I'll take it all in a lump sum please.          What is the customary tip for $255 million?   

With this kind of winnings, relocation is pretty much a given even if you are able to remain anonymous.  After I take advantage of Texas' limited publicity through multiple legal entities, I'd be relocating to a beach front villa in the Caribbean until hurricane season.... Got to go some place to chill for a bit and let reality sink in.

I'm not sure how much reality sinks in while sunning on a Caribbean beach. 

My guess is that it will take a couple months to get legal entities all set up with tax ID and such, scrub your personal info from the internet, etc. I believe I read that it takes either 2 or 4 days for electronic transfer after claiming in Texas. I'd be curious to know of the bank will hold access to that transfer. LOL, I can see it now, "what do you mean you won't give me access to my $200 million deposit?!?" Darn banks. Stay away from the big banks initially. Your money is really their money. 

OK, I'm done thinking the process through. Good luck to everyone on Tuesday! I'm off to the gym and picking up tickets on my way. 

4 days worth of sales before the next draw, if it doesn't make it to $400 million I will be surprised. But that really doesn't matter because the cash option amount is good enough now.............

Anyone know where I can find info about winners that were quick picks compared to winners that chose their numbers? because the last 2 drawing, I have a hard time believing anyone would choose those combo's. If someone were to win either of the last 2 they would HAVE to be QP's no?

I can't play All we have is a Powerball that charges $2.00 per ticket

No matter what part of Florida I lived in I would be taking a road trip to Georgia........lol

Just take a ride to another state...If you dont have a car  thumb a ride..

      Yeap

LOL! All  I can do is thumb a ride to Disney where they charge an arm and a leg to get in

With millions playing, I think anything is possible as far as how people choose their numbers. It might not be birthdays, could be numbers

representing any range of personal meanings such as hunch's, lucky numbers, athletic achievements, etc. Why would they have to be QP's?

Thumb works great, I hitched from NH to CA with it in 8 days!

Ok, WHAT am I missing?  Why is the cash value so HIGH ? The Jackpot is 356 mil, how is the cash vaule MORE than the winning Jackpot of 390 mil ????

My first guess is LOW interest rates - means it take more money for cash value to annuitize to the jackpot amount, thus taking a higher cash value. 

Holy Moly that is A LOT of cash. WOW 

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!!!

If no one wins tuesday i think it will go well over $400 Million

I say it don't mean a thing unless you got that winning ticket...doo wop doo wop doo wop doo wop!  But to that end, I have been so hard hit by this administrations policies that I am ALL in for the next drawing. I am going to play $50 in QP and another $50 of my own picks.  I predict just like TW will be getting that W at Bay Hill this weekend, I will be collecting a nice lump sum of cash the first week of April (well I will need a few days to consult with my legal team and interview some accountants!).  And I want to truly thank ALL serious and even the casual lottery players as well as those who only jump in when the jackpot exceeds a certain value in ADVANCE for funding my "live how I want to, where I want to" lifestyle fund. You will notice I didn't use or say the "R" word as I think that is the kiss of death.

A couple more rolls and MM will have accomplished with a $1 ticket what PB was hoping to do with a $2 one.

Powerball lol, there was another winner on Wednesday....that average jackpot won is gettin lower and lower lol

GOD DO NOT LET ME WIN THIS MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT. I wish to win a second prize. It will have less impact in my life.

1 QUICK PICK TICKET.

GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY .

About a $166,000,000 wire transfer for me in Pennsylvania!

No State or Local taxes here !

Woo Hoo ........... 1 winner please ..............

Wow $100 in tickets  i was debating whether i should spend the $3 i have one $3 Qp or 3 $1 Qp 

Good Luck with your numbers

there is no way to claim a jackpot this amount anonymous.the lottery commission and the media will be investigating who won as soon as the jackpot is hit. the only thing you can do is wait about 5 or more months or until another jackpot is hit to form a trust and then claim ticket.that's what I would do anyway.

partly.a second tier prize win change your life but also you also won't have to deal with all the unwanted press a large jp stirs up. but i still wouldn't mind winning this jp.

