Powerball up to $590 million: How to spend your riches in Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – With the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Powerball jackpot for the Saturday drawing at $590 million, it’s time to think of how to spend that kind of money.

Let’s say you’re the kind of person who takes the money in a lump sum. The $590 million, tying for the 10th-highest prize in the game’s history, breaks down to $290,474,400 after federal and state taxes according to USAMega.com.

So with, round numbers, $290 million in hand, let’s buy stuff.

With hundreds of millions in your pocket, it seems only fair to toast to your good fortune. The Post Winery in Altus offers sparkling wine at about $12 a bottle at various retailers. The population of Arkansas is just over 3 million, meaning you could buy a bottle of sparkling wine for every person in Arkansas for $36 million, leaving you with $254 million in the bank.

Of course, a responsible multi-millionaire like you wouldn’t just send sparkling wine all over the place. Perhaps then some Grapette Soda, based in Malvern. Walmart has Grapette at $2.46 for a 12-pack, meaning for just over $2.8 million you could send a 12-pack of Grapette to each of the 1.171 million families in Arkansas. You’re now down to $251.2 million.

But enough about buying drinks for the state. Time to spend the money on serious things.

Sotheby’s International Realty has a home in Rogers on Beaver Lake near the marina. The six-bedroom, four-bath home will set you back $3,850,000. There, now you’ve made a practical purchase and have $247.3 million left in the bank.

Since you’re on the lake, time to think about a boat. Ranger Boats, built in the north Arkansas town of Flippin, will let you hit the water in style. A top-of-the-line luxury pontoon boat will run you $104,545, or a well-equipped bass boatfor $104,995.

And while the focus is on transportation, Dassault Falcon has a Little Rock base for its French-made business jets. While a business jet can quickly become an expensive hobby, a top-of-the-line Falcon 8X trans-continental jet will run about $62.5 million, according to one source, so our winner will still have money in their pocket after they buy one.

A millionaire will of course need an appropriate car. The stretch limousine was invented in Arkansas by three men in Fort Smith who had been building horse-drawn carriages. Armbruster-Stageway continues to build limos and hearses in Fort Smith, but prices are not advertised, a buyer will have to call for a quote.

Finally, even with houses and business jets and limousines, soda and wine you would still have something in the range of $180 million in the bank. Time for one final expense.

You still have plenty of money to send lots of people a goodbye and good luck card from American Greetings, which has a manufacturing facility in Osceola. At $4.25, it’s less than Grapette and the perfect thing to let millions of people know you are starting a new life.

But let’s not be hasty. Lottery officials show the Powerball jackpot odds at one in 250 million.

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