Don't forget, Powerball is $105 million for tonight.

Got my numbers in...good luck to all my fellow LP PB players!!!

I am really eyeing the Mega Million.  I have had  numerous dreams of winning the jackpot.  Wow I believe this is my blessings from GOD amen.  Good luck to all powerball players and for Mega million players too.

Some one here in Katy, TX won 5 of the 6 numbers....I'm not say who.

Congratulations to the winner!!!

+20 millions increase after one draw, nice. Slow start going up on the roller-coaster, now here comes the big dip, followed by few loops, side-to-side actions, before it is over. Put your hands up and enjoy the ride!!

Powerball $125,000,000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited! I'm going to get 50 PB QP tomorrow!!

Just  a thought I don't know if a lot of people know the difference between Mega Millions and Power Ball. When the JackPot in Mega Millions is at 120 million before taxes is 80 million and then they take off if any in the respective state taxes.

Now in Power Ball the Jack Pot is at 125 Million yet the before tax amount is only 68,900,000.00.  Why such a difference in the amounts of the before tax amounts?  Power Ball seems to be keeping more of the money than giving it to the comsumer.  I've noticed  this before but  now I'd like to know if anyone out there knows why the difference in payouts.

Thanks LottoLin

I'm assuming you are talking about the cash payout amount before taxes? Personally on that much $$$ i would take the annuity because I don't know where in the H E double hockey sticks i would put 68 million dollars!! Plus I think if you get the annuity you have a better excuse not to pony up the money to everyone who asks.  right now with PB annuity you would take home about 3 million a year after taxes and that suits me just fine.  I love my house and have no plans to move or sell it and with only 100K left to pay on it I would be sitting pretty with the rest .  but that's just me

MM and PB both keep 50% and both put almost exactly the same amountinto the jackpot. PB just pays the annuity over a longer period, andthe payments are smaller at the beginning.

 Well, my birthday is this Saturday. Winning a MM will make my day.

"...you have a better excuse not to pony up the money to everyone who asks."

Why would you need an "excuse"?

I am guessing because some people have a hard time saying no.

 I really do, i'm afraid of bad karma.  If I had $125 million dollars I would probably not refuse to pay anyone's crippling medical bills (tax break!!!) but personal gifts would be hard for me to say no to without feeling guilty yet sooner or later I would happen upon the dreaded gift tax and then kick myself in the butt for doing it.

Agree.

If they bitched about not getting any money.  My response no matter who it was or how long I knew them:

"Nice knowing you."

 Me and my husband wouldn't have a problem saying NO.  When we have our Big Win we will have our financial advisor set up a limited liabiltiy Corp.

 investment group named xyzou. This way no body will know we won the lottery except for one or two people we tell. But they would be a part of this so they wouldn't be telling everyone any way. I would take the cash so I could have the investor invest it the way I see fit. The lottery puts the money in government bonds that are secure I could do that too and make the money off the money instead of them. 

But each person has thier own idea of how they would do it if they won, I would take the cash other would do the annuity.

I just wish everyone on this Forum the Best Luck  that all your dreams and wishes are fructuous.

LottoLin

 I hear you.  For me I will take the annuity and work with little annual amount and invest in this economy I don't want to take everything and invest it with some company that who knows when they are going to go downhill....I trust the lottery more on that.  As for my family and friends(extended included)...I will give them all a portion of my winnings and wish them good luck in managing their money....If anybody becomes greedy NO will be the answer and asta la vista....I have already told them and they all know....I am the one who won the money so they have no choice but to appreciate any little(a few thousands) they get.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYBODY THE MM JACKPOT IS NOW $145,000,000....

does anybody know if the PB is a rollover? the FLA Lottery website is slooow

It generaly takes a couple of hours before the results are posted.USA MEGA/Lottery Post is usually one of the first websites to post the results.

they have the numbers up but not if it is a rollover or not

Thats because it takes a couple of hours for all Powerball states to report in with the results.

ok, thanks!!!!

Powerball rolled over.Wednesdays jackpot will be 150 million dollars.80 million dollars cash option.1 person in Florida hit five numbers w/o the powerplay option.Someone in Iowa (not me) hit 5 numbers with the powerplay option for 1 million dollars.Hope it was someone that I know.I'm happy for them even if I don't know them.Its been awhile since an Iowan won a second prize,even longer since an Iowan won the jackpot.

GamerMom, you are going to have to learn to say "no" if you don't want to end up giving it all away and winding up with none for you and your kids.  Either that, or find a way to get around it.  Protect yourself, protect your winnings - these are important if you want that money to last.

With this size of lottery and you finding the word "no" hard to say, you will have to move or they will be at your door day and night. That is step one (after hiring a lawyer and finance advisor). You buy a new house in a trust name so your name or the trust you claimed the winning with is not recorded as owner, and you forward your old mail to a PO Box.  It doesn't matter how much you love your current home, you're gonna have to move.

Then, you either establish a small charity trust with a lawyer and a financial advisor on the decisions board to give away to those in special need situations, or you let some sort of factor make those decisions for you.  For family hand outs, you make the stipulation that those who handle their gift responsibly will get more in the future - and that goes for your kids.  Make them understand the gift tax situation.  And then let your financial advisor/factor decide when they come back for more - to be the bad guy so to speak. Those that get a "no" can try to prove themselves again later if they have a mind to, but tell them the funds are not unlimited, the gift tax applies, and you have to be fair to everyone.  This even goes for your kids.

