The Powerball jackpot has soared to an estimated $1.04 billion after no tickets matched all six numbers in Saturday night’s drawing.
Saturday night’s drawing produced white balls 19, 30, 37, 44 and 46 and red Powerball 22.
The $1.04 billion prize – an estimated $478.2 million in cash value – is the second-largest jackpot this year, topped only by a $1.08 billion prize won on July 19 by a ticketholder in California.
The annuity isn’t tax free. You pay taxes on that income every year just like (and in addition to) any other income you have.
Also, you could most likely beat the rate of return on those investments if you know what you’re doing. But on the other hand most lottery winners won’t know what they’re doing. Additionally the annuity can be a stopgap to keep you from losing everything all at once.
Even if you know what you’re doing, you’ll probably go bankrupt after winning. Annuity is, as you said, a stopgap against stupidity.
The taxes a far far less, though, and the total sum is far greater.
As for the rest, that’s all speculation. None of that is guaranteed. That annuity is guaranteed.
The taxes are far less on a yearly basis, but over the course of the annuity you’ll actually pay a lot more in taxes. Rough calculation, if I won this jackpot it would break down to:
Lump sum: Immediate payment of $478.2M with a tax bill of around $210M for my state and Federal income taxes. Net payout of $267.8M.
Annuity: $1.04B paid over 30 years. At current tax rates that’s a bill of $456.5M over that 30 years. Net payout of around $583.5M. If tax rates change during the term of the annuity those could rise or fall a bit.
Not like I’ll ever have to worry about the problem,but I think I would take the annuity because I’ve never had to manage a large amount of money, and it more gently eases you into it while giving some buffer to assure you don’t somehow blow through everything quickly.