Lottery Payout Calculator

An advertised jackpot is the total of a graduated annuity rather than a sum of money, so the lump sum and the payments have to be compared in today's money. Enter the advertised jackpot, the cash option percentage the game published for that drawing, the number of payments and how fast they rise, a tax rate and the return you could earn on money today, and it gives the cash option before and after tax, the first and final payment, the annuity discounted to the present and the return at which the two sides are worth the same. A second mode prints the whole payment schedule year by year. The cash percentage and the schedule differ by game and by drawing, which is why both are inputs and neither is looked up. The tax line is one rate applied to money received, not tax advice, and a prize this size belongs with a tax professional.

Calculator Type

Enter the advertised jackpot and the cash percentage the game published for this drawing. Both payouts are then taxed at the rate you give and compared in today's money.

Advertised Jackpot ($) *

The headline figure, which is the total of all the annuity payments rather than a sum of money sitting anywhere.

Cash Option (% of the advertised jackpot)

Published with each drawing and different every time. Fifty percent is only a placeholder.

Number of Annual Payments

Thirty for the big United States games, with the first paid on claim. Smaller games differ.

Annual Increase in Each Payment (%)

The graduated schedule. Five percent a year is the current big-game pattern; enter 0 for a flat annuity.

Tax Rate Applied to Money Received (%)

Your own estimate of federal plus state tax. The 24 percent withheld up front on a United States prize is not the final bill.

Return You Could Earn on Money Today (%)

Used only to price the future payments in today's money. A higher rate favours taking the cash.

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