I don't know, I may buy a ticket for the draw.  I haven't decided what tickets I am going to get yet.

It will probably roll a couple more times at least.

Agree but y the cash so low?

I had 5,6 (25) fr numbers I suddenly chose

The cash value is actually not bad — more than half of the annuity.  But of course that is looking at it backwards, which is explained in this video.

I honestly didn't think anyone would hit.  I had the mb,  was looking at my pyramid.   hhhhmmm.

Yeah but you get maybe 200 extra million with the annual payments. And the payments increase year to year; starting at 7 figures? I mean what 9 million bucks the first year is not enough? Those payments can be easily transferred to heirs and estates anything happens unfortunate wise health wise. I guess if talking about money one doesn't have, it's a place to start. Somebody got 20 bucks from me though. Don't have it anymore.

i could buy all the possible numbers and i still would not win 5 dollars!

I bought 5 lines using a different method for each line and matched 3 numbers total, none on the same line and no MegaBall. 

Playing again Friday using the same 5 methods. Maybe the numbers will line up this time.

I looked at those first 3 numbers on last nights draw and thought  "OH NO, not the birthday numbers thing again"....thank goodness for the 44 and 61.

Had the 6 on one line and 61 on another.... Thats okay.... Just going to keep chipping away.

Good luck on Friday to all LP members.....greatly appreciate your contributions to my future early retirement cash value account.

Got ambitious and had seven tickets from different stores while in a road trip over the weekend.

I matched 4 lines, single digits on each and did not match the MB on any - so I won zero $ meh 😕

Well, I got one ticket with powerplay for today's PB.

Will get 5 tickets for the Friday MM draw. After I win the jackpot or whoever wins, I will go back to one ticket with multiplier till we get this high again.

Still thinking on what strategy to use, not that it matters, but is just part of the fun process.

Wish us all luck.

Maybe it will roll, maybe it will not, there is no telling 😁

FUN STORY: WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS.

So I play the lottery but my spouse does not know that I do. Not that there is anything to hide, but I am pretty certain that they would think it's a waste of time. Also the plan is if I win big it's going to be a great surprise for them.

Note that I have a budget set aside for that - I don't smoke, don't drink, don't buy coffee - so that is my "wasteful spending line" if you may.

So every time we are on a road trip, I love to buy tickets along the way. After an hour or so of driving, I pull into a gas station and am like "Am going to use the bathroom" I dash into the store and grab a quick pick and we are on the way again.

I make a number of stops based on what I have budgeted.

After a few stops my spouse is always like "I think you need to get your bladder checked, it's an hour since you last used the bathroom"

I always put on a thoughtful face and my response is "It's always good to stretch a little after an hour or so of driving, it helps with circulation you know. It's a good way to keep Deep Vein Thrombosis at bay"

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

What's everybody's story - especially if your partner doesn't know that you play.

You don't buy coffee ????                                        COMMUNIST !!

"Maybe it will roll, maybe it will not, there is no telling "

We never know what will happen, but there's a bit more  than an 80% chance of a rollover based on the sales estimate. The chances of 2 rollovers is probably a bit better than 50%, thanks to the small increases.

Most people would be happy to win $1 mil or 2. I know I would be.

But, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO it's not enough that the Mega Millions is only $910 mil and they'll wait for it to roll again before buying a ticket!

I play at least one ticket (with multiplier) every draw. If I won, it would certainly be more $$$ than I have now.

Gotta be in it to win it! 

I make my coffee in the house - I don't drive by lol

Gives us one more chance at it with every roll over

I have one ticket for Powerball tonight, a Cash 5 3 play multi-draw, and 5 Mega Million tickets for Friday night.

Would love to hit a jackpot will be grateful for 5/0.

That is so so true.

I am 100% with you on this.

The Texas player that added the multiplier won 4M in yesterday's draw.

Texas does not tax the lottery so that's just federal tax at the max rate of 37%

The winner will take home $2,520,000 after tax.

Put the winning in a 12 month T.bills at 5.4% PA and you get $136,080.

Assume the winner is single and that's the only income, so they will fall in the 24% tax bracket for 2023.

That leaves them with $103,420.8 after taxes and that's $8,618.4 every month.

I will take that any time.

