It is all about what you enjoy.
Gambling of any sort for the purpose of hoping to better ones situation in the world is pretty silly. But, occasionally gambling an amount you won't even notice losing because you get some enjoyment out of it seems fine.
For all the people saying it is just ridiculous to even buy one ticket:
Think how silly some people think we are for what many of us spend on audio regularly. There are countless things that people spend money on that other people think are ridiculous wastes. Stop and look at everything you spend money on in a given timeframe and ask yourself which of those things are absolutely necessary or will contribute to a better future for you and could not be achieved for less money. I'm guessing a crap load are just because you want them or even if you can defend them as being necessary you probably got a more expensive version because you wanted it more...
It is a bit like people that dismiss DIY as being a waste because 'their time is worth money', sure that makes sense if everything they do with every minute of the day is making money. Otherwise they are wasting time all day long on things that they probably enjoy less than we enjoy building audio.
What is worse: spending a dollar on a candy bar (they once sold for that, really) that is actually bad for me or spending a dollar on a lottery ticket? Now if you are buying 100 candy bars or 100 tickets both aren't very smart decisions.
A little frivolity is fun. Regularly making lottery tickets your main investment in your future... that's a problem.
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Thank goodness many do not. Some try but they can't follow the signs to the actual stations and somehow end up in the school playground thinking someone is joking with them. Sadly, there are many countries with this concern. Here in Canada, I like to wear my Hi-Vis vest and lead them back to their cars while telling them it's all automated. As long as they were thinking about the persons they were going to vote for, the auto-scanner has already recorded their choices.
Besides, you're either hungry or it's close to nap time, so best of the day to you and see you next time.
I then recommennd "FlowMax" -- you will be working that shooter like a race-horse.
Was in line at the MetOpera, I said to the guy behind me "They need to dispense saw palmetto tabs before the first act." He was a urologist and said "FlowMax is quicker". Quite a chuckle amongst us oldsters!
What you suggest may be true, yet, that’s exactly what happened to the winner. They randomly knocked on the door of the person whose name and birthdate they had in their wallet. Someone, eventually, always wins the big lottery jackpots, and in relatively short order too, despite the astronomical odds set against them as a single player. The odds set against the group of all players in total, however, is evidently not very high. While the eventual winner from within the group of all players still faces extremely high individual odds, as winners, they are a random element, or token, from within the group of all players that stands to demonstrate the group‘s short odds of producing a winner. That truth is kind of fascinating.
There is an important difference between buying a lottery ticket, and flushing those same dollars down the toilet. A ticket gives you an above zero chance of winning, while flushing it gives you a zero chance. The indisputable proof that a ticket confers an above zero chance of winning is, the eventual winner. All that said, of course, the wiser financial decision is to invest those dollars instead of gambling them with such a low probably of a return. However, try saying that with a straight face to the person who, overnight, is now 1.28 billion dollars richer.
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Yet, someone, somewhere, is doing exactly that and hitting it spot on.
It could be you, if only you got a ticket ... ;-)
Jan
Nope, sorry not me. The one constant that is observed among big ticket lottery winners is their atrocious money management skills. Big winners routinely fall into bankruptcy when they discover that a large sum of money, even a tremendous sum can be frittered away with astonishing speed. People who throw money at the lottery are intrinsically math challenged and lacking in the discipline that comes with building wealth over decades. Take that $20 a week and invest it in a broad index fund instead of buying lottery tickets and you will do infinitely better than the 99.9th percentile guy chasing lottery winnings.
I think you're overgeneralizing, and your stereotyping is slightly offensive. "people who throw money...are intrinsically math challenged...lacking the discipline..."
The odds are clearly stated on the ticket, and did you think that possibly that some could afford to spend $20/week without it impacting their financial wellbeing?
Remember it's the sad cases of winners going broke you describe that make the headlines. Also the "triumphant" winner who lives practically paycheck to paycheck.
That said, here are a few paraphrased quotes, some support your view, some just funny.
The lottery is a tax on hope
You gotta be in it to win it (NY lotto slogan )
A winner told the media- I'm going to spend half of it on women and booze. I'll squander the other half.
