Mega Millions Lottery Rolls to $233 Million: What to Do (or Not Do) If You Win

By Jon C. Ogg Published May 27, 10:00AM EDT

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The $214 million Mega Millions lottery drawing did not produce a jackpot winner on Tuesday night. That means that the lottery drawing will grow and will be announced on Friday evening, and the new jackpot is now up to a whopping $233 million. While the huge face value is the value of the annuity payment over time, if there is a single winner the cash option is now at $143 million.

The American dream used to be building something from nothing and becoming successful. Now it may be winning the lottery. Unfortunately, most Americans who play the lottery only win enough money to allow them to buy a few more lottery tickets from time to time. Still, there are still a lucky few each year who do actually manage to win a jackpot in the tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars.

So, what are winners supposed to? And what are they not supposed to do? Many lottery winners ending up broke within a few years. Some have even reportedly ended up dead. 24/7 Wall St. does not wish to see anyone gain instant wealth only to end up in the poor house. With this in mind we created a list of 12 Things Not to Do If You Win the Lottery.

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Winning a Mega Millions jackpot creates instant wealth. It could even be dynasty money, or what we call kingmaker money. The new roll-up price of the $233 million jackpot certainly will create massive wealth if it is won. The flip side is that this will also bring some serious responsibilities to the winner.

Do you live large, or do you live on a budget? Do you become the next venture backer for all of your friends? Do you keep modest expectations or do you go for broke? Do you become a master of Wall Street, or do you get other people to manage your money and financial matters for you? These things are all addressed in the what not to do outlook.

The jackpot has been rolling since it was last won on March 24. Two other jackpots have been won so far this year, with one being a $126 million win in New York on February 27, and the other being a $265 million win in Illinois on January 16. The Mega Millions website said:

After no ticket matched all six numbers drawn in the May 26 drawing, an estimated $233 million jackpot ($143 million cash) will be offered on Friday, May 29. … There were two Match 5 second-prize winning tickets in the May 26 drawing, one each in California and Michigan. In total for Tuesday’s draw, there were almost 2.4 million winning tickets sold at all prize levels. More than 234,000 of those included the optional Megaplier to multiply winnings by a factor of four after the 4x Megaplier was drawn. The Megaplier is available for an additional $1 purchase in most states, and multiplies all non-jackpot prizes by two to five times.

Here is the full list from 24/7 Wall St. of 12 Things Not to Do If You Win the Lottery.

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About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.