People just need to do the math.

Well here we go again. Lotto frenzy about to start especially if no one hits Friday. I guess I get my 1 auto pick with the megaplier. That's all it takes. To the lottery gods I will do right by the money if you send me this life changing hal billion cash option but if I get the second prize 2-5 million that will do as well. I'm not greedy 🙏🏾🍀🤞🏾

here we go will go to billion dollars one winner in calfornia again

Good luck to everyone!.......

Close...lemme fix that for ya...."will go to a billion dollars, one winner in California Tennessee again"

There, all better 

A couple of million would be nice but I wouldn't mind more. 

I play a Powerball and MegaMillions ticket with multiplier on every draw too and enjoy whatever I win, even if it's just a few dollars. I also play Lotto and Easy5.

You're right, you can't in it if you're not in it!

Nah this will be a surprise like TX GA DC

I play PB, MM, MB in Massachusetts. I would take the annuity option if I hit the big jackpot for Friday. Put it in a trust or llc and continue to live life to the fullest and simple terms. Not very materialistic but would help family to a good point 👍. Travel and see the world making memories along the way!

I hope you're all wrong. I do predict there could be the winner Friday night and it would be close to the Billy norm work. How about that?

SC had a $2 million Power Ball winner tonight

Congratulations to him/her

hahahah, me too!!!

Hmmmm, you don't say if you are a man or woman but hiding your lottery tickets from your spouse sounds like something that a woman would do.

Women win the lottery then divorce their husbands before claiming the winnings. Is that what your intentions are?

justmaybe?

You just cracked my ribs. Made me laugh like crazy.

No, am not planning to divorce my spouse - we have been together for 12 years.

I want to surprise them when I win and will make it look like beginners luck. I just played once and I won, lol.

Thank you for reaffirming that I will win it.

I appreciate that a lot 🤣

Will we hit $1bil by Friday night?

There are tax issues that most don't talk about here fully at all with the "lump sum" vs. annuity payments. But hey, maybe move to puerto rico is the answer to everything.

And as long as I've been on this forum numero one and I've had my ups and downs with some people and yes with Todd, but that's from the past some people don't think for a minute before anything. 

First anybody that hits when anybody hits then they have to do the planning and a lot of people are they don't do planning right or any of these headlines in the news with half the new stories I do not believe one bit and I'm not gonna get into that. 

until someone on this form actually wins in major amount and I have notice in soon maybe three or four members do you have to be responsible enough to know what you're going to do and if you can demonstrate paying your bills and stuff Jimmy never have to pay auto insurance again

One of the Cardinal rule on winning the lottery is to be quiet about it.

You never know, maybe we have had major jackpot winners on this forum and they stuck to the rules - were quiet about it.

I wish you luck, but I think it's wise to pay auto insurance whether one wins the lottery or not.

I, for one, do plan to continue paying my auto insurance 🤣🤣🤣

Disclaimer: The below is not tax advice and should not be construed as such.

There are I think around 8 states that don't tax lottery winnings. However, one will still have to pay federal taxes which max out at 37% depending on the amount won and marital status.

That and the fact that different states tax lottery winnings at different percentages makes it hard to have a "one hat fits all" approach to taxes on lottery winnings.

However, this forum has done a good job of showing the tax scenario in every state both for annuity and lump sum scenario. I suggest you click around a little and you'll see that.

Having said that and depending with the amount one wins, this is a good game plan.

If you live in a state that taxes the lottery - if the amount is significant, you can go with the annuity, collect the first year payment then relocate to a State that doesn't tax the lottery and you'll enjoy the next 29 payments state tax free.

The flip side of the above is that if you live in a state that does not tax the lottery and you take the annuity, moving to a State that taxes the lottery becomes a not so smart move.

I hope this helps somehow.

Just go to USA Mega and click on "Jackpot Analysis" for whichever game.

It's wander73  that needs the tax advice. Was trying to help them out.

Thanks thou 😁

Amen to that.  Keep your mouth closed is the #1 rule. No one should feel a need to justify or prove a win to anyone.  Pretty entitled for anyone to think a jp win has to be documented to someone who did not win.

It is like the book the Millionaire next door. Most people with real money are dressed casually most of the time and blend in. One can live in a nice neighborhood, etc. The ones who flaunt their wealth rarely keep it.

