Yes, that is a little mind boggling to say the least. (Powerball, if you’re late to the party.) I was listening to the radio this afternoon and they were interviewing people about the “what if you won” scenarios and they noted that it really seemed to be too large a number for folks to wrap their heads around.
I did some quick math – cash option, taxes, split with my brother – chuck the rest into a money market account and you’re looking at 17K a month in income. Go crazy and put half in a high yield muni bond fund? 268K a month. In two months that would be enough to tear down and rebuild my house. Six months – car, beach cottage and anything else I could possibly need – pretty much forever – is covered.
After that it is a lifetime of “who needs money, cause I got some!” Honestly, I can’t really figure out how I could possibly spend that much money on myself. (Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to try.)
They’re saying on the radio that there’s a good chance it will be a billion dollars by the end of the day.
Damn.
Musings of a marginally sane feline-appreciating female. 
You gotta budget $25 to adopt a manatee, though. That’s just common sense. Maybe even spring for the $35 option with the calendar.
Hell, it’s almost a billion dollars. I’ll adopt TWO manatees.
Headline 1 year from now: Powerball winner broke!
How did it happen?
“I adopted all the manatees.”
Suddenly they go from endangered to invasive and you’re on the hook for the lettuce bill.
Someone bought me a ticket. I suppose if it wins, I’ll have to split it…begrudgingly.
And don’t ferget all yer internets fiends, err, friends.