Xan Cohee of Raleigh decided to kill some time at a nearby convenience store when she tried her luck on a Millionaire Maker ticket and became the latest $1 million winner.
“I went to the gas station to get some water and wait,” she said. “And I decided to grab some lottery tickets while I was there.”
Cohee purchased her tickets from Andy Grocery on N.C. 54 East in Chapel Hill and walked outside to her car, where she scratched them off.
“I just basically couldn’t believe that it was true,” she recalled. “So, I took my app on my phone and I scanned it and it said I had to go to lottery headquarters. And then I went back into the store and asked the cashier, ‘Does this say what I think it says?’”
Cohee claimed her prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh.
She had the option of taking the $1 million as an annuity of $50,000 a year over 20 years, or a lump sum of $600,000. Cohee chose the lump sum of $600,000 and took home $424,509 after required federal and state tax withholdings.
“I’m going to set my kids up for college and beyond,” said Cohee.
She also plans to pay off her and her partner’s bills, and invest the rest so she can plan ahead for retirement.
Millionaire Maker is the first scratch-off to offer 30 $1 million prizes. Cohee became the 14th person to win one of those $1 million prizes.
Ticket sales from scratch-offs like Millionaire Maker make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $725 million per year for education. For details on how $62.8 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Wake County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.