last friday's mega millions prize was estimated to be 145 million. Reported Lottery prizes are just the sum total of the future annual payments. In this case, 26 beginning of the year payments that will be paid to the prize winner. For the current prize: annual annuity payment = 5.577 million. Of course, this 145 million dollars ignores the time value of money. The winner can elect the cash option of 98 million today or the 26 year annuity that totals 145 million. What is the PV of the cash option - the PV of the annuity payout?