If you win the lottery you do not actually get the total amount.
You either get a cash value worth about half or an annuity paid over many years. In California it is paid over 26 years, meaning you get 1/26th of the value each year.
The annuity can be better than what you could actually expect in reasonable interest if you took the cash and deposited it, but it also means you don't have that money available to you, and who knows what taxes or other new legislative punishments may exist in the future. Or if the payer will be around, file bankruptcy etc There is a lot of unknowns over 26 years.
Whether you take a lump payment or the annuity you lose even more.
Out of what you actually get nearly half of that goes to taxes.
The winnings typically put you into both the highest federal and state income tax brackets.
If and when the Bush tax cuts expire the percentage will be even higher.
So if you get about half of the winnings in a lump sum, and then half of that after income taxes.
This means you would actually end up with closer to 70 million if you won the 290 million jackpot all by yourself.
Now 70 million is certainly great, but that is only if there is one winner, multiple winners result in it being divided more.
On top of that most of the relatives and friends you have ever had will feel entitled to some of what you have won.
Whether in the form of cash, gifts, helping them with bills or financial hardships, etc
If you have been divorced ex's will come out trying to get a piece in lawsuits.
In fact lawyers will be behind anyone who has ever had a problem with you just trying to take a piece.
If you bump into someone, get in a fender bender, or have someone trip on your property, you have a lot to take and everyone wants a piece.
You will never get a good deal again anyplace where someone recognizes who you are. So it will cost more to actually buy some things as well.
Lawyers and others will trying to manage your winnings and do all they can to take a piece of them in the process.
You may need to pay for some employees as a high profile individual which quickly adds up, especially reliable ones you give a decent salary.
If you buy some big ticket items initially like expensive homes the property taxes may be more than you can afford in a decade, and continue to eat into what you have remaining. You make think a 5-10 million dollar house is affordable, and find the taxes unaffordable in your future and risk losing it all.
Buying things like expensive automobiles or a yacht that depreciate significantly in value also turns into vanishing money.
Everyone will consider you selfish or greedy if you determine and operate on a budget that will last your lifetime or beyond.
Real future friends, spouses, etc become more difficult to attract, because you will never know how many like you primarily for your money, and you will attract a lot of gold diggers.
You are on public record as winning a large sum of money, this may cause you to desire extra security precautions. Not only you, but family can become more vulnerable to kidnapping for ransom if people realize the connection, especially when traveling abroad.
These extra security precautions will add significant costs to the same things that are much less expensive for you to do now.
With all of this in mind, how many years do you plan to live? Divided by your future lifespan how much can you spend per year? Keep in mind inflation means that money will buy less and less every year not invested, and invested there is risk for serious loss.
Do you want any to remain for descendants, in the creation or maintaining of something that extends beyond your lifetime? That would of course decrease what you can spend per year.
If you put sizable amounts towards creating various things, business ideas, charities, etc even less will be available to spend for your yearly budget and needs to be taken into account.
Even if you were living on a million dollars a year a gun costing $70,000 would be a whopping 7% of your yearly budget. Certainly a big chunk of change for a single item for any budget. You don't get to make many 10% of your yearly income purchases.
