Definition: In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
Input: Assuming that somebody has the lucky number for Wednesday’s $500 million Powerball jackpot, the winner might want to use some of their newfound fortune to lobby Congress. The fiscal cliff could put a dent in the prize money, financial advisers say. 
  
  
  
 Getty Images 
  
 In years past, some investing pros recommended lottery winners spread the payment out over several years to avoid blowing through the prize too quickly. But given the negotiations in Washington to avert the double blow of expiring tax breaks and automatic spending cuts next year, taking the lump sum of roughly $327 million, before taxes, may now be the best move, says Matthew Goff, a financial adviser in Houston. While that figure seems small compared to the total prize, which would be awarded over a period of 30 years for those who took the annuity option, a lump sum “could save you millions in taxes,” says Goff. 
  
 (The final size of the winnings will also vary depending on state taxes owed, with the prize being potentially bigger in states like Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas, which don’t charge state taxes on lottery winnings, according to USAMega.com. See Powerball Jackpot Analysis ) 
  
 Though most people dreaming of winning wouldn’t mind sharing the tax woes of the wealthy, hitting the jackpot might change their outlook on fiscal policy, experts say. “If you win the lottery, you’re definitely in the top 1%,” increasing your chances that you could see higher tax rates in the future, says Goff. That could include higher income taxes, bigger levies on dividend income and capital gains, and a new health-care surcharge on high-net-worth earners. 
  
 Regardless, the winnings should be enough to last a lifetime— or several— if the lucky winner or winners are careful with how they spend and invest the prize. And because of the sheer size of such a portfolio, the winners could set themselves up to earn an outsize income even if they decide to stay extremely boring with their investments, advisers say. For instance, taken to the utmost extreme, the prize could be stashed entirely as three-month Treasury bills, where the $327 million could earn 0.1% a year, or $327,000. 
  
 Click to Play Here's how to spend the $500M Powerball jackpot Marketwatch's Quentin Fottrell has a shopping list for the lucky winner of the Powerball lottery jackpot, which approached $500 million. Photo: Getty Images. 
  
 Not that investing pros recommend being quite that conservative. Andrew Feldman, a financial planner in Chicago, says it makes sense to put about 80% of the winnings in bonds where the earnings could create a steady income stream. But instead of sticking all of the money in Treasurys, Feldman recommends using a mixture that also includes investment grade corporate bonds, high yield bonds and municipal bonds. The remaining 20% of the funds can be put in stocks. “You shouldn’t take too much risk,” says Feldman. “You’ve already won.” Those who want to take some risk can put 5% or less of the stock portion in private equity funds, which carry more risk because they are often used to invest in startups or in distressed companies, but can also yield outsized returns if they pay off. 
  
 Goff recommends a similar approach, where roughly half of the winnings could be put in high quality corporate bonds—earning roughly $4 million a year. Another 35% of the portfolio could go into tax exempt municipal bonds, which could bring in about $1 million a year of tax free income. And about 14% of the money could go into dividend paying stocks issued by stable large cap companies, which could bring in nearly another $2 million a year—although taxes on that dividend income could rise sharply depending on how lawmakers handle the fiscal cliff. All told, that adds up to an annual income stream of nearly $7 million, that winners can live off of without having to spend any of their actual prize money, says Goff. 
  
 Some people may also want to give away some of new-found wealth to distant relatives, or to a good cause. Those who plan to donate a portion to charity should strategize based on how they decide to receive their winnings, says Lisa Featherngill, the managing director of planning and family dynamics at wealth management firm Abbot Downing in Winston-Salem, N.C. With a lump-sum payment, the biggest tax benefit comes from making deductible donations during the same year the money is received, she says. Ideally, a winner could set up a private foundation or donor-advised fund, both of which allow for up-front deductions of funds deposited, but spread out the donations to nonprofits over years to come. If you use such investment vehicles, deductible contributions are capped at 30% of adjusted gross income, versus 50% for direct gifts. But with a lottery win this late in the year, setting up a foundation or fund could prove challenging to do before year-end. “It might be hard to establish something other than a direct gift to the charity,” she says. 
  
 Generally, lottery winners who opt for annual lottery payouts have more leeway to give only direct contributions to charity, but the size of the current jackpot could make those lump-sum strategies a smart bet, too. “Even regular payments for that amount of money would push your income up pretty high,” Featherngill says. 
  
 Most people buying a ticket today will find the odds aren’t in their favor: the chances of winning the Powerball grand prize on Wednesday are about one in 175 million, according to lottery officials. And even those who win may have to split the prize with coworkers and family members. But that doesn’t stop people from betting on it. Goff, the adviser from Houston, said he was planning to get a $2 ticket before Wednesday’s drawing. 
  
 Additional reporting by Kelli B. Grant ||||| The historic Powerball jackpot boosted to $500 million on Tuesday was all part of a plan lottery officials put in place early this year to build jackpots faster, drive sales and generate more money for states that run the game. 
  
 A customer fills in his numbers on a Powerball ticket for a chance to win the $450,000 jackpot Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Houston for a chance to win the $450,000 jackpot. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan) (Associated Press) 
  
 Their plan appears to be working. 
  
 Powerball tickets doubled in price in January to $2, and while the number of tickets sold initially dropped, sales revenue has increased by about 35 percent over 2011. 
  
