OK, I admit it. I caught the Mega Millions bug last week. Like millions of others I succumbed to the “it could be me” fever and took a shot at the new American Dream of instant wealth.
And I wasn’t alone. Friends of mine, who had never played before, lined up at corner stores and gas stations right alongside diehard lottery aficionados to cast their lot in the lottery frenzy.
All told, Americans spent over $1.46 billion on lottery tickets in hopes of capturing Friday night’s $656 million payoff. The 1 in 176 million odds of winning obviously did little to dampen enthusiasm.
But let’s be clear, spending a few bucks on lottery tickets for a “cheap” form of entertainment is one thing, pinning your economic hopes on unrealistic long shots is another.
Unfortunately, for many, the lottery has become the all elusive hope for better financial fortunes. “All it takes is a dollar and a dream,” so the ad goes. Never mind that state-run lotteries have the worst odds of any form of legal gambling in America, paying out just 47 cents for every dollar “invested.”
According to a Consumer Federation of America and Financial Planning Association study, 21% of people believed the lottery was the most practical way to amass several hundred thousand dollars.
And increasingly it’s minorities and the poor who have fallen hardest for this line of reasoning. Take Illinois, for instance. According to the Chicago Reporter, predominantly African-American and Latino, low-income Chicago communities generate the largest lottery sales in the state.
Growing up, “playing the numbers” was as much a part of my extended family’s life as collard greens and ham hocks. Birthdays, anniversaries, and special “lucky numbers” would fuel the $3, $5, even $20 a day spending at the local corner store or 7-eleven, all followed by the temporary elation right before the 7 p.m. drawing and the post drawing “analysis” among relatives.
And some relative hitting the occasional $400 cash payout was somehow proof that it was all worth it. Funny though, I can never remember the numbers ever making any of my relatives particularly rich.
Yet, herein lies the most bittersweet irony. One of the most proven formulas for financial success is taking small amounts of money, investing or saving it on a consistent basis over a long period of time.
It’s the same formula that allowed, Oseola McCarty, a washerwoman in the deep South with a just a sixth grade education, to accumulate $150,000 on a menial salary. It’s how Earl Crawley, a parking lot attendant making $20,000 a year, retired with a $500,000 stock portfolio.
Likewise, millions of diehard lottery fans are “investing” small amounts on a regular basis, over years and decades, but handing it over to the lottery, instead of using it to create financial independence.
I can’t help but think of how many of my relatives and millions of die-hard lottery fans could have used their $5 or $10 a day habit over 5, 10, 20, even 30 years to build true financial security, instead of taking part in a sucker’s bet for elusive riches.
BMWK, what’s your take? Do you play the lottery? Do you view it as mindless entertainment or consider it exploitation of the most economically disadvantaged?
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