Whether the winner of the record-breaking $2.04 billion US Powerball jackpot remains anonymous for the foreseeable future remains in the balance.

Either way, it does get one wondering whether maintaining anonymity - if allowed - after a big win is a solid choice.

Some countries have lottery laws that ensure winners of big prizes cannot remain anonymous. Other nations allow anonymity.

But what would you do, if you won the jackpot, and could choose to go public with your win or not? There are several factors to ponder for this.

There have been plenty of instances of anonymous lottery winners over the years. But there have been as many that have gone public with their identity. There can be pros and cons to both decisions.

If one doesn't enjoy the spotlight and being in the news, maintaining anonymity is probably the way to go. This can allow for just quietly going about one's business and not bringing a lot of attention to what you may or may not do with your newfound wealth.

It is also a good way of not collecting unwanted 'friends'. The probability is that people might come out of the proverbial woodwork if or when you come into fresh wealth. They might want some of it, for some reason or another they feel is valid.

There are good examples of jackpot winners who have spoken about their decision to go public. Their sentiments provide some insight into why staying anonymous could be a stronger choice.

Should you?

"We would have preferred to stay anonymous, but we recognised it wasn't a possibility," Christine Weir told the Independent, several years ago, after winning big in the EuroMillions. "We wouldn't have been able to enjoy the experience if we had constructed lies to tell our nearest and dearest."

In 2022, Julie Jeffrey won £1 million, also in the EuroMillions. She told Yahoo! News: "I went public for the same reason the majority of people do - there is nowhere to hide. "Even if you only tell one person, things spread. Before you know it everybody knows."

Another EuroMillions winner, Ron Ullah, stated: "I took the decision to go public because I thought it would be impossible to keep £5 million quiet. Someone was bound to find out and I wanted to be in control of the way it was handled."

Shouldn't you?

Individual circumstances, of course, might prompt one person to go public and another to not. Insight from renowned psychotherapist Caron Barruw can also add value to the debate.

"When people win the lottery they want to go public to let people know that something amazing has happened to them," she told tells Metro.co.uk.

"It may give people a sense of fame, importance or even prestige that they can be 'rich' and above average. Depending on their status before, it may be class changing and often people want others to know that their status has changed.

"Some people want to shove it in the face of others who have not been supportive of them before. For a moment it may make people feel they are in control as their finances have changed."