Can you live off $20 million forever?

Yes, if you spend no more than about $800,000 a year. That is 4.0% of $20 million, the standard planning rule for money meant to last indefinitely, assuming it is invested and earns about that much after inflation.

How big a lottery jackpot do you need to end up with $20 million?

Taking the cash option, you need a cash prize of about $31.7 million in a state with no lottery tax like Florida, or about $38.3 million in New York. Federal tax applies everywhere.

How Long Will $20 Million Last? Spending Calculator

Q: How long will $20 million last at $1,500,000 a year?

About 19 years, assuming the rest stays invested and earns 4.0% a year after inflation. With no return at all it would last 13 years.

How Long Will $20 Million Last?

Spend up to $800,000 a year and $20 million lasts forever. Spend $1,500,000 a year and it lasts about 19 years.

Assumes the money is invested and earns 4.0% a year after inflation, with all figures in today's dollars. Change any of it below.

How much you have

What you spend each year

In today's dollars. It rises with inflation each year.

What the money earns, after inflation

$20,000,000 spending $1,500,000 a year lasts

about 19 years

To make it last forever, keep spending under $800,000 a year.

$20 million at different spending levels

How long the money lasts if you spend the same amount every year, rising with inflation.

Spending a year	Lasts	Runs out in
Up to $800,000	Forever	Never
$1,000,000	41 years	2067
$2,000,000	13 years	2039
$3,000,000	7 years	2033
$5,000,000	4 years	2030
$10,000,000	2 years	2028

The second-home tier

Twenty million is where the beach house stops being a stretch. It pays about $800,000 a year forever, enough to run two homes, travel properly and fund a family foundation on a small scale.

It is also about what a modest jackpot leaves you. Powerball jackpots start at $20 million advertised, but the cash value is about half the headline and tax takes a big bite of that, so it takes a jackpot several times the starting amount to net this much.

Spending $1 million a year is the line to watch. Below $800,000 the money never shrinks; at $1 million it lasts about 41 years, which is a lifetime for most winners anyway.

What jackpot gets you $20 million?

Lottery prizes are taxed as income, so you need to win a lot more than $20 million to keep it. Taking the cash option, it takes a prize of about $31.7 million in a state with no lottery tax like Florida, and about $38.3 million in New York, the most expensive state.

The cash value is only part of the advertised jackpot. At today's Powerball ratio ($326 million cash for a $760 million jackpot), that is roughly a $73.8 million jackpot.

Got a jackpot in mind?

Pick a real jackpot, see what it pays after tax, spend it on everything you want, and see what the rest pays you for life.

Spend the jackpot

Common questions

Estimates for planning and entertainment, not financial advice. Real returns vary year to year, and a bad run early on shortens how long money lasts. Talk to a financial planner before relying on any of this.