--- title: The Powerball Jackpot Is Up to Nearly Half a Billion Dollars description: The latest Powerball jackpot is up to nearly half a billion dollars and will be drawn on Saturday. May the odds be ever in your favor. authors: - name: Alexandra Mondalek url: https://money.com/author/alexandra-mondalek/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 44 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/amondalek former_staff: true published: '2016-07-29T14:56:29.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T03:06:20.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - annuity - jackpot - Lottery - lump sum - payout - Powerball - pubdesk - Wealth word_count: 255 canonical: https://money.com/powerball-jackpot-478-million/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Powerball Jackpot Expected To Reach A Whopping Record-Breaking 1.5 Billion Dollars](https://img.money.com/2016/07/gettyimages-504808138.jpg) It's Friday. You've had a long work week. And you could totally see yourself lounging on a beach somewhere for the foreseeable future. So how do you get there? For some, the answer is playing the [Powerball lottery](http://www.powerball.com/pb_home.asp), which is up to $478 million, making it the fifth-largest jackpot ever. That amounts to an estimated $330.6 million cash payout, if you win in Saturday's drawing and take the lump sum. In January, three winners claimed their winnings in the all-time biggest Powerball of $1.6 billion (with a "b!") The winners didn't even have to pay state taxes on their winnings (though they weren't exempt from federal taxes). If they can win, surely you can, too right? The [odds of you winning](https://money.com/powerball-lottery-new-rules-odds/) are actually incredibly low, largely due to some rule changes made last October. Specifically, your chances of winning big are lower, while your chances of winning a small payout (in the ballpark of $4) are higher. But at $2 a pop for a ticket, who cares? ***Read More: Why the 3 Big Powerball Winners Are Even Luckier Than You Thought*** Let's get back to the important stuff here: Should you take the [lump sum or annuity](https://money.com/powerball-lottery-annuity-or-lump-sum/)? In a previous Money calculation, we've suggested you take the lump sum. Of course, your hypothetical decision should factor in capital gains taxes and how much you trust yourself not to blow it all frivolously. And in the [off-chance you do win](https://money.com/powerball-lottery-jackpot/)? Go wild—sort of. Just not in the "I'm going to [invest in meth](https://money.com/3-million-lottery-georgia-meth-invest/)" sort of way. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/powerball-jackpot-478-million/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Making Money", "item": "https://money.com/making-money/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Powerball Jackpot Is Up to Nearly Half a Billion Dollars" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/powerball-jackpot-478-million/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/powerball-jackpot-478-million/", "name": "The Powerball Jackpot Is Up to Nearly Half a Billion Dollars", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-07-29T14:56:29.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/powerball-jackpot-478-million/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/powerball-jackpot-478-million/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T03:06:20.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "The Powerball Jackpot Is Up to Nearly Half a Billion Dollars", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/07/gettyimages-504808138.jpg", "width": 3000, "height": 2000, "caption": "Powerball Jackpot Expected To Reach A Whopping Record-Breaking 1.5 Billion Dollars" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alexandra Mondalek", "url": "https://money.com/author/alexandra-mondalek/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/alexandra-mondalek/#author", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/amondalek" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-07-29T14:56:29.000Z", "description": "The latest Powerball jackpot is up to nearly half a billion dollars and will be drawn on Saturday. 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