The Lottery Thread

[BSF21]

There used to be a show about people who ruined their lives after winning the lottery. We loved that show, especially seeing what Southern fried hicks blew $100 million dollars on, then somehow losing it all. I agree with preferring to win a smaller drawing. When you win a monster drawing, your name is plastered in the news and the world beats down your door. Win $20 million, no press, no hassles. I'd be happy with just enough to pay off the mortgage, let the wife wife risk the investment and ramp up time to start a business or two. Take a sweet vacation for a month, and stock a sick bar. Other than that, I'm good. I don't even feel the need to quit my job. If I won $100 million, I'd devote my work to some cause or another. And buy a Tesla Model S.

You put that pretty perfectly. I couldn't imagine not working, and I'm kinda on my own small business already, but would love the cash to start something with BSF G/F that she would really love to do and we could share. I think her ultimate goal is for us to be Chip and Joanna from Fixer Upper. I'm not going that far, but I'd do some GC stuff if she wanted to use some cash to work on some investment properties for fun.

I'd also buy a Tesla Model S. And a chunk of stock in Tesla/SpaceX/SolarCity.

[DSafetyGuy]

With experts outlining the proper steps of what to do if you win (photocopy of ticket, original ticket put in safe deposit box, hire lawyer who opens anonymous trust and claims ticket on behalf of the winner in X months, etc.), I'm wondering how anyone who wins could possibly stay out of the public eye to avoid becoming a target. Is there any way that the security camera footage of the winner buying their ticket does not end up plastered all over television and the internet?

On a semi-related note, I'm also enjoying all the people posting their tickets on social media, seeing as how they're potentially making themselves a target.

Obviously, odds are minuscule, but...

[The Sybian]

I think her ultimate goal is for us to be Chip and Joanna from Fixer Upper. I'm not going that far, but I'd do some GC stuff if she wanted to use some cash to work on some investment properties for fun.

Tell her you'd much rather have the women from Flip or Flop or Rehab Addict.

We watched a show on HGTV or similar channel where they took a lottery winner from Ohio on a lottery dream home search. Depressing as fuck to see the prices on these amazing homes two-thirds of what I paid for my house.

[HaulCitgo]

I have no doubt that my life would turn to shit if I won the money. No way id be able to keep the family together. The kids, wife an and I would all be unbearable. Hell, id very likely be dead in the next several years. With a reasonable sum, id hold it together. But thats way too much money for me to act reasonably. Id probably keep the job (im the boss) but id be ridiculous with it.

And of course, straight cash homie. No one can seriously take the annuity. Just plain anti american.

Did anyone see the USFL 30 for 30 where Steve Young is talking about the fans yelling at him because of the huge deal he signed and his mother was in the stands and yells back at the fans "its an annuity!"

[mister d]

Hell no, man. Joanna > Rehab Addict.



(You know what I wouldn't do if I won >$100MM? Invest in anything. There's downside there. That's pretty much what kills every athlete; trying to take too much money and turn it into way too much money.)

[BSF21]

I think her ultimate goal is for us to be Chip and Joanna from Fixer Upper. I'm not going that far, but I'd do some GC stuff if she wanted to use some cash to work on some investment properties for fun.

Tell her you'd much rather have the women from Flip or Flop or Rehab Addict.

I'd go for any of the 3, but mine is damn hot on her own merit.

[P.D.X.]

Mark Cuban says take the annuity.

"So you don't blow it all at once" is his reasoning. (I was going to post his whole list but it's pretty pedestrian, like "Get an accountant". Thanks Mark!)

[mister d]

The type of person who is going to blow $50MM all at once isn't the type of person who is going to listen to financial advice.

[The Sybian]

Hell no, man. Joanna > Rehab Addict.



(You know what I wouldn't do if I won >$100MM? Invest in anything. There's downside there. That's pretty much what kills every athlete; trying to take too much money and turn it into way too much money.)

I'll have to take a look at Joanna later. Flip or Flop woman is way hotter than either of those two.

So are you putting your $100MM in shoe boxes under your mattress? I'd highly diversify my investments, with a large percentage in low risk investments. I'd love to do some VC work and invest in businesses I believe in, but I'd need to work with someone who knows what they are doing and to evaluate the businesses and keep an eye on shit. Fuck it, we'll invest in whatever businesses the wife wants to take a crack at.

[mister d]

When I said invest, I mean "any kind of non-fixed, open-risk vehicle". It would be in low interest savings and maybe some bonds and just plain old accounts. I don't want $40MM in the market because the market could cost me a lot of that $40MM. And then who knows if I go insane trying to chase that lost amount and make myself whole.



