FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
$540 million. That’s the record jackpot in Friday’s Mega Millions lottery drawing.
It tops the previous high of $390 million in 2007, which was split by two winners.
And it's what has people lining up at convenience stores across the country to buy their chance at unimaginable wealth.
Tickets cost $1 each and will be on sale in 42 states plus Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands until just a few minutes before the 11 p.m. ET drawing.
The winner - or winners - will get to choose between annual payments or the cash option. The lump sum would be roughly $389 million.
But back to the $540 million and how a winner might spend that astronomical sum.
Think about it this way: If you earn $100,000 a year, the jackpot would pay your salary for 5,400 years.
Or you could buy more than 1,000 homes worth $500,000 each. Or more than 10,000 cars at $50,000 a pop. You get the idea.
Or if you paid half of your winnings in taxes and invested the remaining roughly $270 million in tax-free municipal bonds earning 3%, you would garner about $8 million a year in interest.
Of course, the odds aren't exactly on your side here. They are 175 million to one against you.
But, hey, you can always dream.
Here’s my question to you: What would you do if you hit the $540 million lottery?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Randall in Red Bank, New Jersey:
Why I'd buy me a couple members of Congress like a real one percenter.
Mark in Houston:
What would I do? Move as far from Texas as is humanly possible.
D.:
I'm buried in debt, but is my life really so bad that I'd deep-six it with a tsunami of cash and fame? All the money out there couldn't replace the anonymity that I have now, for free. The winner will be from a class of people that buy their things in convenience stores, not the class of people that have money. The end result is predestined.
Karen in Idaho:
Hi Jack. I have my lottery ticket already. If I hit the jackpot, the local Humane Society will receive a huge donation. Needy animals are more deserving and appreciative than greedy adults.
Scott:
Mourn the loss of value. I'd have fun, but I'd miss the sweetness of going to my favorite sushi restaurant once every month or two because it's expensive, because I could go anytime I want. I'd miss the simple joy of giving things away that cost me something measurable. Yes, I'd have fun, but I'd miss generosity and value that cost me something, because I would be in want of nothing material. Not so sure I want to buy a ticket.
John in Oregon:
I would buy Greece.
Peter in Tarrytown, New York:
Fill up my tank.