I look at it just like Spiderman. Other than I think he’s optimistic on the take-home percentage.
Right now as I type the Powerball cash payout is 48% of the headline (i.e. bogus) jackpot amount (186.7 mil on 388.0 mil headline). I figure I’ll lose 40% of the cash payout to taxes and the expenses of setting up a trust, etc., so I’ll get to keep 60% of that 48% = 28% take-home vs headline. On 388M that says take-home is 112M. A darn nice payday.
On that money I still can’t buy a big yacht or a Learjet, but I can sure charter them for a week any time I want. And I can buy a Ferrari or two, a small airplane or two (not 10), and any adventures anywhere anytime that I care to imagine.
That’s lifechanging money for somebody who’s already comfortably set by ordinary white collar career standards. $1K on a scratcher? Nope.