Iowa woman wins $2m, plans earlier retirement, putting grandchildren through school

A woman from Waterloo, Iowa, has had a very special lottery windfall come her way, with the lucky player scooping a $2,000,000 prize, allowing her to turn her whole life around and finally retire at the age of 69.

Debra Bickle, who worked in computer software for 26 years, thought she would wait until December 2026 before she threw in the towel, but the seven-figure lottery prize has now expedited this. December 25 was supposed to be my last day to work, but as soon as I realized I had this kind of money, I figured I can do it now, Bickle said. She also told the lottery that it was difficult to comprehend how many zeroes there were to her win at first. I was pacing up and down, trying to figure out what I should do next. I was just getting acclimated to the fact that I had won it. It was mind-blowing, Bickle added. She was so overwhelmed with emotion that she couldn’t sleep the night of the win.

Bickle won the Friday, June 12 draw after she purchased the ticket on June 5 at Walmart, and while missing the $368m jackpot at the time, she still scooped a sizable windfall from the Mega Millions. The ticket was bought at a self-serve lottery kiosk at Waterloo Walmart, 1334 Flammang Dr. But apart from putting the money towards her retirement, Bickle also has another idea of what she will be doing with her money. She said that she would also be helping her grandchildren with their education expenses, noting that she didn’t want to see them struggle the same way she did.