That is my point. I do not want to deal with all the attention. It will change my current life, and I do not want that. I love the job that I do etc. Winning a lottery jackpot will change all that.

Better you or somebody else in lotterypost than me.

My dream is to win a MM or PB second prize, that is the reason I play.

My estimate MM jackpot will be $405 million by the time of drawing, then it will rise by $115 million to $520 for next rollover. Any objections ?

Knowing yourself and your situation is fabulous!  I agree, this kind of win would change not just your LIFE but also your WORLD.  Of necessity it would be a huge roller coaster ride for a while.  Form trusts, travel/hide, move, change name... and still you would be hunted.  You would become the world's most favorite "big game".

Wow - put that way?  I'm in!  I will, in a self-sacrificing move, put myself forward as the target of this media-rage/frenzy, thus saving everyone else.  Whew, now I feel better - I have found a way to save the world w/o even saving the cheerleader.

I wish you win it all. I might not play at all. They should allow players to claim it anonymously.Good Luck to you, may your wish come true.

The media would have a fun time following this winner around.

I'm hoping for multiple jackpot winners. With me included in that group.....

Yep.  Heck even a measly 6 million dollar win on 3/14 was investigated by the clerks at my local Publix Grocery Store (where the ticket was bought).  The ticket was bought back in January and they had gone back on the security cameras and knew exactly who bought the winning ticket.  Turns out it was a man who bought it but a woman claimed the prize.  LOL...she must have sent him to get milk and her winning lotto tickets (she played the same numbers for years). 

As far as claiming in a trust that usually does no good at sheilding your identity because they also list the beneficiary of the trust.

Thrifty - on a serious note:  most likely there will be multiple winners, not just one... which will bring the total j/p way down... think 3 or 4 winners... now that j/p is a 'normal' one... dont give up on it... worst case?  Should you win?  With some careful planning, YOU can choose the 'multiple winners' and share the j/p with 3 or 4 others... spreading the 'media-heat'.

This would be a wonderful j/p even if there were 10 winners (down to the original 40M$ that it PB starts with and WAY over what MM starts with).

Many people picks "birthday numbers" for their lucky numbers in hopes of winning... the past 2 draws have been bday numbers.. that's y there have been so many 2nd place winners.. 68-39... Its not a large probability for those numbers to hit like that... im thankful tho for the jackpot ill be winning on Tuesday :-)

That sounds good, can you imagine winning the whole thing with 1 Quick Pick Ticket. It will be insane.

U covered Twilight and Heroes.. i love it!!! im in... vampires n super powers... yay!!!!! haha ;-)

Some states list that info on their websites, but I can give you a pretty good estimate without checking. For starters we already know that a lot of people play "lucky" numbers, and for a lot of people that means significant dates. Then there's the math.

According to lottorreport,com the last two drawings sold 78,423,325 and 111,282,952 tickets. The odds of winning the 2nd prize are  1 in 3,904,701, so dividing sales by odds tells us that we would have had  20 and 28.5 winners if all the tickets had random combinations and the results did what probability suggests. Instead we had 68 and 39 winners.  We also know that QP's account for between 70 and 80% of total sales, so if everything had been random there would have been 14 to 16 and 20 to 23 QP winners.

Probability certainly alows for unusual results, and there may have been a few more QP winners than suggested by probability, but that many winners is even less likely than winning the jackpot with one ticket.  That makes it virtually certain that almost all of the "extra" winners came from people picking those numbers. There's always the chance that there's some common thread, such as the PB fortune cookie from a few years ago, but it's probably because all the numbers are birthdays numbers. I'll guess that there are two reason that we had more winners from smaller sales on the first drawing. One is that choosing birthday numbers  probably wouldn't result in using the same number for the mega ball that was used for the other 5 numbers. The other is that the first drawing had more numbers that would work for months, as well as the day of the month.

if the winner of this jackpot is smart they'll grab thar bags and get out of the country triple quick

It is time to work on new set of combos. The next draw will most likely to have combination in the balanced spectrum, or maybe it will be all high numbers and MB number being 1. I noticed when the Jackpot gets over 200M the combination no longer balanced. You get like 3 consecutive numbers, all low, all high, all odd, all even, MB from white ball, etc. They are still part of the matrix but not in the balance spectrum, so we shall see what the next results will be like and adjust accordingly.

