During a celebrity golf tournament, Warren Buffett was asked whether he wanted to wager ten dollars to win ten thousand on his chances of making a hole-in-one. The investment giant replied, "no thank you. If I have no discipline in the small things, how will I have discipline in the big ones?"
Americans spend over 65 billion dollars on lottery tickets and that number is growing. The national Powerball jackpot has climbed to over 400 million dollars. Who hasn't fantasized about becoming instantly fabulously wealthy? We've had television shows dedicated to the premise, like "The Millionaire" and "The Beverly Hillbillies." Reality television and game shows offer million dollar purses. The popular "Hunger Games" trilogy begins with a dysfunctional lottery in a dystopian society.
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Are your friends and co-workers offering you consortium 'investment' opportunities in get-rich-quick purchases? The Lottery has provided valuable funding for municipalities for many years. Of course, to do so, winnings distributed to individuals must be far less than entry fees. The last time I checked, prize distributions were just north of forty percent although some lotteries have higher payouts. Las Vegas would have a lot less business with similar odds.
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Some argue that Powerball is good for the economy, although others opine that direct spending on goods and services would have more economic value.
Darren Hardy makes great points about investing in yourself in "The Compound Effect." Imagine the impact of improving yourself 0.1% daily over even a year. How we spend our time, our money, and our energy determines our reality and our potential. Is it better to spend more time reading or texting? Would that discretionary dollar spent on lottery tickets be better invested in books or self-education?
