As Americans flock to buy tickets for the next drawing, it’s a good idea to think about how you would manage that much cash in the extremely unlikely chance that you win. Bloomberg says it’s no small task, and inflation, interest rate hikes and a looming recession make it that much harder.
The lucky winner will have to choose between 30 annual payments that grow 5% each year and average $31.54 million after federal taxes, or an immediate cash payout of $745.9 million, which would drop to roughly $470 million after federal taxes. There’s argument for each strategy. But in the current high-inflation environment, financial advisors say a lump sum is the way to go.