Good luck everyone.

Yep, right up I-75 to Lake Park.  As I understand it, they sell a lot of Mega Millions tickets right there.  Actually the first couple of exits into Florida still sell a lot of Powerball tickets, even though Georgia has that now too.  People think because Florida has no state income tax that they will reap those benefits, but they are sadly mistaken.  If someone from GA bought the winning powerball ticket in Florida you can best bet that the Georgia Department of Revenue will come running pronto to get that 6%.

That's definitely going 'ALL IN'

For the hell of it, let us know how much in winnings you end up getting for that 100.

I'm thinking more like $20, ten ticks with megapliers.

This is my thoughts as well.  There are certain attorneys that specialize in that sort of thing.  But only a few that are any good at it.

Holy Mammoth  

$356+M

Attys and advisers ???  whewwwwwww...the necessary evil with this kind of $$$.......... Lets see if the winner speaks for themselves, has a designated person to do so or takes the 5th........... If its me...no pics, no comments...and collect on late Friday afternoon, maybe with a plane ticket in hand to a destination of my choosing for a few weeks.....so many choices,options and opportunities..........Let the winning begin on Tuesday !!!

Let me ask... if you already have a ticket in hand but have not collected the money, which may not hit your bank for a few banking days, how do you get the money for your get-away trip? Do you borrow against the winnings that have not yet been collected? Or can you make arrangement with the lottery office to have whatever publicity is required a few days after you actually make the claim? That money just does not magically appear the afternoon you go and collect.

It's an interesting thought anyway, regardless of the jackpot size. How fast do things actually happen?

Yea I luv the megapliers - hit 4 of 6 numbers a couple of months ago with a 4x!! its like I played those numbers 4x's 

I remember back when I got up to $390million. MegaMillions wasn't in Louisiana yet and I told my wife if it were to hit a half billion, I was going to drive to the Texas border(around 3 hours) to buy tickets.  It may do that this time and I'll only have a go about mile to get tickets now.

Louisiana hasn't had a MegaMillions jackpot winner yet, it's time I became the first jackpot winner of the game in Louisiana.

If I understand things correctly, theres a 2 week period for the money to arrive in the state or states that sold the winning jackpot(s).....When you make your claim after that two weeks(for money arrival) the money can be wired into your account that day. I could be misinformed on the 2 week period.....but the wire transfer/direct deposit I am certain of.....If you don't have the money, I am sure you could get a cash advance on a C. Card. If you don't have one( C.C.) or have the means to get a cash advance, then I guess you will sit home and wait. The winner could be the type that doesn't care to be mobile, if so, I wish  that person the best of luck with all the media etc etc.......How fast things happen depend on you and your advisors/consultants

Depends on where you live, I know here in Texas, our lottery commision will release the name of the Trustee and the name of the Trust, but they will refuse to list the name of the Grantors or the Beneficiaries.

The unfortunate thing is, someone can hire an attorney to work for open records release of the names of the latter two, which is currently happening to the $76M "MAED Trust". :( Despite this, it's still the best way to go for lottery winners from my state, especially since it can give some time to get everything tied down before the storm comes blowing in.

I played the same 35 picks the past three drawings, playin the same for the next plus 15 easy picks.

This one will be increased before the drawing on Tuesday. $255.1 million be $175 In GA. But i doubt 1 ticket will win it this time. Yes I don't see how you wouldn't seek advice for money like this. I thought a blind trust was to keep anonymous? Wouldn't you just put your lawyers name as beneficiary are revoke his/her power after they collect? Keep your name out of the papers. I'm not gonna give the money back if I can't but i'm gonna do everything I canto stay hidden.

