24/7 Wall St.

Wednesday brings yet another chance at a huge lottery winning, and it would instantly create a new empire owner. The current Powerball lottery from Pennsylvania is now up to $284 million. The Powerball jackpot starts at $40 million and grows until someone matches the winning Powerball lottery numbers.

What really stands out is that the $284 million annuity value actually has a cash value of about $162.7 million. Even after taxes, this still leaves people with empire-building money.

24/7 Wall St. wants to take this opportunity to warn and remind its readers that winning a lottery can come with many major pitfalls. For starters, many lottery winners end up bankrupt — some end up that way in just a few years.

We have developed our own 12-step program for lottery winners. This “to-do” list is presented in a different way than other lists you may find — it tells you exactly what NOT to do! The list also pertains to those who win unexpected judgments and those who come into large sums of money instantly.

If you win millions upon millions of dollars like this, it comes with great responsibility. There are just too many temptations, and perhaps too many new and existing people you know that make it too easy to separate your newly found empire from you.

We have suggestions based around what sort of financial advisors and what sort of tax planning you should consider. There are reasonable purchases, and unreasonable purchases to consider. Also, how to handle debt. Those are just some of the things to consider.

There is much more to do — and not do — for lotto winners. No one should end up in the poor house if they win an instant empire that this creates. Yet many do, and often in just a few years.