With an expected return of 11% on a Powerball ticket, everyone should spend the $2 to have a chance at the $1.5 billion. On the eve of the Powerball drawing, everyone is rushing to get their last minute tickets. No one actually believes that they will win, but the imagination of having that $1.5 billion makes the $2 worth it. Anyone who actually thinks they will win the $1.5 billion jackpot is crazy. The thrill might be worth the $2 for some people, but a lot of people consider it throwing away money. What if I told you that buying a Powerball ticket was the best investment you are going to make all year, would you believe me? I'll tell you why this is true. Let's look at the facts, the Powerball jackpot is currently $1.5 billion and if you win the grand prize, you are likely to take the $930 mil cash, rather …show more content…
than the 29-year annuity just like the all but two of the previous winners since 2006. That $930 mil cash is going to be taxed at the highest tax bracket, 40%, which will leave you with approximately $558 million after-taxes. According to powerball.com, the odds to win the grand prize are 1 in 292,201,338. With those odds, the expected winnings is the $558 mil multiplied by the odds of winning the jackpot. This turns out to be $1.91, less than the $2 you spend on the ticket. So far this doesn't look like the odds are in your favor, but there are other prizes you can win. Powerball.com also provides the odds for the other prizes, which are $1 mil, $50,000, $100, $100, $7,$7,$4, and $4.
If you compute the expected winnings for all 8 additional prizes, you get approximately $0.09, $0.05, $0.0002, $0.006, $0.01, $0.01, $0.04, and $0.10 respectively. If you add up all of the expected outcomes of the grand prize and the eight additional prizes, you get approximately $2.22. This means that with each $2 ticket bought, on average, you are expected to gain $0.22, which doesn't seem like a lot, but it turns out to be a 11% return on your original investment. With the S&P 500 down over 5% in the last year, the 11% expected return looks like a far better option. The 11% expected return is even better than the average stock market return of 7%. Whoever wins the Powerball tonight will have their lives changed forever. Winning the Powerball may just seem like $2 daydream of "What if", but purchasing the ticket is a lot more than that. With the grand prize of $1.5 billion, the chance has never been better. So go down to your local 7Eleven and buy yourself the best investment of your year. Who knows, maybe you'll be the grand prize
winner.
Five seconds into my friend's explanation, I gave him a thumbs down. He has been offered the chance to get in on the ground floor of a “perpetual motion machine” that is going to revolutionize the energy and automotive industries. I summarized the many similar "opportunities" I have encountered during my career and how each of them caused a lot of investors to lose their money while usually also being sincerely believed in by a “genius” inventor who the scientific community “did not understand”. I explained how humans are congenitally (it seems) unable to resist huge upside propositions like this that have little to no support in the scientific theory that ultimately must explain how they work. That is, the speculative stock and real estate “investment” industries and Las Vegas are kept in business by the human inability to assess with reasonable accuracy what a small chance to win a large amount of money is worth. Our greed consistently causes us to pay more for chances like this than we should. And promoters of various types have from time immemorial taken advantage of this human weakness. It is far better to be a seller of chances to invest of this type than a buyer. At least, I told him, the people in Las Vegas are upfront about how they make their money. Everyone knows that most gamblers lose money and the “house” gets rich. And so most people who gamble treat the cost of gambling as the price of entertainment. Those invest in speculative stocks or real estate or multi-level marketing schemes are often sucked into the same game on the basis that they really do have a reasonable chance to make money.
Has the lottery helped education as promised? There has been evidence in the Bible and ancient Rome texts that lotteries can be traced all the way back to Europe in the 15th century (Willmann 1). After that the lotteries made their way across the Atlantic from England to the United States.The first American lottery was established in Puerto Rico in 1934. This was followed by the New Hampshire lottery in 1964.The entire history of the lottery includes the debate over whether or not it is ethical.Lotteries are not only unethical but also ineffective ways to raise state revenues for education.
“Why We Keep Playing the Lottery”, by freelance journalist Adam Piore takes a very in depth look as to what drives millions of Americans to continually play the lottery when their chances of winning are virtually non-existent. He believes that because the odds of winning the lottery are so small that Americans lose the ability to conceptualize how unlikely it is that they are going to win, and therefore the risk of playing has less to do with the outcome, and more to do with hope that they are feeling when they decide to play. It 's essentially, "a game where reason and logic are rendered obsolete, and hope and dreams are on sale." (Piore 700) He also states that many Americans would rather play the lottery thinking ,"boy, I could win $100 million" (705) as opposed to thinking about all of the money they could lose over time.
