COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The Powerball jackpot is going way up. The $785 million payout is the fourth largest in the game’s history.
But, do you take a lot less now or spread the full amount out for later?
Channel 2’s Berndt Petersen was at one of the metro’s busiest ticket sellers, which is in Cobb County.
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Kareem Olugbenga says with nearly $800 million dollars on the line, he will not wait.
“I would like to do it sooner rather than later,” Olugbenga said. He’s a cash-option kind of guy.
“Who are you outside of winning the lottery?” Justin Neal asked.
Neal is a professional financial planner. He says if you become the lucky winner of the fourth largest Powerball jackpot ever, you should take a good hard look at yourself.
“If you decide to take the lump sum, but your belief is to spend money when you get it—and your behavior is not making great choices when I have a little...you may not make great choices when you have a lot,” Neal said.
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Some customers at Heby’s Food Mart in Mableton agreed.
“It has happened before. I know history about a lot of people who win the lottery and the money doesn’t last,” customer Tim Wilkie said.
This is why a few players around the store say collecting the full jackpot in equal payments over 30 years is the way to go.
But it is definitely not Kareem Olugbenga’s way.
“No waiting. No waiting. No time to wait,” Olugbenga said.
According to Powerball’s website, the cash value of the current $785 million jackpot is $367 million.
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