What amount is for you an ideal lottery win?

$50,000,000 would be about right, I think! Uncle Sam would take 50-60% and the $25 to $20 million left would get me by for a few years....

Problem is I don't buy any tickets...
 

Remy said:
I don't buy lottery tickets. I'd never win. But 1 million would work for me.
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I don't buy them either... but if I were to win..£1 million at this stage in my life would be superb...

When the lottery first started in the UK in 1994 30 years ago this year ... I bought the very first ticket.. I still have it today...I'm hoping that it will become valuable .

In the first year I bought the occasional lottery ticket.. won various amounts, the largest was £70.. then one day I saw the long queues at the shop of people desperate to get a ticket before that nights draw.. and I thought.. this is happening all over the country, and only one person is going to win the jackpot.. so I put my money away and never bought another ticket...

here in the UK, winnings are NON taxable..we get to keep every penny..
 
Truly really, what would you do with a million pounds or dollars?

I would be overwhelmed. Perhaps we should be careful what we wish for. I have heard of big lottery winners whose marriages broke up, they spent the lot foolishly and ended up poor again.
 

Rose65 said:
Truly really, what would you do with a million pounds or dollars?

I would be overwhelmed. Perhaps we should be careful what we wish for. I have heard of big lottery winners whose marriages broke up, they spent the lot foolishly and ended up poor again.
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I wouldn't be overwhelmed. Houses here where I live costs upwards of £ 2 and 3 million.... I could easily spend a million in 5 minutes on a lesser house
 
Tommy said:
As someone once said, "Lotteries are a tax on people who are poor at math." :)
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I spent a decade at our local casino, so I can truthfully say that I made hundreds of thousands out of gambling. We used to say that MUG stood for Mathematically Unaware Gambler.
Tonight's Powerball has jack potted to $AUD 150,000,000.00 plenty of charities and community projects will also be winners as the Lotteries Commission makes grants with the profits. My wife once started a community toy library and the Lotteries Commission gave it $AUD 3000.
 
I live in a modest house and I love it. I would like to replace carpets etc. but I don't need too much money to be happy really. It is security I wish for, probably about £50,000 maximum in practice.
 
I don't buy lottery tickets but if I did and won, ideally it would be at least one million. $50,000 doesn't amount to much these days, especially when the taxes are taken out of it (if they tax lotteries where you are Rose). They take a huge bite here.
 
Rose65 said:
Truly really, what would you do with a million pounds or dollars?

I would be overwhelmed. Perhaps we should be careful what we wish for. I have heard of big lottery winners whose marriages broke up, they spent the lot foolishly and ended up poor again.
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I'd buy a house. Nothing fancy. Hire someone to build cat walks inside and a catio outside. How many cats would I have? Not sure.

You are absolutely right about the fools. But my needs are more simple. Some people not so much.

@hollydolly I know I'd never win. Can't imagine how that does happen to some people. And I'm sorry to say, some very undeserving. Amazing it's not taxed. Wow, I never knew that. Certainly taxed here.
 
Remy said:
I'd buy a house. Nothing fancy. Hire someone to build cat walks inside and a catio outside. How many cats would I have? Not sure.

You are absolutely right about the fools. But my needs are more simple. Some people not so much.

@hollydolly I know I'd never win. Can't imagine how that does happen to some people. And I'm sorry to say, some very undeserving. Amazing it's not taxed. Wow, I never knew that. Certainly taxed here.
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yes I know about the tax on winnings in the USA... I remember many years ago talking to a couple who had won on a US game show.. they'd won a boat and had to pay the Tax on it...

we were appalled, because all the prizes on game shows here whether items or money are tax free... what would be the point in winning a show, and the prize having to be sold to pay the tax..that's madness !
 
So another question might be, why despite many like members herein, people still have so little influence on how large lotteries are run? Obviously they have been listening to by now dated advice of supposed experts that from the beginning expected they would result in greatest revenues by having news media play up enormous money numbers. That noted, it may be that in the future when enough ordinary betting people grow weary of the obvious bottomless futility, their games will change.
 