It's Peanuts - very weathly women who won.
The problem with “$20 a week” is you and I both know that it’s never going to end up in a broad index fund. If that’s all someone can manage to acquire it will end up at the burger joint, in the gasoline tank, or perhaps on rent in a place that doesn’t have shootings every other weekend. Or just getting robbed by another damn car breakdown. Until your income can consistently overwhelm all the million little things that come up, one does NOT realistically have ANY extra money. The lottery is probably the “worst” place to put this as it makes the next auto repair bill that much harder to pay.
So, you can buy $20 worth of lottery tickets every week but it's impossible to save $20 a week and in a year invest $1040 it in a broad index fund with low costs and add to it weekly? Sorry, I don't follow the logic here. Investing with zero return is easy but investing with certain long-term returns is hard. I believe this is the exact mindset that the lottery and gambling grifters depend on for their outrageous returns!
This is an interesting topic and as any system involving numbers and rules that govern it, it proves at least that humans can not live without hope, even though there is almost no hope of winning the grand prize, for the vast majority anyway, yet it only takes one person to win and the media will blow this thing out of proportion suggesting it really pays off to keep spending. This is the wonder of advertising.
I am also not immune against such games but I do have a rule that says if I do not win any kind of prize worth more than the investment in a few attempts, then this is not my thing. My greatest single win at a slot machine was about 10 bucks worth. I was going to buy some groceries and on the way back home I decided to buy one coin and gave it a shot. It started spinning and ended up showing three signs of a single kind, spitting out about 30 coins. I went with these to cash out and headed home.
A couple of times I played 6/45 lottery, scored 2 numbers out of six, received zero money, then stopped.
I'd rather invest in a couple of drive units sitting on a shelf, waiting to be deployed.
I am also not immune against such games but I do have a rule that says if I do not win any kind of prize worth more than the investment in a few attempts, then this is not my thing. My greatest single win at a slot machine was about 10 bucks worth. I was going to buy some groceries and on the way back home I decided to buy one coin and gave it a shot. It started spinning and ended up showing three signs of a single kind, spitting out about 30 coins. I went with these to cash out and headed home.
A couple of times I played 6/45 lottery, scored 2 numbers out of six, received zero money, then stopped.
I'd rather invest in a couple of drive units sitting on a shelf, waiting to be deployed.
https://www.thestate.com/news/state/south-carolina/article264460216.html
"...her lawyer, Jason Kurland, the self proclaimed “lottery lawyer,” was charged with taking money from some of his clients — in her case more than $80 million."
The jackpot was more than $1.5 billion. $80M is 5%, high for brokerage, low for commission. On net proceeds it is like 12%. It may not be proper but it is not stupidly excessive, IMHO. However the jackpot and the "advice" were not altogether blessings. Interesting article.
"...her lawyer, Jason Kurland, the self proclaimed “lottery lawyer,” was charged with taking money from some of his clients — in her case more than $80 million."
The jackpot was more than $1.5 billion. $80M is 5%, high for brokerage, low for commission. On net proceeds it is like 12%. It may not be proper but it is not stupidly excessive, IMHO. However the jackpot and the "advice" were not altogether blessings. Interesting article.
They made a lot of wrong decisions. First she says, we want to invest very conservatively, to make it a generational wealth. Fine.
Then they buy horses, fall for a diamont broker promising 12% in 6 months?? That's beyond stupid.
BTW Here where I live some lottery wins are tax free. There is tax, but it is paid by the lottery.
Jan
Then they buy horses, fall for a diamont broker promising 12% in 6 months?? That's beyond stupid.
BTW Here where I live some lottery wins are tax free. There is tax, but it is paid by the lottery.
Jan
If you do play and win take the annuity. Just saying...
Tom
Um, sure if you plan on living the next 20 years.
Some of us won't even buy a whole bunch of bananas. I for one could croak tomorrow or 20 years from tomorrow. Every minute my mind still halfway works is an immense gift.
I'm taking the whole wad. Damn the torpedoes. I'm giving most of it away too.