Of course taking an assertiveness training class along side your finance classes is a must for winners who just can't say "no".  Like me.    

Good luck to everyone Tuesday and Wednesday! Let's hope it is a Lottery Post winner!

i just can't understand why anyone would be stingy with $150 million.  I think if I won the pb i would have my sig other, his mom and my mom sign the ticket with me.  that would be about $15 million after taxes each (assuming $80 million payout as previous poster stated). I do think you are right, we would have to move but I would keep my current house.  i'm sure in a few years it would all blow over and i could come back. or not.  You are right, though I would have to learn to say no more often!

GamerMom it's not being stingy....it's being smart. Your choice to give or not give is one thing, but you have to think... "Do I want to give it all away and feel good even though I'm broke" orrrrrrrrr would you rather say "I want to give for the rest of my life and beyond, setting up a legacy that will have an impact on society, the things I find important within it and my family"

Me personally, I would give some away but I wouldn't go broke doing it. NOBODY would know that I've won except the lottery people,  my financial people and Uncle Sam. I heard once on a radio show that a woman in England had won a million dollar jackpot (don't remember the exact amount) and she had kept it a secret from her husband for years...I think he had a drug problem or something and she was afraid he would squander it all away.

If the jackpot was big enough I would give small financial gifts to family through a trust they didn't know I was associated with, even writing myself some checks so they wouldnt get curious. I got this idea from a post I read by Alec West. He has a very thoughful approach to this lottery winning thing. To be truthful...I honestly can't say I would will it all away to family after I died eaither.  Truth be told, they still might not know then...and it's not that I'm stingy, it's just that I still want to serve the chartities I believe in (family included) without comprimising the important things money can have a negative effect on.

If you did this, the IRS would almost certainly rule that the entire amount you gave to others was a gift subject to gift taxes.  The amount you owed in gift taxes might be more than the amount of money you had left!

Any arrangement between individuals to share the winnings of a lottery ticket need to be made before the ticket wins, not after.  Otherwise it is a gift.  You would need to be able to verify the date of the arrangement, so the arrangement should be in writing and perhaps notarized.  This is particularly true between related individuals.  Before the drawing, a ticket is worth only the cost of the ticket.  If you give shares of it away then, there wouldn't be gift tax owed, as the cost is so low.  But after the drawing, the value is based upon what that ticket has won.

You can't give away shares in a ticket only if it wins the jackpot.  If you give away 50% in shares, for example, you'd be giving away half of a $1 or $150 or $10,000 win, as well as half of a jackpot win.

Woman 'hiding lottery win from husband' - www.lotterypost.com/news/126952 

How is it giving it away if all parties both sign it and claim it together? I'm confused on how this is considered a gift. 

As soon as the drawing takes place, the winning ticket is worth the amount of the winnings.  Anything you do with ownership after that moment is subject to the gift tax laws. 

Only one person will have physically purchased a lottery ticket.  The IRS will expect that any ownership other than that of the one individual will need to be proven and that any transfer between people happened before, not after, the drawing to avoid gift taxes.  When millions of dollars in tax revenue are at stake, the IRS is not going to just believe a person's statement about when transfers took place.  You need documentation.  And when an agreement is between relatives, the documentation will almost certainly need to be witnessed by a non-relative to hold up in court.

I'm basing my comments upon a court case I read about on the web a few years ago.  A couple said that they had an agreement with their adult children to pool their ticket purchases and any winnings.  The IRS took them to court for gift taxes.  The IRS won.  I tried to find the document on the web again now but since I don't recall what search words I used to find it originally, I was unable to do so.

Will your state even issue checks to each member of a lottery pool if a group wins?  Washington State and some other states do not, so only one signature should be on the winning ticket in those cases.  Here one would have to form a LLC, partnership or a trust to claim a ticket for a group.  But again, even if the state issued the winnings to such a legal entity, the IRS could still win a case that gift taxes were owed.  For that matter, even if a state did issue separate checks to the pool members, the IRS could still win a case that gift taxes were owed.

What I did was to type up an affidavit gifting 30% of any winnings to a large group of relatives with whom I'd want to share a jackpot win and had the document notarized at my bank.  I included a statement that it was only for MM tickets I purchased before ****.  (I gave a date first six months ahead, and the second time one year ahead to allow me to change my mind about the arrangement later.)  I came up with the 30% figure as a compromise between wanting to share more of a jackpot win and really wishing I didn't have to give any of a small win.  But one can't have it both ways.

I realize that law and logic don't always go hand in hand,but why should the giver of a gift be taxed on that gift.It would,at least in my my mind ,make more sense for the recipiant of the gift to pay the taxes on it.

Thank you very much Uff!! I really appreciate you taking the time to type all of that out.  Boy the IRS will get you any way they can, right?

Death and taxes, right?   

Personally, I think there is too much double taxation. Taxes on monetary gifts where the money had most likely already been taxed on the giver, and inheritance taxes where taxes have already been paid on earnings being inherited. 

Abolish the IRS and establish flat tax 10%, or a national consumption tax.

Or legalize marijuana and place a $50 tax on an ounce.  Problem solved