In Kansas it takes 10-14 buisness days for the money to get to the state and can take up to 30 days from the day you go in to claim the money for you to receive your money if you choose the cash option.

You use more than one trust. The first trust is just a trust to collect the winnings.It hands the money over to another trust.  You could even make the first trust a blind trust.

Well ..that wasn't the post I was trying to reply to ..but you get the idea.

Step 1: WIN

Sharing with your friends or relatives sounds great.  But don't forget if you plan to give away more than 5 million dollars total, you'll be paying some very hefty gift taxes in addition to the income taxes.  You'd certainly have the money to do it on a single-ticket jackpot win, but I heard one woman say she'd divide it equally with her three daughters.  If she did that, she could end up with nothing left for herself after paying the income and gift taxes!  So I'd suggest one should not make any big promises to friends or relatives about sharing in a big way until after conferring with a tax advisor on the impact of large gifts.  When maximumfun says "with some careful planning," she really does mean careful planning.

Uff Da!, its called a trust

u can claim said jackpot with it, ,any have any amount of freinds/family named as beneficiaries, with u ofc as main one,getting 90% or however much u want, rest to other beneficiaries.

let alone, how bad is gift tax,its jsut a double tax, they already taxed it once, now they want to tax it again, their evil.

however lucky, their legal ways to get past these pricks

also to kyokushin187, u want to collect by end of 2 weeks, as atfer 2 weeks, state has all funds in 1 account, ready to be xfered to your new bank,that happy to pay intrest on your 100hundred million plus account, lol

best thing people can do is lawyer/trust up,and buy a body guard if u have to,

the main issue,is with such large amounts,people want to share with family, but lose lips sink ships, and family is one big talkers.

onless we get smartass/lawyer type for brains winner, , i doubt meda won't try their est to find u out.

 this will be intresting to watch unfold.

Id like to see it roll over till atleast good friday! The I win it! Talking about a good friday!

wasn't there a poster who said she predicted that it would roll until Good Friday and the winning ticket would be bought on Sunday. That means you would have to play two drawings. Or maybe she said it would roll until Good Friday week.

Think they will have the drawing in new york on Tuesday ? Isn't that where they had it last time it got up there.

Guess if it went past or until good friday it would be close to or past 600 million!

Personally, I see it rolling two weeks past Good Friday and being won on the 20th.

Yes, that's right, on Lima Bean Respect Day.

So you think it will be hit on 4/20??  No wonder you're always so funny I want some of what you been smoking! (That wacky tabacky?)  LOL        Good Luck to everyone on LP.......

How dare you impugn the name of Lima Bean Respect Day!

I am Shocked and Appalled!

LOL!  Nothing against the Nobel Lima Bean..... Although I have always been more of a Butter Bean or Pinto Bean type.    Enjoy your Lima Bean Respect day..... I enjoy some nice spam with my beans and cornbread. 

Bahahaha... thats what my mom calls it!!! she's gonna b 69! but that sounds like an enjoyable celebration!!!! although i don't see it rolling over that many times, it'd b an astounding number!!

Lima Bean Respect Day ???????? ....WTF is THAT ???? lemme guess.....Its the next celebrated day after "Clean Out The Still" day ???

Actually the wire transfer...if you were the sole winner would be for roughly $191 million as only 25% Federal tax is witheld initially. You would owe another $25.5 million (Federal top tax rate is 35%) when you file your 2012 income taxes.

I find it funny how the media really makes it sounds like as if the sole winner would get the entire $356 million as a lump sum if won.

What a phone call to work that would be ....""" i'm calling in rich""".....by by

Since the MM is sold nationwide, I believe it takes roughly 2-weeks from the time the winner comes forward for the funds to be wired into his/her account.

In the meantime, I am willing to bet that ALMOST any bank would be happy to give you a short term loan :-)

Which is the day right after 'buy new silk under-garments' day; which is after roast your own coffee bean day; which is after...

now personally I have never celebrated 'still-cleaning day' but I will happily add it to my required holidays this year.

