$70million Lotto Max

[Aliva]

I wouldn't call it a tax in any form. You must pay tax, you don't have to buy a lottery ticket.

 

[trevj]

Ayup. The price of having the 'what if' daydream!

Cheaper than most things you can use to distract yourself.

I know how infinitesimally small the odds of winning are, but 100 percent of the guys that won the Lottery, had tickets!

Was living in Moose Jaw Sk., when a dude there won the 6/49 two times! Most of the money went up his nose, some got wasted on a Dodge Viper, but he did pay off his parents home, so it wasn't all a loss! But he was dumping hundreds a week in to Lotto tickets too...

 

[Canadium]

It's amazing how many lottery winners blow the whole shebang in very short order with disastrous consequences. I have a vague recollection of reading about some research into this which found that this is the norm. The story I remember most is of a couple that spent their millions eating out a lot for a couple of years after which they got divorced. When I was in high school a classmates dad won the lottery. He invested most of it in a radio station which promptly went bankrupt.

 

[Doggggboy]

It's amazing how many lottery winners blow the whole shebang in very short order with disastrous consequences. I have a vague recollection of reading about some research into this which found that this is the norm. The story I remember most is of a couple that spent their millions eating out a lot for a couple of years after which they got divorced. When I was in high school a classmates dad won the lottery. He invested most of it in a radio station which promptly went bankrupt.

With the thrill of potentially winning aside, buying a lottery ticket is a bad investment by any measure.
Maybe not surprising that the winners sometimes don't have the skills to invest wisely, or better yet, safely.
Plus all the new best friends and long lost relatives that will come calling along with the charlatans with the 1000mpg carburetor that will change the world.
Lots of people are bad with money.
Sadly, having more of it suddenly doesn't make that any better.

 

[Pennywise]

I recall a local man won $100K in one of the first Ontario lottery draws in the mid 70's.
I remember so well because he blew it all in 2 years, give or take.
First off he had a custom home built on my street. Lot was too small, & the neighbourhood wasn't the best.
Then he bought a 6 unit apt. building in the area, again not the best area.....
Then a new car & a mobile home. Don't know if the MH was new or not....
A few other purchases that weren't the most prudent apparently....
He was probably related to Trump...."How to turn a interest free 5 million dollar loan from the father into $500k overnight" Lol!

 

[whydontu]

Correlation is not causation. I'm moderately careful with my money, but buy $50 in lottery tickets a month. It's just a fun thing, my only vice. I don't smoke, drink, or buy coffee at Starbucks. Plans are well-laid out if I actually win anything. During COVID, my son asked me "how will this affect your triangle of friends" so I'm pretty sure that post-lottery anyone who contacts me is just looking for coin.

And the only lottery winner stories you'll hear are the failures. There's no media coverage or juicy stories about winners who pay off their houses and put the balance into a trust fund.

 

[Rauce]

Yup, I heard an analysis recently that said that it’s not that most lottery winners blow their money it’s just that those are the ones you hear about.

Personally I can’t do it. Never bought one in my life. I can’t gamble either. Not sure how to explain it, it’s like my brain isn’t wired for it.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

When My neighbor won the million on encore it was all gone in about 4-5 years. Only thing left was a motorhome, and a mustang. They did spend over 150k on landscaping the backyard, and building a nice shop (to store the mustang), but never touched the inside of the house, and it was a dump.

At this point in my life I'd be responsible with it, having made seemingly every financial mistake possible in my 20's......I think I've got it out of my system now. .

If I won the 70 mil, the first thing I'd do is get a new phone # and go silent for a while...... I'd probably blow through 2-3 mil pretty easy in the first year paying off a few mortgages of friends and select family. I don't want any excuses when I need one of them to take a day off work to go golfing or fishing.... I'd buy/build a modest cottage with big shop on on a quiet lake somewhere, but keep our current house. New golf clubs, new truck, etc....The rest would be setup in a family trust for us and the kids. I'd still buy old junk to fix up, but I'd at least have the time to work on it. 70 million is an incomprehensible amount of money for most to live and survive on. Invested wisely and spent modestly should last a family generations. But that's never usually the case. I'd probably still work for myself, but i'd quit my current job so fast the door would fall off hinges from me leaving in such a hurry. I'd still take my tools home though. Yeah, I've thought about it a time or twelve.....

