Nearly $500 million in jackpot money is on the table this week between the Mega Millions and Powerball.
The Mega Millions jackpot has grown to $303 million. Powerball's top prize is now $193 million. Both totals come following weekend drawings that yielded no tickets hitting all winning numbers.
If you manage to nab the jackpot in either of this week's drawings — Tuesday night for Mega Millions and Wednesday night for Powerball — the first thing to do is take a deep breath and resist the urge to announce your exciting news to the world, experts say.
Instead, consider what's ahead.
When you come into a life-changing amount of money, there's more involved than suddenly having a big bank account and deciding what you want to buy.
Many experts recommend taking the lump sum payout of the winnings, because if it's managed and invested properly, you could end up with more money over time than if you took payments spread out over several decades.