You knew it had to happen - here's the obligatory Mega Millions big jackpot blog.

As of this morning, the Mega Millions jackpot for tonight stands at $568 million. Officials say that number might be revised upward between now and the drawing tonight.

Whether you play the lottery all the time, once in a while, when the jackpot gets ridiculous (that's me), or not at all, most of us can't help but ponder what we would do with all that money.

There are stories everywhere about people who win the lottery and are broke within a couple of years. Usually, our thought process begins with, "Well, that won't happen to me." But, how do you make sure you don't wind up like that?

I don't remember where I heard it, but someone said once that the first thing you do when you win that kind of money is to hire four people -- an attorney, a financial adviser, a banker and a bean counter. Make sure they're people you trust and will look out for your best interests. And, they can serve as a buffer between you and all the "new friends" you will acquire.

Of course, you get a new phone number and have a new home security system installed. If you live in a state where you can collect the money anonymously, that wouldn't be the worst thing.

From there, and the rest of this is pretty much my own opinion, I would make sure my family and my inner circle is debt free. Then, put enough money away to live very comfortably off the interest. Once you're in a position that you never have to worry about finances again, you work hard at giving the rest of it away. Needless to say, God gets 10%. After that, you see how much good you can do.

Yeah, I know, your chances of winning are 1 in 176 million -- but, if you don't buy a ticket, you have NO chance.

Good luck.

Mega Millions undergoing changes in October
Tim Boyle, Getty Images
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