven o’clock, so I decided to have lunch, make a scanned copy of the front and back of my ticket, fill out a claim form, and make copies of both. I would have to go through a construction zone on Balboa to get to the Lottery Office and that meant it would be at least a thirty-five minute drive from my house; traffic permitting. Since the office didn’t close until five, I should have more than enough time to submit my ticket today.

I had to add my address information to my ticket, but once that was done scanning the front and back of the ticket only took a couple of minutes, and another minute to print the scans. I was planning to print and fill out the claim form, but it was an interactive PDF form. So as I munched on my sandwich, I filled out the claim form and printed a copy. Once I had signed, dated, and made a copy of the signed form, I stapled my ticket to the original form. Ruth and I had bought one of those small, fireproof Fort Knox safes for safeguarding our valuables and important documents. It was overkill size-wise, but it did the job. So I locked my copies of the ticket and claim form in my safe and headed to the Lottery Office.

There had been a Lottery drawing on Monday night, and the Lottery Office was still busy even though it was now early in the afternoon. I got in line, a very long line, and waited my turn.

While waiting, I struck up a conversation with the guy in back of me; his name was Steve Mackey. As we talked, I found out that he was married and had three daughters; all were over twenty-one. One was still single and the other two divorced. As we talked, he waved to a couple of the men sitting along the wall.

Two of the men came over and started talking with Steve. That is how I learned they were reporters, and Steve had recently been let go from his position as the Assistant Managing Editor of one of our local metropolitan newspapers. The guys were a little nervous about talking with Steve, as they didn’t want word of them talking to him to get back to their Editor-in-Chief. Evidently, Steve’s departure from the paper was rather unpleasant, and not exactly his fault.

“Steve, why are your two friends and these other people sitting around the Lottery Office?”

“You heard that the winner of the big Lottery prize bought the ticket about a mile and a half from here didn’t you?”

“No, I hadn’t.”

“Well, this is the only Lottery Office in San Diego, and their bosses probably think the winner will show up here soon to submit a claim on the ticket. Their bosses want them to interview the winner, so for the last day or so, these guys have been just sitting here hoping the person shows up soon.”

“Oh ... that sounds boring.”

“It is. I’ve done it twice in the past.”

Before I could respond, a clerk called to me and I realized I was at the head of the line. Excusing myself, I walked over to the clerk and handed her my claim form. She started looking it over to make sure it was complete. There is a block called Prize Claimed on the form, and I think that is what caused her to freeze. I mean every muscle in her body must have tensed up to the point she was totally rigid. Then her facial muscles changed to an expression of total shock. A few moments later, her right hand fumbled under the edge of her counter. Finally, her eyes rose and met mine.

In a quivering voice, she said, “Everything looks good to me, Mr. Simmons. However, my Manager will be here in just a moment to verify everything is correct.”

Steve was being helped by the clerk next to me, and he said, “I guess you are that lucky S.O.B., Carl. If it were me, I would get out of here as fast as I could without doing an interview.”

“Thanks for the advice, Steve. I have no intention of spilling my guts to your friends. However, I would enjoy having a coffee with you, so we can talk. I’ll buy.”

“Sure. You know the Starbuck’s on Clairemont Mesa about a mile past the Eight-O-Five?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll meet you there.”

The clerk’s boss had arrived, and she was checking the claim form very closely. She also checked that I had signed the back of the ticket and included my address. She had the clerk read out the drawing’s winning number while she checked what was on my ticket and the form. Then they did it again with the boss reading off the number and the clerk verifying the ticket and claim form information.

The clerk’s boss finally turned to me and said, “Everything looks okay to me, Mr. Simmons. You should hear from us in six to eight weeks. If you do not hear from us in eight weeks, call our Sacramento office and let them know.