One lucky Powerball player could show up to Thanksgiving dinner a multi-millionaire if they have the winning ticket during Wednesday night’s drawing — that will show the in-laws!
The Powerball jackpot currently sits at $681 million with a cash value of $315.7 million after no one won Monday night’s drawing. Wednesday night’s drawing will be held just before 11 p.m. ET. Players can check the Powerball website for results.
An even bigger Powerball jackpot was recently won by two players, one in Missouri and the other in Texas. The two lucky gamblers got to share the nearly $1.8 billion prize from the September 6 drawing.
“I’m going to just do me for a year,” one of the unnamed winners from Missouri said in a news release from the Missouri Lottery. The winner described himself as a “homebody,” jokingly saying that his wife is “going to drag me out of town now.”
The biggest Powerball jackpot ever won was $2.04 billion. In November 2022, Edwin Castro of California became a billionaire overnight after winning the record-breaking Powerball prize.
If someone does end up taking home the Powerball jackpot Wednesday night, there are some tips to keep in mind.
While your first thought may be to go on a Black Friday shopping spree, it’s important to take care of business, which, according to financial advisor Rob Wilson, means hiring an attorney and at least two financial experts.
“You never, ever want to sign a power of attorney to any of those advisors, which gives them an undue amount of authority over your winnings,” Wilson told CBS News Philadelphia ahead of the lucky September 6 Powerball drawing.
You’ll also have to decide whether to take the lump sum or annuity option.
For those unfamiliar with Powerball, this is where the cash value option comes in. The glitzy $681 million jackpot is the annuity option. If you choose this option, you will receive the money in 30 annual payments. The cash value option, $315.7 million, is the money you’ll receive if you choose the one-time, lump-sum option.
