Playing the lottery

[ActYourWage]

Waste is such a very subjective term. What is waste to one person might not be considered waste to another. When I mention that we went to the casino recently, some people I know will say they can't afford to waste their money on gambling. These same people, however, may drive a leased car or have a $150/month cable TV bill or order out for lunch every day or go to the movies every weekend or do a dozen other things that my wife and I would consider wasteful.

To us, the casino isn't a waste at all. We both really enjoy going. It is a rare opportunity for the two of us to spend some time together out of the house and without our daughter. We usually gamble for an hour or two, have lunch or dinner together, walk around the area (depending on which casino we go to) and just overall have a nice few hours. It is fun. It is relaxing. And most importantly, we can afford what we spend and still take care of all of our financial obligations. Of course, some days we lose and some days we win. I know over the long term it costs us money, but really not so much and we count it as our entertainment budget.

I'd say the same for the lottery. When the person buying tickets is on welfare and food stamps, they shouldn't be buying tickets. But when they are financially stable and choose to spend a few discretionary dollars on dreams, I see nothing wrong with that.

I was mainly speaking for myself about it being a waste. If only more people were as responsible with money, we as a society could enjoy more expenditures. However, I see way too many people purchasing lottery tickets in gas stations that don't need to be buying them. You know the ones that you have to wait 20 minutes in line right after work before you can checkout.

[littleroc02us]

Do you know what is done with lottery proceeds?

In many places, and yes there are exceptions, lottery proceeds are used for education, health care, community programs like arenas, soccer fields and other sports related activities, boy's and girl's clubs just to name a few. I recently purchased $125 worth of Lottery tickets to support a children's hospital.



Brian

Sounds like you trust the Government. It's still a way for the Government to get more money from its tax payers. Believe me, they will look for every way possible to suck another dime out of us.

[littleroc02us]

T

If you're not in favor of buying lottery tickets you can always make a donation to a worthy charity of your choice.

Brian

That's pretty funny, your saying that the gov't is donating to charities. I thought that is what the American people were doing. I donate money every year to the ones I believe in. I don't believe for a second that the Gov't is the sole contributer for charities or should be praised in anyway. It's my money they are using to do something I already do if I decide to play the lottery.

[littleroc02us]

I was mainly speaking for myself about it being a waste. If only more people were as responsible with money, we as a society could enjoy more expenditures. However, I see way too many people purchasing lottery tickets in gas stations that don't need to be buying them. You know the ones that you have to wait 20 minutes in line right after work before you can checkout.

I see it all the time when I stop for gas on the way home. Not to be stereotypical its usually someone who isn't financially doing well. They should a seperate line for that so I don't have to wait.

[littleroc02us]

Here is what the law states in the state of Minnesota:

The state constitution and law determines the distribution of Lottery proceeds. Currently, the state General Fund receives 60 percent of proceeds. The remaining 40 percent of proceeds goes to the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. In addition, the first 6.5 percent of Lottery sales (in-lieu-of-sales tax) is used for various natural resources programs and the General Fund.

*It states the general fund gets 60 percent, we all know what that means. Can anyone say "Pork".

[disneysteve]

I recently purchased $125 worth of Lottery tickets to support a children's hospital.

Was that your state's lottery or a special drawing being run and held by the organization itself? Those are two very different things.

I doubt that many people buy state lottery tickets with charity in mind. I'd much rather make my charitable donations directly to the organization so that I know where the money is going and I get my tax deduction.

[Slug]

I heard a newish idea on the lottery that may be more appealing. Michigan credit unions have begun offering an interest-bearing saving account where in exchange for a lower interest rate you have a chance each month to win a certain amt. of $. The jackpot is determined using the difference between the standard interest rate and the jackpot account rate. If that's .25%, then that's the figure applied to the jackpot accounts to create the jackpot. The bank is essentially offering the same rate as their standard account. However, instead of distributing it according to balances, they create a massive pool where jackpot account holders can hit the big one in return for accepting a slightly lower rate. And, people are saving $ rather than spending it on lottery tickets.

More here: Is America Ready for a “No-Lose Lottery”? | Freakonomics Radio

[jdavis103]

Read the book "The Millionaire Next Door", I don't remember a chapter involving the rich getting rich by playing the lottery. That is why I stated it's a tax on the middle class and the poor. The Gov't gets a kickback from the proceeds via taxes.

I read Stephen King's book "Cell", which also didn't mention getting rich by playing the lottery (though it did have good advice on avoiding packs of zombies).

Just because a particular book doesn't mention something, that doesn't mean the thing isn't true. I'll bet the book doesn't mention that the best place to be in the last decade was precious metals either.. still true. And plenty of books like that were written about how great it was to flip real estate a couple of years ago. Oops.

