Winning a big lottery prize remains a dream for many Americans, with big payouts for Powerball and Mega Millions coming in 2022 leading to both lottery drawings being among the most sought-after items on Google of the year.
Here's a look at the latest Powerball jackpot and some items you can win if you're the lucky person with the winning ticket.
The Powerball jackpot: At $572 million, the current Powerball drawing is one of the largest of the year, but it lags behind the $1 billion level reached earlier this year. and back in 2022.
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9 tickets.
Lottery players can purchase tickets for $2 each in more than 40 US states, choosing to choose their own numbers or receiving a random selection. Five numbers between 1 and 69 are selected, along with a Powerball number from 1 to 26. To win the Powerball, a player must match all six balls in the drawing.
The drawing takes place around 11 pm ET on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. If no ticket has the correct six numbers, the jackpot increases for the next drawing.
Lottery Winnings: Grand prize winners can receive a lump sum cash payment or choose to receive the full amount over 29 years with 30 payments. An advance payment is made and additional payments each year increase by 5% to combat inflation.
Cash payment is less than full payment for 29 years. The current cash payout listed on the Powerball website is $286.7 million.
A winner will have to pay federal taxes and will be responsible for state taxes depending on where they reside.
The IRS takes 24% immediately of earnings over $5,000. This means the cash payout for Wednesday's Powerball jackpot would be $217.89 million based on a lump sum cash option after deducting 24% federal taxes.
The winner could choose to save the money, invest it, or spend it on various items.
Here's a look at 10 items that could be considered.
1.S&P 500: If a winner decides to invest the money, he could consider investing in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:TO SPY), which tracks the broad S&P 500 index of 500 of America's largest companies. The $217.89 million could buy 465,646.57 SPY shares with the proceeds. The S&P 500 averaged annual returns of 9.90% over the last 30 years, which would be a better return than the 5% return when choosing all 29 years of payments.
2. Cryptocurrency: A possible investment for the winner could be to invest the money in cryptocurrencies, which are usually more volatile than the stock market. Profits could be split between three popular cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (CRYPTO: btc), Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH). The profits would become 1,668.60 BTC, 798,482,849.60 DOGE, and 33,291.62 ETH based on prices at the time of writing.
3. Investing with the Oracle of Omaha: Legendary investor Warren Buffett has been one of the leading stock pickers of the last 50 years. While Buffett would tell the winner to invest his money in bonds or index funds to preserve wealth, the winner could buy 204,585,779 B shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK)(NYSE:BRK).
4. Apple Stock: One of the top performing stocks of the last 10 years is Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which is currently the most valuable company in the world valued at more than 3 trillion dollars. Apple could remain the market leader for years to come, making it a possible investment idea for someone for the next 29 years. The $217.89 million could buy 1,115,553.96 Apple shares.
5. The 7 Great Stocks: One of the popular investment topics lately has been the actions of the "magnificent 7", which are the top high-growth tech names that have driven the market and account for the majority of the gains for the overall market. The seven components are Apple, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGLE), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:GOAL) and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA). Below is how many shares of each of the earnings could be purchased, if divided equally in seven ways:
AAPL: 159,34.85 shares
MSFT: 84,009.35 shares
GOOG: 222,925.90 shares
AMZN: 204,703.03 shares
NVDA: 64,392.10 shares
GOAL: 89,130.78 shares
TSLA: 125,715.44 shares
Or an investor could put lottery winnings into the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (NASDAQ:JOURNALS), which tracks all seven actions.
Related link: Predictions for 2024 for Apple, Tesla, 'Magnificent 7' and Musk from analyst Dan Ives: it is AI's '1995 moment'
6. Tesla Cybertrucks: Tesla recently completed its first deliveries of the Cybertruck electric pickup truck and advertised starting price. Pricing ranges from $60,990 to $99,990 for the vehicle, with the cheapest version available next year costing $79,990. At this price, the winner could purchase 3,113 Cybertrucks before tax credits. The winner could choose to gift vehicles to family and friends or build a collection of impressive vehicles.
7. Real Estate: Another popular investment option for lottery winnings could be real estate. The median home price in the US is $346,048. according to the Zillow Group. The winnings could purchase 629 median-priced homes in the U.S. The winner could hold onto the homes to gain value over the years or choose to rent them out. Benzinga has a guide on how non-lottery winners can invest real estate here.
8. Sports equipment: for the ultra-rich, buy a professional sports team It has been a way to preserve and gain wealth. After-tax lottery winnings would not be enough to purchase an MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL or MLS team. The winner could try to buy a minority stake in a team and gain wealth over time.
9. Gold: Another popular investment option over the years has been buying gold. The lottery winner, who chooses a lump sum of cash, could purchase 107,653.16 ounces of gold.
10. Superyacht: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is one of the richest people in the world and had no problem shelling out $500 million. for a superyacht. The billionaire also spends $25 million a year on the ship and its operation. The winner could buy a superyacht that is not as big or as extravagant as Bezos's.
This article is not intended to be investment advice.
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