(On another related topic: If you have kids and you win the lottery, do you think the chances of your kid ending up "bad" are higher or lower?)

[mister d]

Also, Rehab Addict seems like the type who would loudly tell me to "go fuck (myself)" in public. She has an unappealing ruggedness the other two don't.

[brian]

If I win (assuming I'm the sole winner) I'd seriously start working to get an MLS expansion team for Detroit. Between expansion fees and a SSS that might "only" cost about $300M. Would be pretty cool to own a sports franchise.

[TT2.0]

hookers and blow. lot of high stakes poker.

[sancarlos]

As much as I'd like to buy a mountain of coke, if I won I'd become VERY law abiding. You can't enjoy wealth living in a cage. I'd have a driver or use a car service every time I anticipated drinking much. Which would be frequently.

[The Sybian]

As much as I'd like to buy a mountain of coke, if I won I'd become VERY law abiding. You can't enjoy wealth living in a cage. I'd have a driver or use a car service every time I anticipated drinking much. Which would be frequently.

Have you learned nothing from Howard? Rich white goes don't go to jail, especially for possession of a mountain of coke. Now a black guy with a $5 vial of crack, he is going away for 10 years. Powerball money gives you above the law status.

[DaveInSeattle]

As much as I'd like to buy a mountain of coke, if I won I'd become VERY law abiding. You can't enjoy wealth living in a cage. I'd have a driver or use a car service every time I anticipated drinking much. Which would be frequently.

I'd have a car service whether I was drinking or not. I've grown to really hate driving.

I accidentally bought $20 of tickets on Saturday. My kids wanted me to buy a ticket, and all the cash I had was a $20 bill. So I put it in the machine, and then saw the "No Change Given" sign. D'oh.

As we walked home from the store, we were talking about what we would buy when we won. I said a sailboat (J-120, fully tricked out), of course...my GF said a home for her autistic daughter to live in long term...my oldest daughter said a mini cooper for when she turns 16 in a year, and my 11 year old said "A house built of candy".

[DaveInSeattle]

Now a black guy with a $5 vial of crack, he is going away for 10 years.

If he's lucky....if not, he's likely dead in a hail of gunfire.

[howard]

This is the correct answer:

…and my 11 year old said "A house built of candy".

Or, you can go this route:

New car
Caviar
Four-star daydream
Football team
Lear jet
Pie

[sancarlos]

That's what you're really buying, isn't it? Not really going to win the fortune. You're really buying a fantasy for a day or two of what you'd do with your hypothetical winnings.

[The Sybian]

Now a black guy with a $5 vial of crack, he is going away for 10 years.

If he's lucky....if not, he's likely dead in a hail of gunfire.

Naw, the police only kill black people who haven't committed a crime.

My wife entered into a group pool with 150 moms in our town. Everyone bought 5 numbers, posted to the FB group. It'd be such a great sociological study to see what would happen if they won. Conservatively estimate 300 kids in a town of 13,000 suddenly winning a piece of the lottery. As I'm thinking, that probably isn't enough money to drastically change lives. Even if no other ticket won, lump sum discount, taxes, probably is less than $3 million take home. So far, only 80 have posted their tickets, so we'll say 80 people win $6 million. How many houses suddenly go on the market? Would the winners be willing to accept a lower price? That could kill property values. OTOH, it isn't a huge amount, so I bet a lot of the winners stay and either build an addition or renovate their houses.That could either raise property values due to inflated comps, or hurt the value of houses that are comparatively not as nicely renovated.

My town has a very narrow range economically. Not many poor or lower middle class, but not too many upper middle class, either. We are surrounded by towns that are comparatively poor, and some of the richest towns in the country. Looking at the list of US counties with the highest median family income, and 3 counties that regularly rate in the richest 10 or 15 counties in the country. 80 families winning $6 million each would change the dynamics of the town, I would think.

[mister d]

... but not too many upper middle class, either.

That's only because Balboni moved out.

[A_B]

Simulate how much you can lose!

[Giff]

(On another related topic: If you have kids and you win the lottery, do you think the chances of your kid ending up "bad" are higher or lower?)

The wife and I play the same set of numbers every week for the state lotto and talk about this every once in a while during our commute to work. We figure we'd heavily invest our time into worthwhile causes for that very reason.

I'd splurge on travel and never working again. I'd hole up in a "cabin" in either Tahoe or Colorado as a home base. Pick one band a year to follow on tour. Pay off Swampers debt (Powerball winnings only).

If I won a smaller state lotto like $5 million, I'd still quit my job that very day. I'd probably find a record store somewhere to work three days a week or some shit.

[tennbengal]

(On another related topic: If you have kids and you win the lottery, do you think the chances of your kid ending up "bad" are higher or lower?)

