Woman Opted to Get CAD 1,000 Weekly for Life Over Lump Sum – Financial Strategists Are Mad

Lottery winners who miss out on the chance to scoop the lump sum of a lottery jackpot are often the butt of criticism among financial strategists. This is also the case of one Brenda Aubin-Vega, whose lottery win, resulting in the CAD 1,000 weekly payout for life, has ruffled financiers’ feathers.

Not Using Your Lottery Winnings the Correct Way 

The Canadian woman won CAD 1 million but decided to go with the weekly payment instead, amounting to about CAD 52,000 a year, against the lump sum payout. 

While lottery winners should be left alone, the practicalities of their decisions are often stoking passionate debates, and this is exactly what happened on r/theydidthemath subreddit, where number aficionados congregate to assign an optimal numerical value to everything you could do in life. 

Aubin-Vega’s win was reported extensively back in December 2025, when it actually happened, but resurfaced discussions on Reddit continued to pile out to the “wrongness” of her decision.

One Redditor suggested that the interest rate of 7% per annum would mean that her CAD 1 million would flip into CAD 15 million by simply investing the money outright. The same Redditor noted that Aubin-Vega would need 40 years to earn just over CAD 2 million through weekly payments.

However, there is an important catch. The annuity payable by the lottery, or in this case, Lotto-Quebec, is not really paid by the organization – it is outsourced to an insurance company. 

This raises the stakes significantly, as while a CAD 1,000 weekly payment for life doesn’t sound too bad, especially if you are young, there is a chance that the insurance company could go belly up, taking down the weekly payments with it.

While the majority of people agreed that her choice was wrong, some offered an alternative insight into why a person may steer clear of the lump sum. It is about the psychology of winning, one user argued, explaining that the winner might just be aware she would end up burning through the entire pile of money quickly.

Making the Most of Lottery Win – Only If You Have Experience Investing 

Another suggested that some people find comfort in the weekly payments while also being able to improve their lives considerably, save up, and invest at a pace they feel comfortable with. 

One Redditor pointed out that the CAD 15 million theorized about by users on the discussion board would only materialize if she took the full amount at once – but also, if she understood precisely how to invest it. 

As other math-heads pointed out, people who end up with that much money would need to put a specific team of specialists to help them sort it out – otherwise, they have a good chance of burning through their money without realizing it.