A Massachusetts man just set the bar higher for lottery winners across the land.

According to the AP, Richard Brown just "decided to roll it" when a store clerk handed him the wrong scratch-off lottery ticket, a mistake that wound up leaving him—and the store—very rich.

Brown won a million dollars, and the store will receive a $10,000 commission. 

Brown also did something else right: The Taunton resident opted for the lump sum payment of roughly $430,000 after taxes, granting him more control of his money upfront, and a tax break, says Adam Koos, financial advisor with Libertas Wealth. 

As we've reported before, the only way to take your winnings if you ever to win the lottery is the cash option. The annuity is for suckers. 

Assuming Brown invests a portion of his winnings today in a conservative portfolio, he could generate a decent income on the returns alone, all without having to lift a finger, says Koos. What's more, he'd still have the principal to play with, or leave behind to his inheritors. 

Beyond that, Brown will do his taxes a solid by dodging the prospect of being bumped to a higher bracket later on. With politicians alluding to higher taxes in election campaigns, it's better to "take the tax hit today, then invest the rest of the principal in various ways," says Koos. 

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