While I'm on the subject, the odds of being struck by lightning IN YOUR LIFETIME are about 1/6250 in the US.. Not sure if you were comparing Powerball odds to one particular storm or what.. it's really apples and oranges.

[littleroc02us]

I read Stephen King's book "Cell", which also didn't mention getting rich by playing the lottery (though it did have good advice on avoiding packs of zombies).

Just because a particular book doesn't mention something, that doesn't mean the thing isn't true. I'll bet the book doesn't mention that the best place to be in the last decade was precious metals either.. still true. And plenty of books like that were written about how great it was to flip real estate a couple of years ago. Oops.

While I'm on the subject, the odds of being struck by lightning IN YOUR LIFETIME are about 1/6250 in the US.. Not sure if you were comparing Powerball odds to one particular storm or what.. it's really apples and oranges.

IMO I would say your completely wrong in all cases. If you read the Millionaire next door, it's a study done on first time Millionaires and DecaMillionaires regarding how they became what they are today. IMO if you want to get wealthy follow people who have actually done it and copy them. It's just one of many examples of what people do to become well off. (Not Rich as was apparently a bad word) The fact of the matter is winning the Powerball is almost never gonna happen to anyone. I asked the question before "Who do you know that won the Powerball and made millions?" I don't know anyone. Get rich quick schemes don't work. The Lottery is exactly that. I might as well have signed up with a Pyramid scheme and get the millions I was promised. Getting hit by lighting is much more possible.

[littleroc02us]

I read Stephen King's book "Cell", which also didn't mention getting rich by playing the lottery (though it did have good advice on avoiding packs of zombies).

Apples and Oranges.

[jdavis103]

Apples and Oranges.

That was sort of my point.

There's a book about people who became millionaires. It didn't mention lottery winners. Mainly because there's nothing to LEARN there, not because nobody who plays the lottery becomes a millionaire. In fact, winning the lottery is absolutely the quickest way to become a millionaire. That's not just useful information for the rest of us

There could also be a book that talks about people who became millionaires by starting their own multimedia empires. Would help me, personally, roughly as much as one on the lottery..

[briandownie]

Sounds like you trust the Government. It's still a way for the Government to get more money from its tax payers. Believe me, they will look for every way possible to suck another dime out of us.

Um, I absolutely do not trust the government and yes I agree that the government is always looking for new ways to load the coffers. But why?

It's important to know what the government does with our money.

First I know I need to say that I do know that the government and many of it's bureaucrats abuse the system so lets start there. If the misuse of our money discontinued without a doubt we wouldn't need to contribute as much. That is a fact.

However, much of the money we contribute in taxes, albeit not by choice, is spent running the country. If people didn't expect all the services we get from the government the government wouldn't need as much money to pay for the programs we want and need and once again we wouldn't need to contribute as much as we do.

I know many of you may not like this post but it's the truth. Before you jump down my throat think about all the services your government provides for you and how you would expect to pay for those services.

Brian

[briandownie]

That's pretty funny, your saying that the gov't is donating to charities. I thought that is what the American people were doing. I donate money every year to the ones I believe in. I don't believe for a second that the Gov't is the sole contributer for charities or should be praised in anyway. It's my money they are using to do something I already do if I decide to play the lottery.

I praise you for supporting your charities.

I never said anywhere in my post that the government is the sole supporter of charities. I do know this much. If we didn't have lottery tickets (government run or otherwise) many charities would have financial short falls and not be able to do the job they need to do.

Once again I need to point out that playing the lottery is at your own discretion, play if you want to don't if you don't.

Brian

[briandownie]

Was that your state's lottery or a special drawing being run and held by the organization itself? Those are two very different things.

I doubt that many people buy state lottery tickets with charity in mind. I'd much rather make my charitable donations directly to the organization so that I know where the money is going and I get my tax deduction.

Steve, I won't disagree with you. Most people probably are not thinking about charity when they buy lottery tickets and yes my purchase was directly from a charitable organization. None-the-less I still think that a lot of good is being done with the money that's raised by government run lotteries.

Brian

[littleroc02us]

I believe in Tea Party movement. Their core values as stated on their website are as follows:

1. Fiscal Responsibility
2. Constitutionaly limited Government
3. Free Markets

I believe in all three of these ideas. Therefore, the Gov't does serve some purpose, but the biggest problem is that the Gov't keeps finding new ways to tax revenue. The Lottery is a choice and I chose not to play it, but others do which is fine until I hear that my State basically puts 60% of the proceeds in a general fund and we know what that means. I believe that the gov't taxes that they collect go to good services such as the police, the fire department, public schools, post office and city services, but I don't like the fact that they don't ever live within their means. As for charities, this isn't the Governments job to do this it's the people who should be taking care of the people. Maybe if they didn't tax us so much, more people would be willing to give more.