I believe that lottery grand prizes are usually paid out over a 20-year period
or as a reduced lump-sum payment.

Although I haven't won a big lottery (yet), it's fun to fantasize.
But how do I quickly estimate the payout?

For example, there are roughly 1,000 weeks in a 20-year period,
so a $10 million grand prize quickly translates to about $10,000 a week.

However, that ignores taxes, which would greatly reduce the payout.

So, I have two questions:
(1) Living in Florida, what percentage is typically lost to taxes,
    both federal and state?
(2) If one chooses a reduced lump-sum payout, how does one quickly
    estimate that reduced amount?

The next draw for the Florida Lotto is this Wednesday night. The jackpot
will be around $10 million, so I'm anxious to estimate my new income.
(If I don't win -- well, proof-positive that there is no God.)

"The next draw for the Florida Lotto is this Wednesday night. The jackpot
will be around $10 million, so I'm anxious to estimate my new income."


To quickly estimate your post-Lotto income, take your current income
and multiply by one.

These links might be useful:

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlottery.html

http://www.williamsmullen.com/news/articles_detail/019.htm

All this tax stuff almost makes you wish not to hit the jackpot.

Good luck!

Thank you, joltoc7-ga! Based on the links provided in your comment,
here's how to estimate a $10 million lottery jackpot:

(a) Federal taxes will take roughly 30%, leaving $7 million.
(b) A lump-sum payout reduces the amount by half, leaving $3.5 million.
(c) The alternative is to take the $7 million as an annuity ($350,000 / year).
(d) You can't give over $11,000 to a friend or relative
    without incurring a gift tax.
(e) You can't split the jackpot with a friend or relative
    without some darn good evidence that you're joint owners of the ticket.

Taxes can get REALLY complicated, and some winners may wish that they
never won, but this is good enough for my fantasy purposes.

Does anyone see a problem with my numbers? (I'd hate to have
an unrealistic fantasy.)

I'm going to split my winnings with joltoc7-ga.
To shockandawe-ga, I'll give the same amount multiplied by zero.

Sorry, to rain on your parade. I'm being a bit hypocritical too,
because I will occasionally play the lottery...
If the whole office pools for tickets, I'll generally go in too, just
because on the small chance that they win, and I didn't play, going
into work while they all go off to retire or whatever would be hell.

Good luck!