Powerball Numbers July 20, 2016: Worth $361 Million

by Deb Belt

Two weeks after a half-billion-dollar Mega Millions jackpot was won, the prize for the Wednesday, July 20, Powerball drawing has crept up to an estimated $341 million.

The cash payout would send the winner home with $250.3 million.

The winning numbers for July 20, 2016 are:

• 6-25-35-58-66 Powerball: 5

The jackpot still isn't close to January's record Powerball jackpot, which was worth nearly $1.6 billion.

That billion-dollar-plus prize won in the Jan. 13 drawing was the largest lotto jackpot awarded in U.S. history and was split by three winners.

The Powerball game is played by matching all five white balls in any order and the red Powerball number.

Powerball drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. Eastern time. Each ticket costs $2.

Find out where you can buy your Powerball tickets.

The July 8 Mega Millions jackpot of $540 million ranked as the seventh-largest jackpot in the United States of all lottery games, including Powerball, officials said, and the third-largest prize for the Mega Millions game in its history.

The record Mega Millions jackpot is $656 million won on March 30, 2012, and it is the second-largest jackpot of all time, while just behind that is the $648 million Mega Millions jackpot split by two winners on Dec. 17, 2013.

The odds of picking the correct Powerball grand prize numbers are one in 292,201,338.
If you still want to take a chance — someone has to win, right? — you have a better chance of hitting the jackpot if you let the computer pick the numbers for you. The Multi-State Lottery Association, which operates the Powerball game, says about 75 percent of winning tickets occur when the numbers are selected by a computer.

Powerball is played in 44 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
So, what should you do if you win the big prize?

Many lottery winners hire an attorney, financial planner or both, since most people don’t exactly know what to do when they suddenly come into so much money.

Some even bring their lawyer with them to claim their prize. The lottery does not offer any counseling services or advice for winners.

You have two choices when you claim your prize: the full value paid in 30 installments over 29 years, or a one-time lump sum that is smaller than the actual total.

Then there’s the taxes. The federal tax on lottery winnings is 25 percent. Then, any extra income taxes like state or city would apply.

Financial experts say that if you can get more than a 3 or 4 percent return on an investment, the lump sum is actually the best way to go in the long-term.