22 Fort Bragg Civilian Employees Split Powerball Jackpot

No, it wasn't the big one, but 22 civilian employees at Fort Bragg did manage to split a $100,000 Powerball jackpot on April 2.

Neil Ellis, spokesman for the group of communications employees at Fort Bragg, said the group has been playing together for years.

The current "Power Play 22 Team" started within the last five years, but some of the group members have been playing together for over a decade.

“It was a little close to April fool’s so some of them didn’t believe me,” Neil Ellis, a spokesman for the group, said. “I guess they believe me now.”

The group got a $3 Power Play ticket that hit on four white ball numbers and the Powerball to win $50,000. The prize was double to $100,000 when the 2X multiplier hit for that drawing.

The ticket was purchased at the Erwin Lucky Stop on South 13th Street in Erwin.

The group claimed their prize yesterday, splitting the $100,000 prize among the 22 winners. After state and local taxes were taken out, each winner took home $3,225, with Ellis taking home $3,310.

“It’s just a good time,” Ellis said. “We really enjoy it.”

There were no winners of the main Powerball jackpot Monday night, so Wednesday's estimated jackpot is $302 million, with a cash value of $187 million.

Powerball is one of four lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets at a retail location or with Online Play through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. The other games are Mega Millions, Lucky For Life, and Carolina Cash 5.

Ticket sales from draw games like Powerball make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $900 million per year for education. For details on how $22.6 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Cumberland County in 2021, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.

Sorry Raeford friends, it seems that you - along with many other North Carolina cities - may not be so good at money management.

According to the latest survey from our friends at WalletHub.com, Raeford comes in next to last in the country for money management. Only the good folks in Willis, Texas might be worse at in fact, as Raeford came in ranked No. 2,571 on the list.

WalletHub ranked 2,572 U.S. cities on money management, based on 10 key indicators. Those included things like average credit scores, late mortgage payments, and debt-to-income ratios.

Raeford was done in on the rankings by exceptionally bad credit card debt-to-ratio rankings, at 7.75 percent.

But Fayetteville, don't get too excited. We didn't do much better here, coming in at No. 2,503 on the list, the third percentile. And Hope Mills, you're not in the clear either, coming in at No. 2,546 on the list.

Among North Carolina cities, Cary came out best overall, ranked at No. 96 in the country, a whopping 2,475 spots better than Raeford at money management. We ranked all the North Carolina cities below.

"A survey of consumer financial literacy reflects a growing need for financial instruction in U.S. households. Only 57% of adults, for instance, give their knowledge of personal finance high marks, and 47% maintain a budget and keep an eye on their spending," WalletHub said in their release. "Good money management skills are more important now than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Some experts think a lack of education at even the high school level contributes to some of this problem.

"Financial skills should be taught as a mandatory part of the high school curriculum," said Dorris Perryman, Adjunct Associate Professor of Accounting at Bristol Community College. "Many students are working evenings, weekends, spring, and summer breaks. Financial skills will help students understand money management. Financial knowledge will help break the poverty cycle because students will garner a better understanding of how money, credit cards, insurance, and other tools work."

Here's where every North Carolina city ranks on the list, as well as the top cities in the United States, led by Scarsdale, New York and Cupertino, California (the home of Google):

96th percentile, median credit score of 763

89th percentile, median credit score of 744

88th percentile, median credit score of 760

87th percentile, median credit score of 758

86th percentile, median credit score of 751

85th percentile, median credit score of 755

84th percentile, median credit score of 753

72nd percentile, median credit score of 733

70th percentile, median credit score of 742

69th percentile, median credit score of 741

68th percentile, median credit score of 758

67th percentile, median credit score of 693

65th percentile, median credit score of 749

64th percentile, median credit score of 736

64th percentile, median credit score of 671

64th percentile, median credit score of 722

58th percentile, median credit score of 719

58th percentile, median credit score of 717

57th percentile, median credit score of 673

57th percentile, median credit score of 744

56th percentile, median credit score of 662

56th percentile, median credit score of 662

55th percentile, median credit score of 678

53rd percentile, median credit score of 674

53rd percentile, median credit score of 695

52nd percentile, median credit score of 663

52nd percentile, median credit score of 716

50th percentile, median credit score of 654

49th percentile, median credit score of 700

49th percentile, median credit score of 722

48th percentile, median credit score of 705

47th percentile, median credit score of 728

47th percentile, median credit score of 668

46th percentile, median credit score of 690

45th percentile, median credit score of 700

43rd percentile, median credit score of 682

43rd percentile, median credit score of 684

42nd percentile, median credit score of 671

41st percentile, median credit score of 705

39th percentile, median credit score of 728

38th percentile, median credit score of 673

38th percentile, median credit score of 659

37th percentile, median credit score of 659

37th percentile, median credit score of 675

37th percentile, median credit score of 678

36th percentile, median credit score of 675

36th percentile, median credit score of 697

35th percentile, median credit score of 715

35th percentile, median credit score of 660

35th percentile, median credit score of 681

34th percentile, median credit score of 674

34th percentile, median credit score of 675

33rd percentile, median credit score of 702

32nd percentile, median credit score of 693

31st percentile, median credit score of 667

31st percentile, median credit score of 675

30th percentile, median credit score of 719

28th percentile, median credit score of 661

27th percentile, median credit score of 675

26th percentile, median credit score of 636

26th percentile, median credit score of 676

22nd percentile, median credit score of 664

21st percentile, median credit score of 633

21st percentile, median credit score of 700

21st percentile, median credit score of 656

20th percentile, median credit score of 674

19th percentile, median credit score of 677

18th percentile, median credit score of 671

14th percentile, median credit score of 650

12th percentile, median credit score of 638

11th percentile, median credit score of 707

11th percentile, median credit score of 635

11th percentile, median credit score of 666

10th percentile, median credit score of 684

8th percentile, median credit score of 664

8th percentile, median credit score of 646

7th percentile, median credit score of 659

6th percentile, median credit score of 643

5th percentile, median credit score of 658

3rd percentile, median credit score of 662

1st percentile, median credit score of 675

1st percentile, median credit score of 668

1st percentile, median credit score of 665

99th percentile, median credit score of 768

99th percentile, median credit score of 776

99th percentile, median credit score of 785

99th percentile, median credit score of 765

99th percentile, median credit score of 765

99th percentile, median credit score of 765

99th percentile, median credit score of 766

99th percentile, median credit score of 768

99th percentile, median credit score of 762

99th percentile, median credit score of 782