1
Jackpot
The cash is what the lottery actually holds. The advertised jackpot is what that cash would buy as an annuity at today's long-term rates, so the ratio drifts as rates move and as sales projections change. Type both figures from Powerball.com when you have them.
2
Full tax bill
Withheld when you claim
Tax reserve, still owed
Cash after tax
3
Tax reserve, parked in T-bills
4
After tax, in your pocket
Into the trust
Bonus interest
5
What the trust earns
Left aloneWhile you spend
How this is calculated, and what it ignores
- Federal tax uses the 2026 brackets and standard deduction, treating the lump sum as your only income. On a nine-figure prize the effective rate lands within a few hundredths of a point of 37%.
- Federal withholding is the flat 24% required on lottery prizes over $5,000. The gap up to the ~37% you owe is the core of the float.
- State tax is the state's top rate on the whole prize. State withholding is only modeled as a gap where the rate is confirmed; elsewhere the tool assumes full withholding, which understates the bonus rather than inflating it.
- T-bill yield is interpolated on Treasury's bill curve for the exact days to the due date. Bills trade with maturities every week out to a year, so you can buy one that matures just before April 15. Horizons past 52 weeks roll the remainder at today's rates.
- Tax on the bonus: T-bill interest is taxed federally at 37% plus the 3.8% net investment income tax, and is exempt from state and local income tax.
- Trust growth compounds once a year at the return you enter, with spending taken out at the end of each year. It's pre-tax and before inflation. A non-grantor trust hits the 37% bracket at roughly $16,000 of income, so realized income inside it is taxed hard; a stock-heavy portfolio softens that by deferring gains, but some tax drag is unavoidable.
- Cash estimate: when you change the jackpot without typing a cash value, cash is estimated at the ratio of the Oct 24, 2026 drawing ($283.9M on $674M). The implied rate shown is the discount rate that makes 30 payments rising 5% a year worth exactly the cash value.
- Not modeled: shared tickets, buying in a state that taxes non-residents (Arizona, Maryland), charitable planning, and future tax-law changes.