Big-ticket dreams spurred by $1B Powerball jackpot, but expert warns: Take it slow

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — With the Powerball jackpot topping $1 billion for this week’s drawing, hundreds of thousands of individuals throughout the nation will likely be lining up at comfort shops, grocery and fuel station counters hoping to hit it huge.

HOW DOES THIS LATEST POWERBALL JACKPOT STACK UP?

The new jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing can be the seventh highest in U.S. historical past and the third largest for Powerball. If a sole participant picks all 5 numbers plus the Powerball quantity drawn, they've the choice of taking the $1 billion prize in yearly increments paid out over 29 years or a $516.8 million one-time lump sum earlier than taxes. The final time somebody received the Powerball jackpot was April 19 for a high prize of practically $253 million. Since then, nobody has received the grand prize previously 38 drawings. The jackpot will continue to grow till somebody wins.

WHAT CAN YOU BUY WITH $1 BILLION?

Pretty a lot something you need. A billion {dollars} may purchase you round 200 Bugatti Mistral Roadsters, dozens of eight-seater non-public jets, or a number of non-public islands within the Caribbean. But don’t make the error of considering you possibly can by no means spend all of it, warned Shean Fletcher, a wealth advisor in Kansas City, Missouri.

Among issues to remember are that vast jackpots additionally deliver big tax payments, he stated. Not simply on the cash itself, however high-dollar homes, automobiles, planes and different property additionally normally include huge recurring tax and maintenance payments. The concept that lottery winners can simply spend a lot of cash every day endlessly is a fallacy that has seen a couple of lottery winner blow by way of their winnings, he famous.

“So by far, the biggest misconception that we hear or read and see is, is that the money seems to be infinite when it certainly is not,” Fletcher stated.

SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU WIN?

First and foremost is to safe the successful ticket by placing it in a protected place similar to a fireproof protected. Then you need to begin placing your “team” collectively, Fletcher suggested. That probably consists of your closest, most trusted members of the family, like your partner, a mother or father or sibling, in addition to a monetary adviser, lawyer and licensed public accountant. Then you can begin planning on what you wish to do with the cash.

“After the initial excitement, you know, take a deep breath and take it slow,” Fletcher stated.

MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT IS SOARING, TOO

The $1 billion Powerball high prize is drawing the lion’s share of consideration, however the competing Mega Millions lottery jackpot can also be reaching large heights. Ahead of a drawing Tuesday evening, that jackpot stood at $640 million, the seventh-largest within the sport’s historical past.

WHY ARE LOTTERY JACKPOTS SO LARGE THESE DAYS?

That’s how the video games have been designed. The credit score for such huge jackpots comes right down to math -- and harder odds. In 2015, the Powerball lottery lengthened the percentages of successful from 1 in 175.2 million to 1 in 292.2 million. Mega Millions adopted two years later, lengthened the percentages of successful the highest prize from 1 in 258.9 million to 1 in 302.6 million. The largest lottery jackpots within the U.S. have come since these modifications had been made.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST JACKPOTS EVER WON IN AMERICA?

The largest — a whopping $2.04 billion — was a Powerball jackpot that hit on Nov. 8, 2022, with the successful ticket bought in California. The subsequent largest jackpot was additionally a Powerball prize, at $1.586 billion on Jan. 13, 2016. But that prize was break up amongst three successful tickets, bought in California, Florida and Tennessee. The third, fourth and fifth largest had been every Mega Millions prizes, at $1.537 billion going to a single winner in South Carolina on Oct. 23, 2018; $1.35 billion received in Maine earlier this yr on Jan. 13; and $1.337 billion received in Illinois on July 29, 2022.

AS THE LOTTERY ADS SAY: PLAY RESPONSIBLY

Your odds of successful are solely barely improved by shopping for a couple of ticket. And the percentages are so lengthy that it’s actually not price spending cash you’ll miss for extra tickets, consultants warn. If shopping for one ticket provides you a 1 in 292.2 million probability of successful the jackpot, spending $10 for 5 quantity mixtures improves your possibilities to solely 5 in 292.2 million. The identical is true is you spend $100. So you possibly can spend some huge cash on tickets and nonetheless virtually undoubtedly not hit the jackpot. Lottery officers say the typical participant buys two or three tickets, which means they’re placing cash down on a dream with little or no probability it's going to repay in a jackpot win.