Lottery fever is high! With the combined Powerball and Mega Millions Powerball jackpots reaching a staggering sum of $1.9 billion, you don’t forget to buy your lottery tickets today!
The lottery winnings increased significantly when no tickets were able to match all six numbers during the Friday and Saturday night drawings. As a result, the Mega Millions jackpot reached $1.1 billion while the Powerball jackpot climbed to $800 million. This is a significant increase from their previous values of $977 million and $750 million, respectively.
The upcoming Monday Powerball drawing could potentially award the sixth-largest prize in the game’s history, according to the company. The previous Powerball jackpot, worth $842.4 million, was claimed on January 1st by a lucky ticket holder in Michigan. Since then, there have been 35 consecutive draws without a jackpot winner.
The chances of hitting the jackpot are approximately 1 in 292.2 million for Powerball and 1 in 302.6 million for Mega Millions. But you know the old saying, “You can’t win, if you don’t play!”
What Would The Payout Be?
Have you ever thought about the actual payout, after taxes and what that amount looks like if you were to win.
The tax information breakout provided below is based on 2024 federal marginal rates and state tax rates. The details show both the initial mandated federal withholding of 24% as well as the remaining federal taxes that will be due. And let’s not forget Arizona’s cut.
All annuity amounts shown are the average amounts a jackpot winner would receive. Mega Millions annuity payments are made on an annually-increasing rate schedule, so to see what the payments would be on a year-by-year basis for any state.
Annuity |
Cash |
| Mega Millions Jackpot for Tue, Mar 26, 2024$1,100,000,000 | $525,800,000 |
| Gross Prize 30 average annual payments of $36,666,667 |
Cash: $525,800,000 |
| – 24% federal tax – $8,800,000 |
– $126,192,000 |
| – Add’l federal taxes due (37% final rate) – $4,724,854 |
– $68,312,188 |
| Subtotal $23,141,812 |
$331,295,812 |
| State Tax: | |
| Arizona: 2.5% state tax – $916,667 |
– $13,145,000 |
| Your average net per year: $22,225,146 | Your net payout: $318,150,812 |
| After 30 payments: $666,754,380 | |
| Annuity Payment Schedule | |
