Powerball, Florida lottery, scratch-off games: Is $1 million enough to let you quit your job?

Right now everyone's eyes are on the $835 million Powerball prize, currently the 4th-highest Powerball jackpot in the history of the game, and that's certainly a life-changing pile of cash.

But what if you win a million bucks? Is that enough to quit your job?

Million-dollar winners are much more common in Florida than the really big paydays (although still very, very, very unlikely). Just from Powerball's second-tier prizes, three tickets from our state won $1 million Powerball prizes Monday night and a single ticket from an Orlando Publix won a cool mill Saturday.

Then there are the scratch-off tickets. A Pensacola man just claimed $1 million from a 500X the Cash scratch-off game Friday, one of 156 $1 million prizes awarded from the game so far.

A million dollars sounds like a lot. It is a lot. But is it enough that you should walk into your job the next morning and quit in a spectacular, bridge-burning, sure-to-go-viral way?

For most people, the best part of buying lottery tickets is the part before the drawing, when you can fantasize about what you'd do with a truckload of money. What follows is the depressing reality.

How much do you need to win in the lottery to retire?

How much do you need to flip off your boss? That depends on how old you are, your family and medical situation, where you live, where you want to live, your current debts, your bank account before you bought the ticket, and how well you manage money.

Ideally, according to Robert Pagliarini, president of Pacifica Wealth Advisors, you want to have enough so that your investment portfolio will yield you enough every year to at least replace your current salary. For the last 30 years, financial advisors have said that you shouldn't take out more than 4% of your winnings, a common retirement planning rule to make sure you don't spend all your capital. (The inventor of the rule, Bill Bengen, revised this last year and suggested 3.3% was a better cap due to the current economic status.)

By the way, the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has found that nearly one-third of lottery winners eventually go bankrupt.

According to BankRate and MIT’s living wage calculator, a single adult with no children needs a minimum of $36,848 to live in Florida (on average) in 2023. That means to scrape by here for the rest of their life, if we're sticking with the 4% rule, that single childless adult would need to win $921,200. If you wanted a slightly better lifestyle of $100,000 a year, you'd need to win $2.5 million.

Well, actually you'd need to win more than that, because for some prizes you're not going to get the total prize amount.

When you win a $1 million Florida lottery prize, do you get a million dollars?

The number looks great on a billboard, but it won't be the number in your bank account. There are taxes to consider, and whenever an annuity or annual payment option is available the lump sum option can be a lot less.

Do all $1 million Florida lottery prizes pay the same?

In drawings such as Powerball, Mega Millions, the Florida Lottery and more, the big jackpots change depending on how many people have bought tickets. Big winners can choose between annuities or lump sum payouts, which can be much less than the estimated grand prize amount. However, the payout amounts for prizes less than the top jackpot in these drawings are set, so you actually get those amounts. If you win a million in the Powerball you get a million, minus taxes.

Some scratch-off games with sufficiently high prizes also offer the choice between lump sum and annuity payments. But the actual lump sum payouts for different $1 million scratch-off winners are all over the map, with different formulas to determine each one.

Your million-dollar winning ticket might net you anywhere from $640,000 ($1,000,000 A Year For Life Spectacular) to $880,000 (Billion Dollar Gold Rush Supreme) in bring-home pay (again, before taxes). Check your totals before you order your walk-in humidor.

What to do if you win? Ultimate guide to the Florida Lottery, Powerball and Mega Millions

Are taxes taken from Florida lottery winnings?

Now that you have your less-than-a-million total, count out Uncle Sam's cut. The Internal Revenue Service requires that the Florida Lottery must take federal withholding tax, like so:

• U.S. citizens and resident aliens with a Social Security number: 24% of any prize more than $5,000

• U.S. citizens and resident aliens without a Social Security number: 24% of any prize more than $600

• Nonresident aliens: 30% from all prizes.

Let's say you ended up with a respectable $800,000 payout. You're now down to $608,000. Still nothing to sneeze at, but not necessarily walking-out money. Why?

Life in Florida is expensive

You can't just budget for your champagne baths and gold necklaces.

• The Sunshine State has the highest inflation rate in the country, thanks to a rapid rise in residents, a spike in interest rates and soaring insurance premiums.

• Want to run out and buy a new house? Prices vary across the state, but in August, the median price for a 1,703-square-foot house in Florida was $474,950 compared to the U.S. median home price of $435,450, plus there are property taxes, probable HOA fees, and those soaring insurance premiums.

• As of 2023, the cheapest Lamborghini is the 2020 Lamborghini Urus, with a base price of $203,995. If you go less bougie, even luxury cars, SUVs and trucks start at $60,000 and go up fast.

• A 2022 study from NiceRX found that Floridians have the second-highest level of medical debt in the country, over $8.2 billion of it. (Highest was Texas, with $14.6 billion).

• As of Jun. 30, 2023, the total federal student loan debt balance in Florida was $105.41 billion, including outstanding principal and interest balances. The average federal student loan for Florida borrowers was $38,725, as of the end of last year.

• We're 9th in the U.S. for most credit card debt, with an average of $3,940 per borrower as of the end of fiscal 2022.

• You'll have to pay for your own medical, dental and life insurance. Do you really want to see the numbers?

Should you quit your job if you win $1 million in the lottery?

You can, but for the amount you end up with, experts say you may be better off sticking with it for the economic security and the benefits. Have some spending sprees, take some nice vacations, get out of your clunker car, pay some bills, bulk up your retirement savings and get your investments going. Enjoy the relief of an extra cash bumper in your life, rather than living large.

That extra money may help you get a better job, in fact, as a financial cushion could allow you to try a whole new career, or start taking classes to improve your position in your current field.

And continuing to work can have health benefits. WebMD reports that people who choose to keep working after retirement have fewer health problems, less chance of dementia, and more social options.

Of course, if you do win the $835 million Powerball, forget all that and go wild.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida lottery, Powerball: Is a million dollars enough to retire?