DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Here’s a happy problem: Deciding whether to take some Mega Millions money now or take all of it over 30 years.
There’s an estimated $400 million jackpot at stake in Friday night’s drawing, which is scheduled for 11 p.m. Eastern time.
The Mega Millions organizers say the cash option on the $400 million would be $216 million.
Forty-seven-year-old Scott Byerly, of Ankeny, Iowa, doesn’t expect he’ll have to solve the happy problem — or win — but says he’s “buying the tickets to daydream.”
The winning ticket must match the six numbers drawn. The odds of that are about 1 in 176 million. Mega Millions is played in 43 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.