JACKSONVILLE, Ore. -- Sometimes a wife not following the advice of her husband is worth millions of dollars. That turned out to be the case for a lucky Jacksonville family.

KGW

The Wests (right) and the Cheneys being interviewed about their lottery winning.

When Carolyn West’s parents asked whether she and her husband wanted to buy Powerball tickets last month, Steve West said he wasn't interested and advised his wife not to waste her money. Carolyn West went in on $40 worth of tickets anyway. It was a stroke of luck and wealth.

"I told my wife we never win at that, let's go up to Seven Feathers and play some blackjack and have a good evening, but she has a mind of her own so she whispered to her dad and mom, ‘go ahead, we'll go in with you,’ and the rest is history," Steve West said during an exclusive interview Monday with KOBI-TV in Medford, KGW's NBC sister-station.

The two couples – Steve and Carolyn West and Bob and Frances Chaney -- will split the $340 million jackpot.

On Tuesday, Oregon Lottery officials confirmed that the four held the winning ticket, which was drawn on Oct. 19. The four arrived at lottery headquarters on Tuesday to have the ticket verified, claim their winnings and discuss whether they want the money in a lump sum or 30 annual payments.

After taxes, the money would come to $7.6 million a year for 30 years or a lump sum of $110 million.

In the KOBI-TV interview, Frances Chaney said she hadn't given a thought to playing Powerball, but then she heard on the news that it was up to $340 million.

“So I called Carolyn and said 'give me $20 and we'll put in $20 and buy some tickets, thinking that if we won $20, $100, maybe $1,000, fine that was fun playing and it never even crossed my mind that we had a chance in zillions to win the one ticket," she said.

On the night of Oct. 19, Frances Chaney logged onto the Internet to check the lottery numbers.

"First I checked the Powerball and saw that it was 29 and thought, 'well good, at least we got $5,' and then I was checking the others, and could not believe we had all five," she said. "I checked five, six, seven Internet sites and they were all saying the same thing."

Bob Chaney had already gone to bed. His wife ran in to wake him, telling him: "I think we just won the lottery."

She then called her daughter, telling her "you need to get over here."

The four had trouble believing they really had the winning ticket.

"We held it up to the light" to make sure they were the winning numbers, Frances Chaney said.

What do the winners think is the best part of such financial security? Carolyn West said she feels relieved that she and her husband won't have to worry about paying for college tuition for their children.

When asked what they'll do if their kids develop an appetite for expensive gifts, the younger couple said they've already addressed that.

"We’ve already told them Christmas is going to be just like it’s always been…we’re not going to change anything," Steve West said.

In fact, West, a self-employed businessman, said he'll continue working because it will keep his "mind active and... body a little more active."

Still, he said he may cut his hours back.

Steve West is 48-years-old, and Carolyn West is 47, said Chuck Baumann, spokesman for the Oregon Lottery. He did not have ages for the Chaneys.

The families live in the small town of Jacksonville, where they bought the winning ticket.

(KOBI reporter Chris Corcoran, KGW reporter Jane Smith and The Associated Press contributed to this report.)