Robert
January 8th, 2012, 11:07 PM
No, not me! I don't play the lottery. I watched a very good documentary tonight on CBC, called "Lucky". Made me think.
I don't think that a sudden pile money automatically is a good thing. Likely the the opposite.
Not that I would complain if I won some money... but I am more interested in working hard to build my own fortune, instead of wasting a fortune in the end, hoping for the big win. Yet so many people seem to do just that.
A person who spends $100 per month on the lottery—slightly less than the average resident of Rhode Island spends on the lottery (see Table 2)—over a forty-year period would be $144,000 richer if he instead invested that money. A lottery player who spends $50 per month—slightly less than the average resident of Massachusetts—would have an additional $72,201 if he instead invested his money, and the average New Yorker, who spends about $25 a month on the lottery, could be over $36,000 richer by retirement age if he instead invested in the stock market. [ http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/1302.html ]
Some more numbers (http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ngisc/research/lotteries.html):
Lotteries have the highest profit rates in gambling in the U.S.: in 1996, net revenues (sales minus payouts, but not including costs) totaled $16.2 billion, or almost 38% of sales. They are also the largest source government revenue from gambling, in 1996 netting $13.8 billion, or 32% of money wagered, for governments at all levels.
[ http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ngisc/research/lotteries.html ]
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LUCKY takes an entertaining and candid look at the seduction of the lottery and what hitting the jackpot does to the winners. Veteran director Jeffrey Blitz (SPELLBOUND and 2007 Sundance Film Festival Director Awardwinner for ROCKET SCIENCE) crisscrosses the country following winners as they navigate their newfound riches, and hopefuls who have “a dollar and a dream.”
The cast of characters includes Quang and his wife, Mai, Vietnamese immigrants working the graveyard shift in a Nebraska meatpacking plant who reinvent their lives when they win $22 million dollars; James, a destitute, suicidal loner who divvies his last $3 between food for his cats and a Powerball ticket--and wins over $5 million; Kristine and Steve, a middle class New Jersey couple who, after winning $110 million, are sent 12,000 pieces of mail from strangers around the world begging for money; Robert, a Berkeley mathematician who understands better than most the near impossibility of winning and yet still hits a $22 million jackpot; and Buddy, considered a hero after running into a burning building to save a boy’s life, who seems to be repaid for his bravery with a $16 million win -- until his life comes apart at the seams. But the reality of these winners' stories mean nothing to Verna, an obsessive player from Delaware who spends up to a $100 a day on the lottery and still, after 30 years, firmly believes that she’ll one day land the big win.
Winners’ lives are turned upside down as they are forced to grapple with their new role in the world. It’s a chance to realize their dreams, to make a difference. But life also becomes complicated as they travel through a haze of attorneys, hired security guards, changing friendships, scheming family members and prying strangers. And those are just the pressures on the outside. How an unearned but thoroughly life-changing event forces them to reconsider who they really are and what they truly want from life may be the biggest challenge of all. In the end, is the payout a nightmare, blessing or some rich mix of the two? LUCKY is revealing, engaging, and will shed some light as you weigh your future deciding whether or not to buy a ticket.
See also http://www.cosmoloan.com/investments/5-worst-cases-of-lottery-disasters.html - some sad examples of big winners.
I don't think that a sudden pile money automatically is a good thing. Likely the the opposite.
Not that I would complain if I won some money... but I am more interested in working hard to build my own fortune, instead of wasting a fortune in the end, hoping for the big win. Yet so many people seem to do just that.
A person who spends $100 per month on the lottery—slightly less than the average resident of Rhode Island spends on the lottery (see Table 2)—over a forty-year period would be $144,000 richer if he instead invested that money. A lottery player who spends $50 per month—slightly less than the average resident of Massachusetts—would have an additional $72,201 if he instead invested his money, and the average New Yorker, who spends about $25 a month on the lottery, could be over $36,000 richer by retirement age if he instead invested in the stock market. [ http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/1302.html ]
Some more numbers (http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ngisc/research/lotteries.html):
Lotteries have the highest profit rates in gambling in the U.S.: in 1996, net revenues (sales minus payouts, but not including costs) totaled $16.2 billion, or almost 38% of sales. They are also the largest source government revenue from gambling, in 1996 netting $13.8 billion, or 32% of money wagered, for governments at all levels.
[ http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ngisc/research/lotteries.html ]
--------
LUCKY takes an entertaining and candid look at the seduction of the lottery and what hitting the jackpot does to the winners. Veteran director Jeffrey Blitz (SPELLBOUND and 2007 Sundance Film Festival Director Awardwinner for ROCKET SCIENCE) crisscrosses the country following winners as they navigate their newfound riches, and hopefuls who have “a dollar and a dream.”
The cast of characters includes Quang and his wife, Mai, Vietnamese immigrants working the graveyard shift in a Nebraska meatpacking plant who reinvent their lives when they win $22 million dollars; James, a destitute, suicidal loner who divvies his last $3 between food for his cats and a Powerball ticket--and wins over $5 million; Kristine and Steve, a middle class New Jersey couple who, after winning $110 million, are sent 12,000 pieces of mail from strangers around the world begging for money; Robert, a Berkeley mathematician who understands better than most the near impossibility of winning and yet still hits a $22 million jackpot; and Buddy, considered a hero after running into a burning building to save a boy’s life, who seems to be repaid for his bravery with a $16 million win -- until his life comes apart at the seams. But the reality of these winners' stories mean nothing to Verna, an obsessive player from Delaware who spends up to a $100 a day on the lottery and still, after 30 years, firmly believes that she’ll one day land the big win.
Winners’ lives are turned upside down as they are forced to grapple with their new role in the world. It’s a chance to realize their dreams, to make a difference. But life also becomes complicated as they travel through a haze of attorneys, hired security guards, changing friendships, scheming family members and prying strangers. And those are just the pressures on the outside. How an unearned but thoroughly life-changing event forces them to reconsider who they really are and what they truly want from life may be the biggest challenge of all. In the end, is the payout a nightmare, blessing or some rich mix of the two? LUCKY is revealing, engaging, and will shed some light as you weigh your future deciding whether or not to buy a ticket.
See also http://www.cosmoloan.com/investments/5-worst-cases-of-lottery-disasters.html - some sad examples of big winners.