You Could Win $1.6 Billion in Mega Millions Jackpot – Only if You Avoid These Mistakes

Let the games continue! After no one was able to hit the winning numbers in both Powerball and Mega Million drawings, the total value of the jackpots has now been raised over $2 billion. That’s the biggest jackpot in the history of U.S. lottery!

So far no one has been able to win the Friday night Mega Millions lotto, and the jackpot has been raised to a whopping $1.6 billion

Biggest Lottery Prize in U.S. History

Someone could soon get very lucky. As in very, very, very lucky. So far no one has been able to win the Friday night Mega Millions lotto, and the jackpot has been raised to a whopping $1.6 billion – imagine all the things you could do with that kind of money! Top prize for Saturday’s Powerball has also jumped to $620 million after no one was able to hit the winning numbers last week.

At some point, a lucky lotto player is going to stumble on the winning ticket and claim the biggest top prize in U.S. history. Could it be you? Unfortunately, the chances of winning the Mega Millions jackpot stand pretty slim at 1 in 302.6 million, up from 1 in 258.9 million last October after the lottery organizers introduced new changes to the game.

With each passing weeks, the odds of winning are stacking up against lotto players – which is one of the biggest reason why no one has hit the winning numbers since July when a group of California-based co-workers claimed the $543 million jackpot.

Meanwhile, your odds of winning the Powerball jackpot stand at 1 in 292 million – slightly better than the Mega Millions, but still a long shot. For people playing both the lotteries, the chance of winning is 1 in 88 quadrillion (88,000,000,000,000,000 to be exact). If you’re feeling lucky and think you can beat these astronomical odds, here are a few mistakes that you should avoid to protect your winnings.

Safeguard Your Ticket

So you’ve won the Powerball or Mega Millions Lottery, congratulations! What’s next? The first step you need to take in order to secure your winnings is to make sure your winning ticket is stored away in a safe place, whether it be a safety deposit box in the bank or a lockbox in your home.

Sign the back of your ticket and make several copies of it as a precaution. However, if you’re planning to claim the prize money anonymously or via a trust, your personal signature on the ticket could become an issue.

Turn to Professionals

You’re about to become a millionaire – if not a billionaire – and the first thing you want to do to protect your winnings is to hire financial and legal expects who can help you navigate the lottery win. You’ll need a team of at least a financial advisor, a tax attorney and a legal expert, make sure you do your homework on each expert and pick ones that you can trust with your newfound millions.

Experts say that its wiser to take your winnings in lump sum because that way you can invest your millions and grow your wealth even more

Keep it On a Hush-Hush

What’s your first instinct after finding out that you just became a millionaire? If you’re planning to spread the news far and wide, you could be committing the worst lottery mistake ever, according to experts.  It may be impossible to keep the news from your immediate family but avoid sharing the news with anyone outside your trusted circle of friends and family because you never know who can come out of the woodwork to steal your winnings.

Annuity or Lump Sum?

Once you win the jackpot, you’ll be faced with the choice between taking your winnings as a lump sum or monthly payments spread over 30 years. If you win the Mega Millions, you can claim the prize money as a lump sum of $904 million, or 354.3 million from the Powerball jackpot.

Most lottery winners think that spreading the winnings over three decades is the safest option, but experts say that its wiser to take the lump sum route because that way you can invest your millions and grow your wealth even more.

Take a deep breath

You’ll have up to six months after winning the lottery to decide how you want to proceed with your winning, so take a deep breath and don’t rush though the process.