The Mega Millions jackpot is at a record-high $868 million after nobody won Tuesday’s drawing.
While there are factors to consider when determining if it’s worth it to buy a ticket ahead of Friday’s drawing, the winnings are undeniably tempting.
That said, if you were to test chance and actually happened to win, you wouldn’t necessarily take home the full prize as advertised, according to estimates from USA Mega.
Lottery winners can choose from two payment options: lump sum or annuity. But you don’t get anything near the sticker price with either option, and that’s largely because of taxes.
On the lump-sum payment plan, you’d get a one-time payment of $513 million, per USA Mega. But after federal taxes, which come at a rate of 24%, the total payment would be about $390.18 million, according to the site’s estimate.
It’s worth noting that this is just an estimate, as the federal tax rate for the lump-sum option usually ends up closer to the maximum federal income tax rate, which is 37% this year, making the take-home prize that much smaller.
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