The Powerball lottery is setting records once again.
As another drawing goes by without a winner, the jackpot in the lottery has hit an estimated $850 million. That’s the fourth largest in its history. And it follows a $1.08 billion win earlier this year.
Should someone correctly pick all five numbers as well as the Powerball for tonight’s drawing, they’ll have the option of a payout of $850 million over 29 years or a lump-sum payment of $397.4 million. Of course, no one has done that in the last 29 drawings.
As of Wednesday morning, the chances of you successfully picking all the numbers stand at one in 292,201,338.
Winning the lottery can be a windfall for people, but it often brings unexpected headaches and many winners have ended up destitute. The winner of a $2 billion Powerball jackpot last year isn’t in that situation, but has been spending heavily since his win, buying a $25.5 million hillside home in Hollywood Hills and a $47 million seven-bedroom, 11-bathroom home with a large infinity pool and panoramic views of Los Angeles.
To be clear, the smart thing to do with a payday of that magnitude, experts recommend, is to invest it and live off the interest. (Heck, just investing the lump-sum winnings in a two-year Treasury note would earn you $40 million—and a T-bill could net you $1.5 million in just a month.) But if you’re looking to blow the cash in the most ostentatious way possible, consider these options:
Buy your own private island
Rangya Island is a 110-acre slice of paradise off the coast of Thailand that’s up for sale for $160 million. Want somewhere closer to home? Long Coco Caye, covering 38 acres near Belize, is just $100 million.
Take your buddies to outer space
Gather your friends and sign up for a flight on Virgin Galactic. Tickets run $450,000 each, so you can bring the whole gang—and even buy a round of drinks when you're back on terra firma.