These neophytes to the national holiday scheme... of COURSE there is a Lima Bean Respect Day... the fact that so many know nothing of it just goes to demonstrate the need for it!  (nodding head vigorously - while making additional mental list of what to do with my new wealth while remaining under the radar)

I will not celebrate Lima Bean Respect Day because the lowly Lima Bean has failed to earn my respect.

  The only one that winns all the time is the Federdal tax people..If you think about it you get taxxed at lleeast twice.. first when you make the money ,thay when you try to send the money..

I am diligently working on this.  Plan in place for ability to move to step 2 tomorrow...

$356 million sounds good to me, just got back from Texas & of course we grabbed a few Mega tickets on our way back now we we have to states coverd..

Florida residents who travel to Georgia to get their MM tickets would owe the state of Georgia almost $16 million dollars if they were lucky enough to have purchased the sole winning ticket.

The Federal tax liability at the top rate of 35% would be almost $90 million but they are being nice by only taking out 25% initially($63 million). Talk about paying your fair share

This is the time I wish I lived in Delaware where complete anonymity is legal. I have promised you the next JP is headed to good old Massachusetts after CT then RI had their chances. MA lottery would never dream of anonymous payout. They would splash your info at every intersection in the commonwealth. Oh well, I'll just move out of the country.

All this talk about beans is making me hungry lol. Good thing we have a can of refried beans in the cupboard.

Willing to bet the jackpot will be over $400 million by Tuesday night. The last time MM was this high it jump roughly $60 million in the days leading up to the drawing.

If MM hits $420 million, we could be looking at a cash value of over $300,000,000

WE? I work alone!

I've got a crock pot full of pulled chicken cooking up... I'm thinking to add some beans to some and make some chicken chili. But no lima beans. Adding beans in chili is sacrilege here in Texas, but chicken chili you can get away with it.  That does it, chicken chili for dinner it is.

"WE" is referring to the entire LP family

It's called pun - lol!

Sounds yummy

That's an insane jackpot! I'll take some please.

ok now you all made me put a pot of red beans/rice on the stove & cornbread....LOL....

Ridge jackpot  got bigger now more money to share through the state. so if you hit make it two bottles

Winning tonight Powerball jackpot will be great because everybody is focused on the Mega Millions.

If it was to make it to 4/20 it would probably be over 1 billion! Nice bit of monery!

And that much money id be happy to take it in 26 payments!

Sounds mighty tasty!

We get the Goya Rancheros Refried Pinto Beans now off of a tip from some of my Wife's friends, mix that with a can of Fiesta Nacho Cheese for a simple but delicious bean dip. 

Beans and cornbread had a fight. "Beans," said cornbread, "That's all right! Meet ya on the corner on Saturday night!"

LOL.  Nothing better than beans and cornbread.

Pulled chicken might not be ready to make it as chili tonight. Will have to save for tomorrow. Missing a couple ingredients, so I'll have to go out and get them tomorrow... and pick up a couple more lottery tickets for Tuesday's draw.

There is not a single good reason to take the annuity in these times. Take the cash, invest with the help of investers, stash some away in a safe.

LOL....Piaceri you so crazy..... nothng like a bowl of chicken chili on a Sunday afternoon..

Yep take the cash!!!!

Absolutely no doubt it would be over 1 billion. If no one wins this Tuesday the MM jackpot will exceed $500 million for Friday's drawing and have a cash lump sum value of over $350 million.

I'm gonna win $356,000,000 on Tuesday and I'll take all the attention that comes with it.

Milk it like a cow Guru!   

Lao Tzu
Tao Te Ching.

Tao

1

The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.

The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.

The Tao is infinite, eternal.
Why is it eternal?
It was never born;
thus it can never die.
Why is it infinite?
It has no desires for itself;
thus it is present for all beings.

The Master stays behind;
that is why she is ahead.
She is detached from all things;
that is why she is one with them.
Because she has let go of herself,
she is perfectly fulfilled.

