How much tax and what the winner of the $1.34 billion Mega Millions jackpot should do next ?

There's a winner: On Friday night, the second-biggest Mega Millions jackpot in history was won by a single ticket from Illinois. Now, that $1.34 billion is going to make a huge difference in the life of someone.

As of Saturday morning, the lucky winner still hadn't come forward in public, which experts say is a smart move. After all, claiming that much money is likely to bring in taxes, con artists, and even friends and family, which brings us to our first and most important piece of financial advice.

Rob Burnette, a financial and investment adviser at Outlook Financial Center in Troy, Ohio, said, "Don't shout your win from the rooftops." "If you happen to win the lottery, don't tell anyone. Get your stuff together and make a plan. Consider staying anonymous, if it’s a possibility.”

How much is the jackpot, when is the drawing, what are my chances of winning?

Winners of the $1.337 billion prize who choose the annuity option will get it paid to them every year for 30 years. Most winners choose to get their money in cash, which for Friday night's drawing was about $780,500,000.

The odds of getting all six numbers right were about 1 in 303 million. Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Each ticket costs $2.

Why shouldn’t you tell everyone?

Scammers.

"Some of these scammers have said they work for Mega Millions, which is not true," Mega Millions said. "All of these scams try to get you to send them money or personal information by saying you won a big lottery prize."

Mega Millions said that no one from the company would ever call, text, or email someone to tell them they had won a prize.

Also, keep in mind that "no real lottery tells winners to put up their own money to get a prize they've already won," the sign said.

Steve Azoury is the owner of Azoury Financial in Troy, Michigan. He says he has helped many lottery winners, including a $181 million winner who told him, "If I didn't know you before, I don't want to know you now."

If you can’t tell everyone you won, what can, or should you do?

"Get a tax lawyer, a tax accountant, and a financial adviser right away," said Azoury. "They'll work together to come up with a plan."

The plan will tell you how to get your money:

• An annuity option makes an initial annual payment followed by 29 annual payments. Each payment is 5% larger than the previous one.

• The cash option is a one-time, lump-sum payment equal to all the cash in the Mega Millions jackpot prize pool.

The plan also should include a “fall guy,” Azoury said. “That’s the person or adviser who keeps you from giving loans to anybody, who tells people all the money’s tied up in investments, not available. We have nothing available to help you out and we’re not interested in your project.”

Should you take the lump sum or installment payments?

That decision depends on your goals, your age, and what lottery rules are for beneficiaries to continue receiving payments, or if you’d likely squander a lump sum.

Mark Steber, chief tax officer at Jackson Hewitt, recommends considering the following:

• Size of the lottery winning: That can serve as a guide to determining taxes you may owe and the financial security you can derive from it. If the amount is on the smaller side, a lump sum may simply be easier.

• Current and projected earnings: Consider your ability to earn money and tax rates over your lifetime.

How much do you bring home?

That depends on what you do with your money and the complicated laws in your state.

If you win the Mega Millions lottery, you'll probably go into the highest federal tax bracket. How much you pay in state taxes can depend a lot on where you live and where you bought the winning ticket.

Steber said that if you live in California and buy your ticket there, you pay the federal tax rate of 37 percent, but you're in luck because California doesn't tax lottery winnings.

The state with the highest tax rate on lottery winnings, though, is New York.

But if you live in California and buy a ticket while on vacation in Rhode Island, you'll have to include your jackpot on your federal and California tax returns and file a nonresident Rhode Island tax return. He said that you should claim a tax credit for the Rhode Island taxes on your California return so that you won't be taxed twice in two states on the same income.

"This is a great time to hire a tax professional," Steber said. "It can be hard to figure out state taxes." (To show how complicated state taxes can be and why you should really hire a professional, Steber said in the original version of this story that if you lived in California, your lottery winnings would be taxed. He helped us understand this better for our update.)

How long does it take to get your money if you win the Mega Millions?"

Azoury said that once you claim the prize, it shouldn't take too long. "Perhaps a few weeks," he said.

Remember that most people won't claim their money right away because they need time to figure out what to do with it. People should check with the lottery in the state where the ticket was bought to find out how long they have to file a claim for that ticket.

The Mega Millions claim period is between 90 days and one year from the date of the drawing, according to the lottery.

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