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Michigan Woman Chooses Between Lottery Prizes: $25K A Year For Life Or $390K One-Time Payout

A Michigan woman is basking in her “beginner’s luck” after winning big-time in her state’s Lucky For Life lottery.

RELATED: Maryland Man Wins $50K Lottery Three Times In A Row After Repeatedly Playing The Same Number

More About The Michigan Woman & Her “Lucky For Life” Win

According to PEOPLE, 39-year-old Shayla Kauflin decided to purchase tickets for a recent Powerball drawing. While making the online purchase, Kauflin also bought “five Lucky For Life lottery tickets for the October 9 drawing.”

This was the first time Kauflin played the Lucky For Life lottery, but she casually thought, “Why not?”

“This ticket was the very first Lucky For Life ticket I have ever bought,” Kauflin explained, per PEOPLE. “When I was purchasing my Powerball tickets online, I saw the Lucky For Life game listed and thought: ‘Why not?’ and bought $10 worth of tickets.”

When Kauflin checked the winning numbers the next day, she noticed something life-changing. She explained that when she logged into her lottery account, she noticed $390,000 “pending.”

“I started screaming, crying, and freaking out!” Kauflin reportedly recalled.

The 39-year-old explained that she called her husband to inform him about the ordeal. However, her husband was “concerned at firstbecause he thought something was wrong.”

What Shayla Kauflin Did After Winning & How She Plans To Use Her Lucky Sum

According to the outlet, the Lucky For Life lottery’s grand prize is $25,000 for 25 years or a person’s lifetime whichever time span happens to be longer.

However, instead of accepting the yearly payout, Kauflin reportedly elected to be paid a lump sum of $390,000.

The 39-year-old says the feeling of “winning is indescribable,” per USA Today. Additionally, her surprise fortune has taken the “weight of the world” off her shoulders.

“It feels like the weight of the world has been taken off my shoulders. It may not be enough money to change the world, but it’s enough money to change my world.”

Kauflin reportedly plans to invest the money and use a portion to treat her family to a Disney vacation.

According to USA Today, the odds of winning Michigan’s Lucky For Life lottery for a prize of $25,000 a year for life “are 1 in 1,813,028.” The odds of winning the grand prize of $1,000 per day “are 1 in 30,821,472.”

Jadriena Solomon

Jadriena “Jade” Solomon is a journalist and editor, specializing in beauty, fashion, entertainment, and culture. A graduate of CUNY Brooklyn College’s Journalism and Media Studies program, she began her career in 2015, publishing independent op-ed articles, and has since built a strong digital media portfolio across reporting, editing, and hosting for major media companies. As The Shade Room’s Senior Editor, Jadriena helps lead editorial direction, manages writers and editors, and has contributed more than 2,600 stories with over 45M page views since her start in 2022. Her past roles include contributing and staff positions at HelloBeautiful, Blavity News, 21Ninety, and Bronze Magazine. She has interviewed talents such as Tamron Hall, Eboni K. Williams, Tia Mowry, LeToya Luckett, Salt-N-Pepa, and more.

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