Potential Benefits of Playing the Lottery

The Powerball jackpot is above $700-million and climbing toward a billion dollars again. Is it worth buying a lottery ticket?

The Odds

The mathematical odds of winning the jackpot don’t look good at approximately 1-in-292-million. But on the other hand, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” as Wayne Gretzky and Michael Scott say. If you don’t play, you can’t win.

As of now, I’ve only bought about two dozen total lottery tickets in my whole life. I’m not a big gambler, and I realize the lottery is a lousy investment plan. But part of me wonders if there are psychological benefits to regularly buying lottery tickets. Maybe there’s a mental/emotional benefit to being “in the game”, where winning “the big one” is a true possibility. Here’s what I mean:

Expansive Midset

I’ve noticed often when a person purchases a lottery ticket, they instantly start thinking big. In a way, it’s as if they’ve already won the jackpot. Mentally, they decide how they’ll take the payout, what the taxes will be, how they’ll spend, protect, invest, and give away their big win. It allows them to visualize what they really want, imagine handling wealth well, and feel the abundance. It allows their sense of possibility to expand. I see value in this. It seems when you feel lucky and abundant, you’re more likely to behave accordingly, and create lucky and abundant results.

The Price

I wonder if this expansive mindset, along with the slim but real chance of winning, could be purchased by buying lottery tickets regularly year-round. Using Powerball’s least expensive $2 ticket as an example, if you bought a ticket during both weekly drawings, that would cost $208 a year. About $17 a month. Maybe it’s worth it.

A Better Bet

Of course, there are some downsides too. Mainly, the lottery is no surefire way to get rich. And it’s best not to overdo it with gambling. An exponentially better plan is to build wealth the old-fashioned way: work hard to earn money, eliminate debt, be frugal, save plenty, and invest wisely. Obviously that’s a better bet.

Have it Both Ways

But I do think it’s possible to have it both ways, to be good with money and play the lottery. It’s an interesting thought experiment.

With all that being said, I did just buy a lottery ticket. Not sure if I’ll buy one next week or the week after. We’ll see.

I’d love to hear your opinions on the lottery. Best of luck my friends.