A lottery jackpot is the amount of money that is the top prize for a lottery drawing. The jackpot may be awarded to one winner, or it can be divided among several winners. A large jackpot can attract people from all over to purchase tickets for the chance to win. This can increase the value of the winning ticket, or even cause the jackpot to rise faster than expected.

When most people hear the word “jackpot,” they think of a big windfall—winning the Powerball or Mega Millions, perhaps, or cashing in on an initial public offering that rockets skyward. But a jackpot isn’t just any old windfall; it’s one that carries with it the potential to radically change your life for the better in an instant.

For most lottery winners, the biggest decision is how to receive their prize money. Most countries, including the United States, give winners a choice to take their winnings as a lump sum or an annuity that spreads out payments over years. On average, more than 90 percent of winners choose the lump sum option.

Lottery organizers often make their games harder to win in order to juice up the jackpot size and draw more attention to them. But that isn’t the only reason jackpots are getting bigger—interest rates are too. When the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to control inflation, it tends to make investments like US treasury bonds worth more. This makes them attractive to investors, which in turn drives up the jackpots of Powerball and Mega Millions.