You don't want cash in your safe! You want gold, platinum, paladium & silver in your safe!
I will read about all of the attention that I am being given for winning the big cash, from the very comfortable hiding place! And be ROTFLOLing!

Oh I dunno.  There are several people I know who would lose it all immediately, as they always spend exactly what they have, no more no less and NEVER save, but when put on a manditory budget (taking the annuity), they would only lose the amount they have, (not going into debt) and that would guarentee them to have ALOT for the length of the annuity.

Other than that situation, I cant think of a reason, unless the winner were unconvinced that they or their experts could do a better return than the annuity percentage (which would be a pretty sad commentary).

Personally?  Take the cash baby!

split hair here and thar ........ with no real answer in sight

those who say different are fulla beans and manure 

People like that are the first to sell their annuity to the annuity brokers that will hound them from the git-go, not realizing that by selling the annuity it does not absolve them from future tax liabilities. Then they get IRS problems. IF someone takes the annuity, they better be darn disciplined enough to live within the annuity limits, and smart enough to listen to advisors. Taking the annuity does not make an over spender into a budget conscious individual.

that would be nice KSplayer....

well if they are not carful they will have that company that air commercials through out the day talking about selling your annuity....

I have known a few people that if they won $2 million, they would be in debt for $ 4 million, etc.  You cannot instill good sense and money management skills in some people and some will live beyond their means no matter what the income. For those people, lottery money is like a drug.

When I win on Tuesday, I am taking the cash man!  And after I do win, I don't want to hear this OWS crap about paying my fair share!

On another note, the folks over at Powerball can be none too happy that MM has trumped Powerball in excitement and a record cash value jackpot!  MM I love you man....now show me some love and let me go from ZERO bucks won in this run up to record jackpot multi-millionaire!  I have all of my teeth and I was born and raised in the good land of USA. 

Show me the money!!!

The annuity pays the winner roughly 1.5% annually based on the cash value. If you invest it yourself and just net 2% annually, you would gross over $428 million in 26 years. 3% annually would get you over $550 million. There are tax-free muni bonds that have paid more than that so it would be wise to take the lump sum cash.

The care-free spender who take the annuity ($10 million per year after tax) would still get in trouble. Once their annual payment is exhausted, they would simply cash out the annuity or take out loans on future payments so it would be a no win situation in either case.

Prime example are the pro athletes who make more than $10 million per year and finding a way to blow it all. If someone has no clue on how to manage money or any desire to seek help/advice then they deserve to lose it all.

A little common sense goes a long way these days.

I would take the CV, invest it conservatively, live off the interest, pay Uncle Sam her share, and avoid any business investments that could bankrupt me.  I would not become a venture capitalist, so those with dodgy to brilliant biz ideas would be just wasting your time coming to me for a loan, and my middle name is not "Santa Claus" so you would stand a better chance at getting a gift from tightwad Grinch and penny pinching Scrooge than anything from me.  And all the charities out there should know I don't plan to become philanthropic until the year 2070, so you will just be wasting your time and resources soliciting me for a donation....and that includes churches too.  Oh I will be benevolent, but only on my own terms.  If a charity contacts me, that charity will join my "no donation" list.

Money money money....I loved me some money!

Absolutely no doubt!

Very sad but true

so true Jill34786....

I think we all know someone that fits that script.

ppl. w/ good sense are outnumbered.

Nodding head vigorously in agreement.  We were having this conversation earlier over dinner with some friends.  And the dh of my friend looked over and seriously said that they would have to take the annuity because that way they would be guaranteed to have income.  I just smiled and nodded.  No sense arguing with someone who has made up their mind.  Ok... they will take the annuity. Personally I would take the cash value (cv).  De gustibus non est disputandum.

Consentio!

You can always invest annuity! And make even more than you would otherwise! I dont think Id spend near what Id make each year! Heck after 1st year i wouldnt spend near the amount given!

You are so right! at least for a couple months maybe years.

don't take the lottery annuity, buy your own.