Compare and Contrast! Well, you use it on a daily right? The stories “The Lottery” and “The Landlady” are two stories that you can compare and contrast. Some examples of comparisons are that both of the stories use violence, and that they both end with a plot twist no one was expecting. One example of a contrast in both of these stories is that they use their imagery differently. How are these stories alike and how are they different?
The Lottery gains through selling tickets a massive amount of utility (money/pleasure). Much more than one person who buys a lottery
Farrell, Lisa; Hartley, Roger; Lanot, Gauthier; Walker, Ian The Demand for Lotto: The Role of Conscious Selection, Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Apr2000, Vol. 18 Issue 2.
One of the little slips of paper in the box contains a black dot. Whoever pulls that slip of paper is the winner of the lottery.
In the year 2012- 2013, though several 3.1 public high school students or 81 percent, graduated on time (Public High School Graduation Rates), how many students in that number truly gain the full education. Nowadays, education is necessary, which becomes a controversial issue between parents and the school. Either Charter or Public school encourages the development or improvement of the educational system to our young, beloved children. There are further charters out there which children can stay home, however, still learn enormous things. “Lottery” documentary film is about the controversy between public and charter schools, which tells the stories of four families who tried to find a better educational
Gambling has been an activity that has been around many states for a while. People like to gamble to test their luck and hopefully get lucky enough to win a prize. Nowadays you don 't have to go to the casino to test your luck, at majority of grocery stores they offer the ability to buy scratch off ticket and or play the powerball. Many people gamble to have fun, as well as, have a good time, but there are others that gambling becomes an addiction that is hard to control. The odds of winning are less favorable than the odds of losing. According to Jost, “lotteries in 43 states” as well as, DC “collectively” made “18 billion in revenue for the state,” along with the “local government.” (Jost,525) The lottery is a great investment for many states and the local government. Something that everyone has to be aware of is that the the lottery will always make a profit. Someone might get lucky enough to win 100 dollars, while 2 other people loss 100 dollars each. The big picture is that nobody is going to invest in a company that is not going to
“The Lottery” was quite disturbing to read. It is an very unusual story that has an ending that will have you baffled. You will want to reread certain parts to see if there is anything thing that you could have missed. The title of the short story is also misleading. In most cases the lottery is a good thing. People don’t win punishment and lotteries don’t hurt them. But in this story it does just that. The author did a great job of telling how anyone and everyone can follow tradition blindly. It is dangerous not to have a mind of your own and to just follow the crowd even if you don’t understand on agree on why something is happening.
Study Commission showed “ that low and moderate income lottery taxpayers spend more on the lottery than do middle income taxpayers” (Analysis 3,4). In addition, this study revealed that education levels do affect how much a person spends on the lottery. The biggest spenders were
The way the characters present themselves in the beginning of the story puts an optimistic view on the lottery. After all, lotteries are generally associated with an increase of wealth and prosperity. The outcome of the scenario seems promising. The town’s people gather with zeal. One character, Mrs. Hutchinson, rushes to make it to the lottery on time. This reassures the reader that the lottery is a must-see event. Another character, Old Man Warner, states that the other towns were crazy for giving up the lottery. With this being said, obviously something good was to come out of the contest. The reader does not suspect the tragedy that lies in the end of the story.
Lottery" was written shortly after World War II, however it is unknown as to when
Gambling involves taking a risk. It’s something that gets our adrenaline pumping. Believe it or not, money is one of the major things that makes the world go round and some of those believe that money does indeed buy happiness in our lives. We all have heard the stories of those who have won thousands to even millions of dollars just by gambling and we instantly think that could be us. If some random person can be that one in a million, surely I can be too, right? Even though gambling is a fun thing to do, it is important to be aware of the kinds of gamblers that exist in today’s society and realize that gambling should be played in moderation. For instance, some variations of players include: The Social Gambler, The Professional Gambler, and
At first glance the title “The Lottery” could be seen as an opportunity to win something of value. Once read title is deceptive and dark with the titles true essence being the winner of the lottery ‘wins’ the loss of his or her life.