56. (Requires a spreadsheet) Winners of the Powerball lottery can elect either an immediate lump sum (almost all do) or an annuity. In the latter case, the advertised jackpot amount is paid in 30 annual payments, including one immediate payment. To keep up with inflation, each payment is 4% more than the previous year’s; such an annuity is called a graduated annuity. On October 10, 2007, Eugene and Stanislawa Markiewicz took their prize of $20 million in the form of a graduated annuity.