I am 99% certain we have jp winners on this site.

Jackpot winners have probably been here. Some may have just stopped visiting after the win.

they like to laugh at all of us lottery losers.

U don't have to worry abt me, my lips are sealed with family 

1 friend cpa will know 

I would be in a small new house while they on their way to work

sending pics in front of the house. Don't need any influencers

I live in a state that allows winners to claim any amount of winning anonymously.

Should luck ever be on my side and I win a jackpot, I would love to be anonymous.

It feels good to be worth 500M and still be able to go to the local store or restaurant without having to look over your shoulder and just blend in with everybody.

Hahahaha, we will all not win a jackpot but it's comforting to be here. When I win I promise not to laugh at anyone.

A man asked his wife what she would do if he won the lottery.

“I’d take half and leave you.”

“Great,” he said, “I won $12, here’s $6. Stay in touch!”

Ex-wife loses lottery money after hiding $1.9 million win during divorce proceedings

Served her right.

"Will we hit $1bil by Friday night? "

Not a chance. That they haven't announced a bump after 2 full days of selling tickets makes me think the  best we can hope for is perhaps 925, but with PB back near the basement there might be a bit more of a last minute rush by people thinking this is their last chance at a big jackpot for another couple of months.

"then relocate to a State that doesn't tax the lottery and you'll enjoy the next 29 payments state tax free. "

You can move to Mars if Elon lets you but the income will still be coming from the state where you bought the ticket and they're going to keep collecting tax on that income.

"moving to a State that taxes the lottery becomes a not so smart move. "

No state exempts winnings from another state's lottery, so if you were to win in a state that doesn't tax income from it's own lottery and move to any state with an income tax you'll be paying income tax on the winnings. There's also the  possibility that a state that doesn't tax lottery (or other) income now will start taxing it in the future.

This is indeed interesting. My understanding has been that tax is based on residence especially for the annuity after the first payment.

I have read widely on Taxes and  have wanted to know what are the best tax strategies. Unless the CPAs and CFAs  are totally wrong, I don't know who to believe.

Below is an extract and a link to some articles from Tax Advisors.

@KY Floyd: let me know what your thoughts are after reading the below and the article.

 "From a state tax perspective, an installment election might allow the winner to change residency and reduce or eliminate state taxation on future installments if the winner lives in a state that taxes the winnings. This planning option will not work for lump-sum recipients. For example, winners in a high-tax state such as New Jersey would have to pay a 10.75% top marginal rate in state taxes alone. If a New Jersey winner chose the annuity, however, he or she would be able to take the first payment at that higher tax rate and then receive the rest of the annuity in a lower-taxed state or one without an individual income tax such as Wyoming, resulting in significant savings."

https://www.thetaxadviser.com/newsletters/2022/dec/smart-tax-strategies-for-lottery-winners.html

Just bumped up to $940 mill.  35-36-45-50-55  15 mm ball.  Good luck to all.

Nice to get an increase this drawing — cash option now $472.5 million, increasing the rank to 12th on the all-time list.

Well it's on the internet so it must be true!  Ask that Jason Kurkland lottery lawyer guy,  I bet he will tell you that you don't have to pay any taxes...

I'd be stunned if I won the Michigan lottery and then moved to a state with no income tax and Michigan didn't want to tax the annuity payments paid by Michigan...that just does not make any sense...

Well I just read that tax link and already noticed that it is wrong!

It says that annuity payments don't stop if the winner dies which is, in fact, wrong for some games.

It you win a "Cash for Life" prize the annuity payments will stop when the winner dies after a preset time!

So the "experts" are not very thorough to say the least!

I guess at this rate one would need three or four different financial advisors.

The first one is going to advice you.

The second one is going to verify the advice of the first one.

The third will verify the advice of the first and second.

And so on and so on 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Should I happen to win any major jackpot, I will go with the lump sum, give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and enjoy the left overs.

The only major financial advise to "lower your tax bill" that I see is always to take the annuity and donate to charity for a tax deduction.

Good gracious !!!  That darn jackpot went up for tonight to:

$940M / $472.5M Cash Value   

Gotta redo my SHAG(sharing,helping and giveaways) LIST.....

