The Powerball jackpot increased to a whopping $1.4 billion for Wednesday night’s drawing — the fourth largest in its history and the sixth largest ever among all U.S. lotteries.
While the chances of striking big are notoriously slim, even a lucky jackpot winner should not expect to walk away a billionaire any time soon.
In fact, only a fraction of that $1.4 billion payout would likely hit even the luckiest scratch-off player’s bank account in the next few years.
First, jackpot winners must decide whether to accept their prize in 30 annual payments, starting small and increasing each year by 5 percent for a total of an estimated $1.4 billion; or whether to accept their prize money in one lump sum of $634.3 million — the estimated cash value of the $1.4 billion, when accounting for inflat