Powerball Jackpot Reaches $800 Million: Here’s How To Play
The Powerball lottery is currently at $800 million, the fifth-largest jackpot in the game's history, you can purchase a ticket in any state except Nevada, Utah, Mississippi, Alabama, Alaska, and Hawaii.
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The Powerball jackpot just jumped to an estimated 800 million dollars for the next drawing after no one won the current jackpot of 700 million dollars. The numbers drawn were 19-36-37-46-56-24. This Powerball jackpot is the fifth-largest in U.S. history with no matching lottery winners since August of this year.
Just keep in mind, the odds of actually striking it rich by winning the Powerball lottery are one in 292.2 million, according to NPR.org. The Powerball jackpot winning of 800 million would be the payout amount through an annuity payment plan over the next twenty-nine years. Typically winners choose the one-time cash-out option which is equivalent to 383.7 million dollars after taxes!
The largest Powerball lottery jackpot to date was over 1.586 billion dollars and three lucky ticket holders won it back in 2016. There are six states where you can’t purchase a Powerball ticket. These states are Nevada, Alabama, Mississippi, Hawaii, Alaska, and Utah.
However, if you live in one of the non-participating states you can still play by purchasing a ticket in a state or US territory that does sell Powerball tickets. And on the very unlikely chance that you do have the luck of the Irish, or become the one in 292.2 million to win the lottery. What are you supposed to do next?
Analysts say the first thing you should do is nothing! Once you have confirmed you truly have a winning ticket, before rushing off to claim your prize, you should take a pause. Before doing anything else, you are going to want to take every step to protect your golden winning Powerball lottery ticket.
If you end up losing it, you will be right back at square one with nothing more than a sad story to tell about how your hopes and dreams were accidentally tossed out with the trash. At a bare minimum, it is recommended that you make paper and digital copies of your winning Powerball lottery ticket. Preferably in two places such as cloud storage and an external drive so that you have several ways to obtain your proof of winning.
Next, it is very important that you do not rush out and claim your Powerball lottery winnings as soon as you have successfully secured your winning ticket. This is imperative for two reasons. One, if your Powerball winnings are largest enough to attach media attention, claiming sooner than later will add to unnecessary attention, and second, you are going to want to have some time to make some important financial decisions.
I am certain the first thing on most of our minds is to immediately quit our jobs or call up all family and friends to share the news of your winning Powerball lottery ticket. Experts are advising this is the worst thing you can do. The advice is to tell as few people as possible and not get worked up about the possibility of early retirement if there is a chance you read the Powerball numbers or something to that extent and suddenly you are now unemployed and not as rich as you thought.
Finally, seek out experts for your situation and hire a financial advisor, a tax attorney, and a personal lawyer to fight off all the incomers who will be looking for an easy handout. Then, change your address and go unlisted. As exciting as it sounds to instantly become a millionaire there are numerous aspects that are not so fun. Always consult the people who deal with these types of situations and if you are sure if they are a right fit for you… find someone to properly represent you and your new millionaire-dollar life all thanks to the luck of the draw with Powerball!
