Your palms are sweaty, your heart is beating out of your chest, and a stillness falls across the room. The anticipation is killing you inside; these simple numbers could change your entire life. A single stream of sweat runs down your face. You are waiting to see if you won the billion-dollar Powerball! The numbers roll out one-by-one as you constantly check your ticket to see if they match. It seems like time has slowed down as you wait. More than likely, you did not win, but truly it can’t be impossible.
The craziest part of the Powerball is that it is entirely based on luck. How wild is it that all your worries could just vanish into thin air if you had the luck of choosing the correct numbers? It is not as easy as it sounds. The odds of choosing all the correct numbers, including the power play, are about 1 in 290 million. You are more likely to get struck by lightning twice than win the Powerball. Should you win the lottery, you do get the option of getting a “lump sum” or “annuity” with your winnings. The lump sum sounds exactly like what it means– you get all the cash at once.
If you choose annuity, they give you a certain amount of your money per year. In the end, it is a better option to choose annuity because it’s a saving option for you. No one actually gets the entire billion dollar pot. Taxes are taken out, just like a normal salary.
Here is the billion dollar question: if you won the lottery, what would you do with the money? Would you buy a house? Travel the world? Or maybe give some of it away? North Platte High School art teacher Kathy Dragoo said, “I would hide out, but I would also build a house by my mom and dad’s ranch, and on top of that, I would build another house on the coast in Texas.”
Many people blow through their money quickly because when you have a large sum of money, you don’t feel the need to watch your spending levels. You couldn’t possibly blow through millions of dollars though could you? Roughly 90 percent of lottery ticket winners spend all of their money within five years of acquiring it. They have shiny cars, new houses, and exotic vacations sparkling in their eyes. There are some people who know how to plan effectively with their money, though. NPHS teacher Jason Drake said, “I would donate some of my money to charity and the rest of my money I would save to secure my retirement.” Let’s say you win $1 billion, and you want it to last the rest of your life. There are 12 months in a year and the average lifespan is roughly 75 to 80 years, you could spend $12.5 million per year, and live comfortably for the rest of your life. If you do end up winning the lottery, spend your money wisely, and may the odds be ever in your favor.