Mega Millions Tops $1.1 Billion: Here's How Much You'll Actually Win And 10 Things You Can Buy With The Winnings

If you’ve ever dreamed of instantly having hundreds of millions of dollars to buy whatever you want, the Mega Millions might be calling your name on Tuesday.

For the fourth time in four years, the jackpot on the Mega Millions lottery drawing has topped the $1 billion mark.

Here’s a look at the historic jackpot and what you could buy with the after-tax lump sum winnings.

What Happened: The Mega Millions drawing on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, is currently listed at $1.1 billion, which is the third-largest jackpot in the game’s history.

The $1.1 billion jackpot trails only the $1.537 billion won in 2018 and the $1.337 billion won in July 2022.

Tickets cost $2 to play with an additional $1 option cost for a multiplier that raises the nonjackpot winning payouts.

Five white balls are drawn numbered 1 to 70 and a gold Mega Ball numbered 1 to 25 is drawn. A person has to match all six to win the overall jackpot.

Players can select their own numbers for their tickets, with lucky numbers, birthdays and anniversaries often among the favorite selections. Players can also receive random numbers by selecting an easy pick/quick pick.

The overall odds to win the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350. The odds to win a prize of at least $4 are 1 in 24.

If no one matched all six balls Tuesday night, the jackpot will increase ahead of a drawing on Friday, Jan. 13, 2022.

How Much Do You Win?: The jackpot for Tuesday’s drawing stands at $1.1 billion with a listed cash payment of $568.7 million.

The jackpot is paid out over a 30-year period with an initial payment upon winning and an annual payment for the next 29 years. Each annual payment goes up by 5% to attempt to offset inflation.

Given the current high inflation era that we are in, a person who wins the jackpot is immediately tasked with choosing whether they want all the money upfront or to be paid annually and if they think the 5% is enough to offset annual inflation.

A winner is responsible for paying federal taxes and any local taxes on the winning. Federal taxes of 37% take the lump sum payout down to $358.28 million.

While still a considerable amount, the $1.1 billion jackpot amount trails off pretty quickly if the lump sum is taken and after taxes are paid.

What You Can Buy: The winner of the lump sum payout can do what they please with the money after taxes are paid. Here’s a look at what the $358.28 million can buy today.

1. S&P 500: If a winner decides to invest the money in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, which tracks the broad-based S&P 500 Index of 500 of the largest U.S. companies, the $358.28 million could purchase 920,082.18 shares of SPY. An investment in the SPY over the last 30 years would have outproduced the jackpot winnings with 30 years of annual payouts.

2. Cryptocurrency: On the flip side of a broad-based index fund, which is considered more low risk than other investments, is the highly volatile cryptocurrency market. The winnings could be split between three popular cryptocurrencies of Bitcoin BTC/USD, Ethereum ETH/USD and Dogecoin DOGE/USD. The winnings would turn into 6,847.42 BTC, 89,164.30 ETH and 1,550,995,671.04 DOGE based on prices at the time of writing.

3. Meme Stocks: Two of the most popular meme stocks over the last two years have been GameStop Corp GME and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC. While it might not be an investment for all, one could take their winnings into these highly volatile stocks. Split evenly, the winnings could buy 10,457,676.59 GME shares and 44,341,584.16 AMC shares.

4. Investing with the Oracle of Omaha: Legendary investor Warren Buffett has been one of the top stock pickers of the last 50 years. While Buffett would tell the winner to put their money into bonds or index funds to preserve wealth, the winner could also choose to trust Buffett and his investments. The winner could buy 1,135,341.40 Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRKABRKB.

5. Apple Stock: One of the top-performing stocks of the last 10 years is Apple Inc AAPL. Worth over $2 trillion, Apple is one of the largest companies in the world and is likely to remain a market leader for years to come. The $358.28 million winnings could purchase 2,755,364.15 shares of Apple.

6. Tesla Stock: Winning $358.28 million would not put the person on the Bloomberg Billionaires list like Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk, who ranks second with a wealth of $130 billion. But it could allow the winner the opportunity to buy 3,056,475 shares of Tesla.

7. Tesla Model Ys: One of the most popular electric vehicles globally and a top 10-selling vehicle in the U.S. is the Model Y from Tesla. A winner could choose to buy a collection of Tesla Model Ys for themselves or to give them away to family members and friends. The winnings could buy 5,429 Tesla Model Ys based on a price of $65,990 each.

8. Real Estate: One popular option for investing at least a portion of the winnings could be real estate. The average home price in the U.S. is $357,544 according to Zillow. The winnings could buy 1,002 average-priced homes in the U.S. The winner could hold the homes to gain value over the years or choose to rent them out for income. Benzinga has a guide on how non-lottery winners can invest in real estate here.

9. Sports Teams: For the ultra-wealthy, buying a professional sports team has been a way to preserve and gain wealth. Despite the large winnings of $358.28 million, the winner might be able to buy an MLS team, with the lowest-valued team worth $390 million. The winnings wouldn’t be able to buy a MLB, NBA, NFL or NHL team and might keep the person from acquiring a North American sports franchise.

10. NFTs: Another potential high-risk/high-reward investment could be non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The winning split between two of the largest NFT collections of all time could buy 1,600 Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs and 2,002 CryptoPunks NFTs. Prices are based on the current floor prices and the winnings would likely buy less than this number, as there are not that many listed at the floor price.

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