Dream a little Lottery dream

Everyone is going nutso over the Powerball lately, and why not? The current jackpot is $700 million, which is apparently a $443.3 million dollar payout. I'm not a lottery player usually, and I only play the occasional penny slot machine if I happen to be around them, but the tag line to the old California Lottery commercials I saw when I was a kid keeps repeating in my head -- YOU CAN'T WIN IF YOU DON'T PLAY! So I went and bought 10 tickets, which is $20, so big whoop if I lose. WHICH I WILL, I know that with every fiber of my being. In fact, I looked it up, and a person has a 1 in 292,201,338 chance of winning the jackpot. Gotta love those odds! But I find it fascinating how having these tickets in my possession makes the imagination run wild, how the logical mind can have a firm grasp of the fact that I just wasted $20 on an impossible dream, and yet still the illogical mind can take over and dream about what would happen to my life and the lives of those around me if I did win. What would you do with that kind of money dropped in your lap?

First of all, it would probably suck in myriad ways. You would probably have to go into hiding or change your name or both. Everyone you know would treat you differently, and people you don't know would want things from you. I have never sought fame, and I can't think of a worse way to gain it, because of the headache of dealing with the greedy. The needy, on the other hand, would be the hardest part for me. It would be amazing to really be able to make an impact in a way that benefits a great number of people, instead of the paltry annual contributions to public radio and the ACLU and the like that I am currently capable of affording. But how would you choose? How would you determine who or what organization is the most "worthy" of your generosity? And do you make huge, one-time contributions, or become an annual donor? I think I would start a foundation in order to award grants, which might be the most fair way to make these decisions - with a board of intelligent, thoughtful people. See? It's crazy that I'm thinking about these things, but it's fun, so whatever. I do what I want!

I also think about working. Would I stay at my job? If you do something you love, would you still quit just because you no longer need the income, or do you stay and deal with all of the attention, which would detract from the work you're trying to do anyway? That's a real doozy. Most of us have worked hard to get where we are, getting through school and moving up the ladder, trying to make something of ourselves in our industry of choice, so do you just leave all of that behind? I think it would be amazing to be able to volunteer exclusively, still contributing, but not requiring payment. But again, how do you decide where you would volunteer, where your impact would be the greatest? And would you be safe to even go outside?

Since I don't have cable and rarely see any TV, I haven't seen what happens to these people after winning that kind of money, so I did some research. (My favorite quote came from an article in the Atlantic, which was, "Those who participate should buy tickets early in order to enjoy their real value—the pleasure of anticipation—for longer". So true! That's what has been so fun the last few days, because I bought my tickets the day after the last drawing.) As for past winners, the ones who have had bad luck or have made bad decisions are the ones the media focuses on, and all data on the subject is self-reporting, so it's hard to get a handle on how many people actually flourish after a lottery win. But it does seem that your ability to handle your money prior to your win is directly proportional to your success in keeping your winnings and having an affluent future. One statistic that came up again and again was that 70% of lottery winners lose it all within 5 years, but that statistic applied to all lottery winners, regardless of the payout amount. From the limited amount of research I did, it seems that the key to success is smart investing, having trusted financial advisers and a lawyer, and taking the payment plan rather than the lump sum because of the tax impact of the latter. But can I still buy a pony?

To me, it seems like the dreaming part might be a lot more fun than the actually winning part, so maybe I should play the lottery more often! And if you, like me, have some tickets in your hot little hand for tonight's drawing, good luck! If you win, I promise only to ask for you to pay off my student loan. PROMISE.