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hollydolly said:
yes I know about the tax on winnings in the USA... I remember many years ago talking to a couple who had won on a US game show.. they'd won a boat and had to pay the Tax on it...

we were appalled, because all the prizes on game shows here whether items or money are tax free... what would be the point in winning a show, and the prize having to be sold to pay the tax..that's madness !
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And what if they didn't want the boat? I remember hearing that years ago, that people would have to pay the tax on the item from a game show win. If it were a car or something the people could really use, then ok. But I remember on the Price is Right, snowmobiles and other things many may not want. I wouldn't want a boat for sure!
 
Remy said:
I don't buy lottery tickets. I'd never win. But 1 million would work for me.
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Sure you could win. Only people who never buy, or find, lottery tickets don't win. You've got the same chance as anybody else. Good luck. :giggle:
 
$1,000,000 and you'll never hear from me again. I've played the lottery, the odds are not so good. I know people who play their numbers regularly and admit they only won about $100 after buying tickets for years. I've won $100 twice but they were scratch off tickets. Haven't bothered with it for years.
 
The lottery is just another reason I'm happy to be retired. When working every time some lotto jackpot got high someone would start a lottery pool to buy tickets for the group. Most of the time I wouldn't play but always worried about it, even knowing the odds of winning are slim if they did win it would suck being the only person left at the company.

As a philosophical question if I invested a dollar and won fifty I'd be thrilled. That would cover my grocery bill for the week.
 
I have no limit, the more the better. I'd just adjust my spending plans based on how much I won.

Hopefully I would use the money for good causes -- tho the particular charity ideas keep changing as my life changes, reflecting my own interests, from my idea when I was a young adult that I would pay teens to read books to younger kids after school, to my older horse-crazy self wanting to support horse charities and riding lessons and land to ride on, then at a period when I was listening to entrepreneur podcasts I planned that I'd use lottery winnings to be an angel investor supporting promising small business startups. Nowadays probably use the money toward parks and the arts.

I guess I might help Bill Gates with third world toilet inventions, but, ugh.
 
Instead of one person winning a one billion dollar prize, it could be 1,000 people winning million dollar $1,000,000 prizes. Since most people playing the lotteries are working class and poor, that would make huge difference and incentive to far larger segments of the population. Actually, for wealthy folks for which $1,000,000 is not much an attraction, that is because they already have plenty of $$$, so don't much need it.

One thing I've already read concerning the pay outs is large payouts attract more players. However they actually don't know that to be the case so that is just speculation, because it has always been large payouts.
 
Rose65 said:
Truly really, what would you do with a million pounds or dollars?

I would be overwhelmed. Perhaps we should be careful what we wish for. I have heard of big lottery winners whose marriages broke up, they spent the lot foolishly and ended up poor again.
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Rose, there are people I care about who work hard everyday but are still struggling to pay their bills and keep roofs over their heads. I would give them some of the money. Of course I'd share some with my son and give a little to each of my 5 grandchildren. I'd take a few really nice vacations, perhaps cruise to the islands or charter a private plane to get there.

Although I'm pretty set financially, I'd still add some to my pot in case I do have to be put into a nursing home; then I could get a private room. Nursing home stays here in New Jersey are among the highest in the country. A private room here would cost about $159,336 a year; a semi private $147,576 according to seniorliving.org Better yet though, I'd be able to afford round the clock private duty nursing care (and Aetna would actually pay for 35 hours a week).

People who won lottery money and blew through it didn't know how to handle money plus they let money change them. I learned how to do it well since my mid twenties. They also forgot that taxes had to be paid on that money and wound up owing the IRS. People get crazy when it comes to money. Some have entitlement issues. Spouses and so called friends get mad because you didn't give them what they think they are entitled to, etc.
 
Remy said:
And what if they didn't want the boat? I remember hearing that years ago, that people would have to pay the tax on the item from a game show win. If it were a car or something the people could really use, then ok. But I remember on the Price is Right, snowmobiles and other things many may not want. I wouldn't want a boat for sure!
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People were given the choice of the item or a lesser amount in cash as I recall.
 
Whether I won one million or 50 million, I’d be pestered by people wanting a cut. I might as well go big.

No problem with the government taking a portion. There’s no tax on your winnings in Canada. Half the clientele in border city casinos are American.

There was a Price is Right story of a woman winning an emu, or some such exotic animal. They expected she’d just accept the money offered. No way. They ended up having to pay her a large amount because that critter was really valuable or belonged to the zoo.
 

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