 Sales for Powerball reached a record $3.96 billion in fiscal 2012 and are expected to reach $5 billion this year, said Chuck Strutt, executive director of the Des Moines, Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association, the group that runs the Powerball game. 
  
 There has been no Powerball winner since Oct. 6, and the jackpot already has reached a record level for the game. It was first posted at $425 million but revised upward to $500 million when brisk sales increased the payout. It's the second highest jackpot in lottery history, behind only the $656 million Mega Millions prize in March. 
  
 It took nine weeks for the Mega Millions jackpot to get that high, before three winners _ from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland _ hit the right numbers, each collecting $218.6 million for their share of the split. 
  
 With soaring jackpots come soaring sales, and for the states playing the game, that means higher revenue. 
  
 "The purpose for the lottery is to generate revenue for the respective states and their beneficiary programs," said Norm Lingle, chairman of the Powerball Game Group. "High jackpots certainly help the lottery achieve those goals." 
  
 Of the $2 cost of a Powerball ticket, $1 goes to the prizes and the other dollar is kept by the state lottery organization, said Lingle, who also is executive director of the South Dakota Lottery. After administrative overhead is paid, the remaining amount goes to that state's beneficiary programs. 
  
 Some states designate specific expenditures such as education, while others deposit the money in their general fund to help supplement tax revenue. 
  
 The federal government keeps 25 percent of the jackpot for federal taxes. 
  
 Most states withhold between 5 percent and 7 percent. There's no withholding in states without a state income tax such as Delaware, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Texas. A New York City winner would pay more than 12 percent since the state takes 8.97 percent and the city keeps 3.6 percent. 
  
 Powerball and Mega Millions games are seeing jackpots grow faster and higher in part because the states that play both games agreed in 2010 to sell to one another. 
  
 Both games are now played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands. The larger pool of players means jackpots roll over to higher numbers faster, which tends to increase the buzz about the jackpots which increases sales. It all can result in higher jackpots sooner. 
  
 "It really happened with both of these games became national games," said Terry Rich, CEO of the Iowa Lottery. 
  
 Still, just seven of the top 25 jackpots occurred after January 2010 when the cross-selling began. That just points to the unpredictability of games of chance like lotteries. It still comes down to the luck of the numbers, Rich said. 
  
 It has been proven that once the jackpot reaches a certain threshold more players buy. 
  
 The Quick Shop in Ottumwa, Iowa, is one of the state's highest-volume lottery ticket sellers due to its location across the street from a John Deere farm implement factory. 
  
 "It's picking up by the minute," said store owner Mark Ebelsheiser. "We're selling probably 60 to 70 percent more than normal. When it gets up this high they really come out and get them." 
  
 Bob Allison, a retired Indian Hills Community College instructor and administrator, buys tickets weekly for a group of people at the college in Ottumwa. On Tuesday he and two golfing and fishing buddies went in together to buy additional tickets. Allison said he usually buys a few additional tickets when the jackpot gets so high. 
  
 He said he'd make a lot of people very happy if he won. 
  
 "My kids would probably retire quick," said the father of three daughters. 
  
 Between $20 and $30 million in tickets were sold between Wednesday and Saturday drawings for most of October. Once the jackpot hit $100 million on Oct. 27, nearly $38 million worth of tickets were sold by Oct. 31. As the jackpot grew to more than $200 million on Nov. 17, sales surged by nearly $70 million by the next Wednesday. Then the jackpot reached over $300 million on Nov. 24 and ticket sales over the next four days surpassed $140 million. 
  
 "Somewhere around $100 million those occasional players seem to come back into the stores in droves," said Rich, the Iowa Lottery CEO. The lottery also notices a significant increase in workers and other groups joining together in pools to combine resources to buy numbers, he said. 
  
 Trina Small, manager at the convenience store in Bondurant, Iowa, where a couple bought a $202 million ticket on Sept. 26, said sales have been heavy. She said Monday night Powerball sales were at about $800, at least $200 more than normal. She expects Tuesday and Wednesday sales to be even more. 
  
 "It's kind of like Black Friday all over again," she said. 
  
 Small doesn't usually play the lottery herself but said she may buy a chance at the record jackpot. She's just trying to decide if her chances are better buying it elsewhere since a jackpot ticket was sold at her store just two months ago _ the old adage about lightning striking twice. 
  
 "The odds are against you anyway but I'm pretty sure they're more against you getting one from this store," she joked. 
  
 Powerball has posted sales exceeding $714 million in the current jackpot run since early October and it's possible more than $1 billion in tickets will have been sold by the end of Wednesday when the next drawing is held. 
  
 A single winner choosing the cash option would take home more than $327 million before taxes. 
  
 Strutt said the chance of getting a winner this Wednesday is approaching 60 percent. |||||
Output:
Tomorrow's Powerball payoff is now $500 million, reports AP, and it should end up even higher given how fast tickets are selling. Should you find yourself an instant member of the 1%, MarketWatch has some advice: Take the lump sum, which currently would be about $327 million. That's not typically the suggested path, but the threat of the fiscal cliff—and expiring tax breaks—makes things different this year. In the long run, the lump sum "could save you millions in taxes," says one adviser in the story.