I would post here just to explain WHY I AM TAKING THE ANNUITY instead of the cash. (I don't feel like explaining right now, so you'll just have to wait.)
But, besides posting here -- where no one really knows me -- I would not tell co-workers and friends. Sure, I might buy a decent house and trade up to a better car -- but I wouldn't go wild. Nothing that maybe well-paid professionals in my area couldn't afford. (if I was a well-paid professional.) And my explanation to people would be that an aunt died or something and left me a little money. But, I wouldn't give them anything to get suspicious about to too jealous about. I'm at the age now where I have friends whose older relatives are passing away and are leaving them a little money, so that's not an unbelievable excuse.
But, I wouldn't let on that I have MILLIONS IN THE BANK. That's just asking for trouble, unless you totally change your social life and even location.
Also, I wouldn't quit work, at least right away. In my mind, my annual lottery checks would be for my work. I would finally be getting paid what I thought I was worth! :) As an anonymous winner I could help people who I saw truly needed it -- from my personal observation, not people who hunted me down looking for a handout.
By being anonymous you know your friends are your friends because they like really like you -- not because they are kissing up to you because you are wealthy. I would want to keep my friends, not go get a new set who had no personal connection to me.
Eventually as I adjusted, yeah I might buy a condo on a Caribbean beach or take flying lessons and buy a plane. But, I'm not sure how many people I would tell about that. Maybe that's just for me and whoever the special person is in my life. I don't have to tell everyone my business.
Changing the subject a little bit, I read above about a guy who has a mathematical theory about how the lottery works. That's funny, because it is so much bull.
I work behind the scenes in TV. Specifically when I lived in Virginia for 10 years I worked AT the TV station where the Virginia Lottery does their evening drawings. Ping pong balls and all. I often ran camera for the Virginia Lotto drawings (it's now called Lotto South.) In fact, I was working there when that Australian syndicate managed to corner the lottery and win millions by buying over half the number combinations available. They rented several lottery machines at a local grocery chain and had people feeding slips in all day long. If I remember correctly, the jackpot was something like $43 million while the number combinations were something like 8 million. They had managed to generate over 4 million play slips before the drawing took place. And they won. However, they had stashed all the tickets in piles of big garbage bags, so it took them almost a week to locate the winning ticket. The could have easily lost, and wasted over $4 million -- but they got lucky in their "investment". They were trying to generate all 8 million possible number combinations, but they ran out of time. After this, the Virginia Lottery implemented some rules so this couldn't happen again.
But, I digress...
My real story is seeing close up how the lottery drawings work. Thus, I KNOW it's totally random and no mathematical formula is going to win you millions. It's up to God. First, I'm sure you all know the lottery has several sets of balls and several machines they keep locked away in a special room with lots of security. Every evening they take a set out, weigh each ball while wearing surgical gloves, and videotape everything so there's no questions of tomfoolery.
Then, they do some practice draws. Here's where it gets interesting. In particular, with the video cameras rolling, 3 or 4 minutes before the real drawing for all the TV stations on the satellite feed, they do a FULL runthrough identical to the real drawing. Cameras still rolling, they re-set the machines, the floor manager gives a countdown, and they do the real drawing live on the air. (Some stations tape this and replay it later -- others show it live. But, at the pre-ordained time, to the second, the drawing takes place.) As soon as they are off the air, cameras still rolling, the lottery technicians re-set the machines and the whole crew does another full runthrough identical to the real drawing. The lottery officials do this to show that the same numbers aren't coming up again and again -- that the lottery isn't rigged. That the numbers are totally random. The public doesn't get to see these "before" and "after" drawings, but they are taped and kept in the archives to show any investigators in case there are any questions. The point is, YOUR numbers could have come up in the drawing just before air -- but the reason you aren't a millionaire is because it wasn't the "official" drawing which happened two or three minutes later. Or, maybe your numbers came up in the final drawing immediately afterward. Too late, too bad. There's no difference, except one is official because it hits at the exact time -- and the others are considered "practice". So, it's not like the MEGA MILLIONS or LOTTO SOUTH is just one drawing twice a week. Behind the scenese, it's many drawings -- and one of them happens to be the official one when the countdown is given for the satellite feed.