Powerball Jackpot Take Home Estimates, Lump Sum or Annuity?

Mo money

No winner in last night's Powerball which means the jackpot has grown to 1.5 Billion dollars! The next drawing is this Saturday night. That gives you plenty of time to buy your ticket and to dream about what you will do with your new found money.

According to the Powerball website, "jackpot winners can either select their prize as an annuity or a lump-sum payment. If the annuity option is selected, the winner is guaranteed to receive 30 graduated payments over 29 years. The annual payments increase by 5% until the 30th and final payment. The 30 payments added up equal the value of the annuity."

Lump Sum Option

With the option to get a big lump sum all at once means you will get less than you would with an annuity, however you will have a ton of money all at once that you will have to make sure continues to grow over the course of time. The downside is, most of the people who have gone bust after winning huge jackpots, took the annuity and blew right through it. Some went bankrupt because they did not have the discipline to conserve their funds for the long haul.

If you have the right money management team that knows how to grow your money and you live on a budget, than the annuity might be for you.

Here's the estimated take home lump sum

Before tax, 745.9 Million 

After tax, (depending on your state) 546,772 Million

Annuity Option

This option is for folks who want to get more money paid out of more time. If you are patient enough to wait 29 years to get your money, than you will certainly get more in total. The downside is you won't have the huge jackpot amount to start investing in a big way, but you are gaurenteed to get a hefty check every year that should be more than enough to live happily ever after.

After tax, 1,140,000 Million (depending on your state taxes)

If you want more information on this option, check out the website annuity.org

Huge jackpot

Tonight's Powerball Jackpot is estimated to be over 1.2 BILLION dollars, your chances of winning it are roughly One in 3 Hundred Million, but still for two bucks, why not give it a shot?

Of course if you are the lucky winner of the entire Jackpot, you have decisions to make, a lot of decisions.

Do you take the lump sum or do you opt for the annuity?

That's a big decision because you can get it all at once but it will be a lot less than if you opt for the annuity of say, 19 Million a year for 2o plus years. I personally would love to know that at the end of the year I can expect a nice fat check.

Experts say there are Five things you need to do if you're the lucky winner.

Make sure to secure the winning ticket. Make photocopies of the ticket and keep it safe in a safety deposit box at a bank and keep it quiet.

It's going to be very important that you hire a top tier accounting firm, remember, now you can afford the very best!

Now that you're super rich, you'll want to protect your assets, which means hiring the very best law firm you can find, because you better believe that people will want a piece of your assets.

You want your Millions to continue to grow and that means hiring the best Investment firm you can find. Again, you can afford the very best now, so hire the best one you can find. They will be more than happy to have your business, trust us.

Every expert agrees that you have to keep your good fortune a secret from anyone outside your household (and that includes your kids). You need to get everything in order and buttoned up tight before you go public. In Massachusetts you don't even have to show your face, so you might consider keeping your luck on lock down.