If it rolls, it will probably hit a billion!

"Grandma, Mega Millions jackpot is $940 millions, can you sweat this weekend out? where's your insulin money?"

"Grandpa, can you skip lunch today?"

Grandpa:"no, but you could use my entertainment money for the lottery."

There is so much on the internet that is true - equally, there is so much on the internet that is not true.

There are also half truths.

Some things make sense and some don't and this calls for due diligence on everything.

At the end, one will be able to separate fact from fiction.

I wish you luck if you are on the MM drawing tonight 👍

Grandpa forgot that the entertainment budget has been busted 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Nice.....

I think so. 

Looking at around $1.1 Billion if it rolls.

Finished up the SHAG list......ehhhh, there is one relative that was on the fence, in regards to being donated to...SO... I flipped a coin....Today wasn't their lucky day<shoulder shrug>...more for charities

Ready for tonight.

It will roll to 1.05 billion if no one hit tonight. It will match number 7 on the list from January 22, 2021 when it reached 1.05 billion. Pretty soon all top 10 pots from the list will be all Billion dollars level. They knew what they was doing when they changed the balls on both over the past several years. This is what they wanted

"let me know what your thoughts are after reading the below and the article . "

I think that getting tax advice for free can be risky.  While it's also free, this comes from the state of NJ, which is the state your source thinks might  not continue to tax a winner that moves out of state. If you don't want to read it all,  "How Residents and Nonresidents Are Taxed" at the bottom of page 6 says "For nonresidents, New Jersey Income Tax liability is based on the percentage of their total income that comes from New Jersey." There might be circumstances in which it works differently, but a much better plan for NJ residents living close to  suitable border would be to  pop across the river and but their tickets in PA or DE if they've got other reasons to be there. If it's a special trip you might as well save the gas and toll money since where you by tickets probably isn't going to matter.

"It you win a "Cash for Life" prize the annuity payments will stop when the winner dies after a preset time! "

Annuity payments stop when the annuity ends, and a lifetime annuity ends when you die (ignoring any minimum payment period). You won't get any more payments, but it's the annuity that ended, not the payments.

You definitely have a valid argument especially on "free tax advice" however when someone puts their credentials "CPA" next to the article they have written, then it really is worrying if the article is not sound advice.

My personal thoughts would be since the subject of TAX is factual and not based on perception or preference - we have tax brackets for single, married filing jointly or married filing separately, head of household etc - then someone penning an article on any TAX subject should be guided by facts and not maybe or maybe not 🤣.

I also do agree that different states have different sets of tax laws and it's important to consult those as well.

My takeaway is if people have a different understanding or interpretation of Taxes and if it's hard for the average person to be able to interpret a tax statement then we probably need to simplify that.

But again people (read accountants) thrive in the ambiguity of it all.

Am convinced that if you give the very same tax documents to two different tax people, you may get two different tax summaries - in one you could be getting a refund and in the other you could be owing more taxes - lol 🤣🤣

Thanks for your input KY Floyd

I got this weird feeling that I am that relative.

Com'on CDanaT, I said I am sorry - kindly put me back on the list - unless you want me to start a nonprofit then I will qualify for the charity bit of it.

🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵

Let's hope they are accurate with raising the jackpot amount and didn't botch it like they did with Powerball.....

Whatever you do if you should win is to not hire the law firm of......... 

"Dewey, Cheatem & Howe" 

It's been awhile but, the subject matter lured me back into this conversation.

Okay I currently reside in state A ..... that has income tax plus.

If I were to buy pb or mm in neighboring state B ....  with no income taxes.... And before I claim my winning ticket in state B ... establish a new residence in state B ....  how would I be liable to pay income taxes to my old state, A?

Thanks for your reply in advance!

Sorry JM......You are just too fussy and always wanting something for nothing !! Besides, you always have a guilty look on your face at the reunions.   Denied

Best of luck to all LP members on this historic MM draw.. Here is hoping that at least one of us ends up with at least a 2nd place prize  or the JP itself.....Good luck

I always feel guilty at the reunions because I eat the most hotdogs 🤣🤣🤣

Thanks for the good wishes - got my tickets with multiplier - ready for either the big pot or second tier with a 5x 😁.

Good luck to all.