Fishingmn
Full time employment: Posting here.
But if I take it in installments, I can fill up the lower tax brackets (i.e. those between my income and $400k) every year instead of only in the one year I receive the lump sum payout. The difference may not amount to much for a mega-payout in the hundreds of millions, though.
The only problem with this theory is that I've heard that the Lottery builds in a 3.75% gain into their tables so if you think you can beat that rate of return you are better off taking the lump sum and taking the tax hit all at once.
My plan would be to form a charitable foundation so that I could shield up to 50% of the lump sum from any taxes and use that money as the give away pile.