A Florida man who won $1 million from a winning lottery ticket he found cleaning his house vowed Wednesday to spend the dough in a “responsible” manner, helping out friends and family and only splurging on a few things — like a new kitchen — for himself and his wife.
“I’m going to just pay off my mortgage, give some to family members,” Kenneth Morgan, 54, told The Post. “I’m actually being very responsible, we’re going to spend some of it and put the rest [toward] retirement.”
“We’re going to remodel the kitchen. That’s about it,” he said. “It’ll be nice to have a new kitchen.”
Morgan — who pocketed $600,000 after taxes from the July 4th find while tidying his home — said he gave the woman who sold him the winning ticket $1,000, and the self-identified “Disney geek” will use some of the money to travel to Tokyo Disney — and to visit his daughter, who is studying in England.
“We’re not going to blow it like crazy,” Morgan explained. “We’ve been really blessed that this money came in. We just kind of want to help out other people.”
His “splurges” will mostly go to friends and loved ones.
“I’ve got a friend of mine who lives in Orlando, and he’s never been able to take his kid to Disney World, so I’m going to buy him five tickets to take his family to Disney World,” he said.
Morgan — an army reservist who works in customer support for a mortgage banking software company — and his wife are keeping the 25-year-old Jacksonville house, along with his 2017 Mazda 6.
“My wife actually said, ‘Are you going to buy a new car?’ I’m like, ‘No, my car is fine,’” he recalled.
“We did think about buying a new home, but we love where we live. I was born in Jacksonville, I’ve lived in various parts around the state, but this is home.”
Asked about his wife’s reaction to winning $1 million, Morgan said she was in disbelief.
“She didn’t believe me,” Morgan said. “Basically, she said, ‘No way!’”