Upon winning a jackpot lottery, you are faced with many life-altering decisions. You must decide if you want to stay anonymous or claim your prize in a lump sum or opt for annual payouts. In addition, you must make practical choices regarding your financial and legal matters. If you choose the former, you may find it difficult to handle your newfound wealth, while the latter might seem appealing. Listed below are some of the practical choices you should make.
Mega Millions
There is a chance that you could win the Mega Millions jackpot. The lottery has jackpot prizes worth up to $652 million. This is estimated to be the third-largest prize in U.S. lottery history, second only to Powerball. If you win the jackpot, you will be awarded the cash value option. However, most winners will choose to cash in on their prize. Last Friday’s drawing had an estimated cash value of $747.8 million.
Power Play
If you’ve played the jackpot lottery recently, you’ve probably heard about the Power Play. The Power Play is a feature in the jackpot lottery where you can increase your odds of winning by giving up one guess on the winning numbers every two draws. When you purchase a Power Play ticket, you’ll be given a chance to double the amount you spend on the ticket. The Power Play feature was introduced in 2001. The first time the Power Play was drawn, the multiplier was a single.
Estimated jackpot
The lottery’s estimated jackpot is the amount of money won by all winners, and the odds of winning it are one in 303 million. It’s important to remember, however, that the jackpot is based on an annuity structure. That is, the jackpot prize will be split among many winners, and the prize pool will be based on the number of expected winners. You can win the jackpot through a set prize amount, but other prizes will be paid out on a pari-mutuel basis.
Annuity option
The Mega Millions and US Powerball both offer an annuity option to their jackpot winners. The annuity option allows the winners to make 30 payments over 29 years, each 5% larger than the last. The annuity payment begins at $1.5 million for the first payment, and each subsequent payment will be 5% larger. The first payment will go to the winner’s estate, and the lottery will then make the future payments according to the estate’s or court’s requirements.
Tax rate
You can win the jackpot lottery in a lump sum and pay off your debts, but winning a large amount will likely put you into a higher tax bracket. For single taxpayers, the top federal tax rate is 37%. If you win the jackpot, you will owe this tax if you have a taxable income over $539,900. If you win a lump sum of more than $50 million, you will have to pay an additional 30 percent federal tax on your prize.