INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — There's $750 million at stake in tonight's Powerball drawing — the fourth-largest in U.S. lotto history.
Of course, if you win, you won't get all that money. There are a number of expenses that will come out of the lump sum you do get.
First, let's say you take the lump sum like nearly everyone else who wins the lottery does. You're looking at a huge pay cut before you can enjoy the finer things in life: subtract a proportion for choosing to take the lump sum, federal withholding taxes and payments to the IRS.
When it's all said and done, you're left with $278.3 million.
Then, you've got to pay for all the steps lottery winners should take to keep their money safe: hiring experts to help manage investments, tax planning, insurance and estate planning; form a trust or or LLC to stay as anonymous as possible; personally sign your ticket — not a lawyer or anyone else; pay off your debt before making any large purchases.
The good news as is Hoosiers, we have an advantage. Indiana has sold 39 winning lottery tickets — eight more than Missouri, the next closest winning state.
Hoosier Lottery officials say the main reason Indiana has had so many winners is because it was one of the first states to sell Powerball tickets. But the statistics tell a bit of a different story.
Indiana and Kentucky started selling Powerball tickets around the same time, but Indiana ahas had more than twice as many major lottery winners than our southern neighbors.
Hoosiers have been in a bit of a drought recently, though. In the last 10 years, Indiana residents have only had four Powerball and MegaMillions winners. But in the 10-year span from 1992 to 2002, there were 27 winning Powerball tickets claimed by Hoosiers.