Powerball Jackpot Climbs Higher Monday

Your chance of winning the Powerball hasn’t gone up, but the prize at the end of that unlikely scenario just climbed, again.

The winner of the largest Powerball jackpot in history will walk away with $1.4 billion. The cash option would mean $868 million in your pocket, according to lottery officials.

Wednesday’s Powerball drawing time is scheduled for 10:59 p.m. ET.

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A statistics professor at Metropolitan State University in Colorado calculates the odds of winning at about 1 in 292.2 million.

More at Patch:

• The Odds Against Winning A Billion Dollar Jackpot

So what should you do if you win the lottery? Alexa von Tobel, CEO of the online financial planning website LearnVest, offered a few tips to Patch from a financial planning standpoint.

Sign the ticket: The most important step ensures you claim the ticket as your own.

Maintain anonymity: In many states, von Tobel says, you have a whole year to claim the prize.

Assemble a financial planning team: “You must decide whether including whether to take a lump sum or an annuity,” she said. “There are many pros and cons to weigh: including estate taxes, how much money you’ll ultimately make, whether you’ll be able to handle it all at once, etc.”

Wait six months before making any major decisions: “It’s all too easy to blow through those millions,” von Tobel said. “In fact, according to a 2015 study by the Camelot Group, 44 percent of winners spend their entire winnings within five years.”

So, what if you only match a few numbers, what do you win? Here’s the deal:

• Match 5 numbers and the Powerball number = Jackpot
• Match 5 numbers, not including the Powerball number = $1 million dollars
• Match 4 numbers and the Powerball number = $50,000
• Match 4 numbers, not including the Powerball number = $100
• Match 3 numbers and the Powerball number = $100
• Match 3 numbers, not including the Powerball number = $7
• Match 2 numbers and the Powerball number = $7
• Match 1 number and the Powerball number = $4
• Match only the Powerball number = $4