The wife and I play the same set of numbers every week for the state lotto and talk about this every once in a while during our commute to work. We figure we'd heavily invest our time into worthwhile causes for that very reason.

I'd splurge on travel and never working again. I'd hole up in a "cabin" in either Tahoe or Colorado as a home base. Pick one band a year to follow on tour. Pay off Swampers debt (Powerball winnings only).

Now rooting like hell for Giff to win.

[Giff]

(On another related topic: If you have kids and you win the lottery, do you think the chances of your kid ending up "bad" are higher or lower?)

The wife and I play the same set of numbers every week for the state lotto and talk about this every once in a while during our commute to work. We figure we'd heavily invest our time into worthwhile causes for that very reason.

I'd splurge on travel and never working again. I'd hole up in a "cabin" in either Tahoe or Colorado as a home base. Pick one band a year to follow on tour. Pay off Swampers debt (Powerball winnings only).

Now rooting like hell for Giff to win.

130 tickets! (125 through work pool...still figure I'll win enough to pay that off, 5 personal).

[mister d]

The Onion: I Hit The Dead-Wife Insurance Jackpot!

I bided my time at the lab, kept my head down, tucked a little into the life-insurance fund each month, no matter how tight things were, and then, just 42 years later—blammo!—Leah gets sideswiped by a beer-delivery truck! I don't have to work another day in my life. At 3:15 p.m., my financial troubles were pronounced dead at the scene.

[degenerasian]

yeah I'm with you guys, this amount of money would ruin me. It would be a heavy burden.

In Canada the lottery is capped at 60 million. After that they have extra 1 million dollar draws. I think they highest it ever got was 1 60 million draw plus 20 1 million draws. This is when I buy, when there are extra draws.

[A_B]

The only way to handle it is to probably become a recluse for the first 18 months or so. Pay off close friends/family stuff but go off the grid for the inevitable family members that come out of the woodwork. Shut down Facebook and get a new e-mail address immediately. Buy a new home in a gated community with cash and put it some foundation's name or an attorney's name or something. Get one new credit card, whichever has the best security and use it for everything and pay it off every month.

Then, when it's died down, start using the foundations you created to do some good but nothing huge. Give smaller amounts to more organizations, nearly always anonymously. Fund college scholarships for family and close friends.

I'd probably create scholarships to send kids to college on full rides from impoverished areas. I'd probably do something with libraries.

[Jerloma]

Excellent insight from Fox News...

[DaveInSeattle]

I would become the major KEXP benefactor, just so I'd never have to listen to a pledge drive again.

[Johnnie]

If no one wins, it goes to 2 Billion.

But you don't really win that much because the government gets to keep a huge chunk of it. On top of The states getting to keep ask the money spent on tickets.

It's a phony status. You still get a fuckton of money, but the distinction makes it seem more prestigious.

[mister d]

Sure, in the same way Tom Brady doesn't really make $14MM per season, but talking gross rather than net isn't exactly deception.

[sancarlos]

If no one wins, it goes to 2 Billion.

But you don't really win that much because the government gets to keep a huge chunk of it. On top of The states getting to keep ask the money spent on tickets.

It's a phony status. You still get a fuckton of money, but the distinction makes it seem more prestigious.

Learned sage points out that Powerball not as much, after taxes.

[tennbengal]

If no one wins, it goes to 2 Billion.

But you don't really win that much because the government gets to keep a huge chunk of it. On top of The states getting to keep ask the money spent on tickets.

It's a phony status. You still get a fuckton of money, but the distinction makes it seem more prestigious.

Johnnie - that's you in the Onion article, right?

[mister d]

I imagine he's looking for a "Things People Say When They Realize They Embodied An Onion Parody Character" video right now.

[TT2.0]

Ive spent most of the evening on fb posting what imma do

[Johnnie]

Damn, you guys are savage. You act like I don't know the difference between gross and net. And that I'm comically unaware of how hipster-ish it sounds. What I'm getting at is this.

Anyway, dicks, a winning ticket in Chino Hills, CA takes it. Probably a newly minted L.A. Rams fan. (I'm kidding.)

The cashier is now a celebrity:

[rass]

If no one wins, it goes to 2 Billion.

But you don't really win that much because the government gets to keep a huge chunk of it. On top of The states getting to keep ask the money spent on tickets.

It's a phony status. You still get a fuckton of money, but the distinction makes it seem more prestigious.

Johnnie - that's you in the Onion article, right?

heh

[Pruitt]

This is very funny - watch the clip.

Chris Long is my new favourite NFL player.

http://deadspin.com/nfl-player-and-lott ... 1752876481

[rass]

Is he "in on the joke" too?