With your chances of winning one in 175 million, it's not something you're likely to have to worry about on Thursday. But some lucky winner or winners will eventually have to manage all this Powerball jackpot money.
And while most folks think about how they'd spend it, few think about how they'd take care of it.
The ticket machines were busy selling a little piece of hope with each print out.
"Would you be worried about managing all that money? No, no, no. No problem at all. We have a way of handling money that gets us through life. It will be fun if we do it; fat chance!" Tom Weber said.
"I wouldn't have any idea what to do. I'd have to find an investment planner and go from there," Georgia Johnson said.
"I'd put a plan together on how we could have the most impact and take care of ourselves and our families for as long as possible," Laurie Knutson said.
Planning would be the key, but don't hire just one money manager for all those winnings.
"The very next thing you'd want to do is assemble a financial team; those team members being an investment advisor, a CPA and an attorney," Financial Planner Neil Graff said.
Within 60 days of claiming your ticket, you would then have to decide whether to take about $250 million after taxes in a lump sum. Or you could get annual payments over 29 years of about $13 million after taxes.
"If a South Dakota resident should win this, from a tax perspective it would be very advantageous; they would be subject to federal tax, but no state income tax so we'll keep our fingers crossed," Graff said.
It might be more advantageous to take the lump sum because taxes are likely to go up next year if you take the annuity.
A lump sump could also earn more money in investments. But with nine out of 10 lottery winners ending up broke after five years, the annuity may be the way to go.
"If you are an individual who doesn't have the physical restrain to maintain that money over a long period of time, then maybe you should opt for the 20-year payment, which means you can't spend more than annual payment each year," Graff said.
Of course, you don't need to win Powerball to retire a millionaire; just a little bit of discipline and the rule of compound interest.
"Even if you don't win this Powerball money, we always encourage people to put something away. Even if it's a modest amount and over a long period of time that can turn into quite a nice nest egg," Graff said.
Comments