{"id":266938,"date":"2025-11-06T17:08:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T17:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/266938\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T17:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T17:08:10","slug":"quebec-couple-picks-675k-lottery-lump-sum-instead-of-weekly-annuity-for-next-25-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/266938\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec couple picks $675K lottery lump sum instead of weekly annuity for next 25 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 20th wedding anniversary road trip through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia turned life-changing for Annie Ouellet and her husband. The Matane, Que., couple not only marked two decades of marriage, but also won Set for Life\u2019s top prize<\/a>, opting for the $675,000 lump sum over weekly $1,000 payments for 25 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a dream \u2013 a beautiful dream,\u201d Ouellet said while visiting the Atlantic Lottery Prize Centre to claim her win. \u201cWe are in a rush to get home now so we can announce it to our friends and family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atlantic Lottery\u2019s Set for Life <\/a>is a $4 Scratch\u2019N Win ticket that offers two ways to claim the grand prize: a steady $1,000 a week for 25 years or a one-time payout of $675,000. On paper, the weekly payments would total $52,000 a year and up to $1.3 million over the full term. If you were to invest the $1,000 weekly annuity at a 5 per cent growth rate, you’d have a future value of $2,776,500.<\/p>\n

You could also choose to have half of the $675,000 as spending money, and invest the other $337,500. At a 5 per cent growth, compounded annually, that investment would hold a future value of $1,143,825.<\/p>\n

Still, most winners \u2014 including Ouellet \u2014 prefer the lump sum. The immediate payout means access to the full amount right away, rather than smaller instalments stretched out across two-and-a-half decades.<\/p>\n

Ouellet\u2019s winning ticket was one she had bought earlier on their trip, tucked away as the couple enjoyed their anniversary getaway. They spent two days glamping in Shippagan, N.B., before continuing into Nova Scotia to visit Wolfville and the fishing town of Lunenburg. With each stop, they added memories to their milestone celebration \u2014 but Ouellet had no idea one of them would be life-changing.<\/p>\n

At first, she assumed the ticket was worth little more than another chance to play. Believing she had only won a free ticket, she carried it with her for four days as the couple enjoyed their vacation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my husband was gassing up, I went inside to validate the ticket and that\u2019s when the worker said, \u2018You\u2019ve won the grand prize,\u2019\u201d Ouellet said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I just won a free ticket \u2026 but when my husband came in, we realized we did win the grand prize!\u201d<\/p>\n

As the reality of the win sank in, the couple began thinking about how they would use their windfall. Their first priorities include paying off their mortgage and buying a new truck, but family comes first.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter just bought a home, and my son is in school,\u201d said Ouellet. \u201cNow, we will be able to help them more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ouellet purchased her winning ticket at Cochrane\u2019s Pharmasave in Wolfville, N.S. The retailer will receive a one per cent seller\u2019s prize. Set for Life is one of Atlantic Lottery\u2019s most popular Scratch\u2019N Win games.<\/p>\n

To play, players scratch the ticket to reveal prize symbols \u2014 uncovering three \u201cSet for Life\u201d symbols secures the grand prize. The current 4099 series launched on April 2, 2025, and Ouellet\u2019s ticket is the first top prize claimed, with six more top prizes available across the region.<\/p>\n

Tools to stop gambling<\/p>\n

If you’re looking to take a break from gambling, self-exclusion programs can be effective tools. See here for resources <\/a>that are available across Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 20th wedding anniversary road trip through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia turned life-changing for Annie Ouellet and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155883,155884,64,63,99,186,184,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-266938","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-annie-ouellet","9":"tag-atlantic-lottery","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-business","13":"tag-finance","14":"tag-personal-finance","15":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}