3 Powerball Tickets Worth $50K Sold in NY: Winning Numbers for Nov. 26, 2016

After a climb for more than two months, a Powerball ticket Saturday night won the $421 million jackpot. The lucky winner was purchased in Lafayette, Tennessee. But New York players are waking up Sunday with prize-winning tickets, too.

Three tickets sold in New York that matched four of five numbers plus the Powerball are worth $50,000 each, according to lottery officials. The retailer locations that sold those tickets have not yet been revealed.

The winning Powerball numbers for Saturday, Nov. 26 are 17-19-21-37-44 and the Powerball was 16.

Players matching four numbers and the Powerball win the $50,000 prize, and it is doubled if they paid extra for the "power play" option.

A $246 million Powerball jackpot was won Sept. 17 with a ticket at a Publix store in Brookhaven, Georgia. Prior to that, the jackpot reached $480 million when the top prize went to a New Hampshire family.

Saturday's jackpot was tiny when compared with January's record Powerball jackpot, which was worth nearly $1.6 billion. But it's enough to make Americans drop by the nearest convenience store with dreams of cash.The billion-dollar-plus prize won in the Jan. 13 drawing was the largest lotto jackpot awarded in U.S. history and was split by three winners.

Claiming, Safeguarding Winnings

So, what should you do if you win the big prize? Many lottery winners hire an attorney, financial planner or both, since most people don’t exactly know what to do when they suddenly come into so much money. Some even bring their lawyer with them to claim their prize. The lottery does not offer any counseling services or advice for winners.

You have two choices when you claim your prize: the full value paid in 30 installments over 29 years, or a one-time lump sum that is smaller than the actual total.

Then there are the taxes. The federal tax on lottery winnings is 25 percent. Then, any extra income taxes like state or city would apply.

Financial experts say that if you can get more than a 3 or 4 percent return on an investment, the lump sum is actually the best way to go in the long-term.