I gotta buy a ticket first though. I just went through my wallet and checked the 4 tickets in there from over the past year. One free play from Jan, so I don't even have to spend $5 tonight . Woohoo.

 

[Pennywise]

And fast forward 20 years....in 1996 a co-worker won 6.2 million in the 649 draw.
He enjoyed his wealth for 20 years or so until he passed away, sadly.
But rumor has it that he couldn't take any of it with him.....
But his widow was/is very merry.

 

[Pennywise]

Yup, I heard an analysis recently that said that it’s not that most lottery winners blow their money it’s just that those are the ones you hear about.

Personally I can’t do it. Never bought one in my life. I can’t gamble either. Not sure how to explain it, it’s like my brain isn’t wired for it.

Yeah, I don't gamble either although will drop a couple of bucks on a lottery ticket once in a blue moon.
A couple of relatives have had issues with poorly controlled gambling, it's sorta hard to un-see the car wrecks...

 

[Canadium]

At my age I figure I would blow it all as quickly as possible! Not much time left anyway, might as well go out with a bang!!! LOL

 

[trevj]

Yeah, I don't gamble either although will drop a couple of bucks on a lottery ticket once in a blue moon.
A couple of relatives have had issues with poorly controlled gambling, it's sorta hard to un-see the car wrecks...

Used to play Poker with my dad, for my allowance money. Pretty much cured me of gambling in a general sense...

Spent some time in Casinos. Ten bucks worth of change would last longer than if I spent the money on a movie ticket. Was fun to see the pissy look on some Casino Granny's face when you dropped a nickel in to the machine she just left, and got a fifty cent payout!
My ex was bad though. She could burn through fifty bucks, while I was still trying to figure out the strategy that some dude was using (if it was strategy) with his bets on the Roulette wheel...

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Correlation is not causation. I'm moderately careful with my money, but buy $50 in lottery tickets a month. It's just a fun thing, my only vice. I don't smoke, drink, or buy coffee at Starbucks. Plans are well-laid out if I actually win anything. During COVID, my son asked me "how will this affect your triangle of friends" so I'm pretty sure that post-lottery anyone who contacts me is just looking for coin.

And the only lottery winner stories you'll hear are the failures. There's no media coverage or juicy stories about winners who pay off their houses and put the balance into a trust fund.

I dont go to the movies or eat out any more. I buy a few lottery tickets when lotto max is over 40 million. It is purely from my entertainment budget.

I learned early from my grandfather about investing small sums regularly, and I knew a family from NFLD who had moved to Toronto and became superintendents of a very cheap apartment building. They too won 100k in one of the first Canadian lotteries. They bought a motor home (always a horrid investment) and blew the entire amount on squat. They ended up back in the same crappy building as superintendants again. They wrecked the motor home... and didn't recoup the loss via insurance. They could have bought three homes, lived in one and rented the other two and lived comfortably at the time.

I also worked at an arcade where they owner skimmed hundreds in cash every week to play the lottery. He never won anything big. Had did this for years. Had he invested in CDs at the time he'd have made 10% annually at the time and gained quite the nest egg... even if he reported the income and paid tax on it. He did not.

 

[whydontu]

I dont go to the movies or eat out any more. I buy a few lottery tickets when lotto max is over 40 million. It is purely from my entertainment budget.

I learned early from my grandfather about investing small sums regularly, and I knew a family from NFLD who had moved to Toronto and became superintendents of a very cheap apartment building. They too won 100k in one of the first Canadian lotteries. They bought a motor home (always a horrid investment) and blew the entire amount on squat. They ended up back in the same crappy building as superintendants again. They wrecked the motor home... and didn't recoup the loss via insurance. They could have bought three homes, lived in one and rented the other two and lived comfortably at the time.

I also worked at an arcade where they owner skimmed hundreds in cash every week to play the lottery. He never won anything big. Had did this for years. Had he invested in CDs at the time he'd have made 10% annually at the time and gained quite the nest egg... even if he reported the income and paid tax on it. He did not.

The day I cashed my first full-time paycheck, my father took me to see his insurance agent and signed me up for life insurance and a saving plan. Started withdrawing from the savings plan last year when I retired. Wisest thing my father ever taught me.

Lottery tickets are fun, not investments.

 

[Susquatch]

A couple of relatives have had issues with poorly controlled gambling, it's sorta hard to un-see the car wrecks...

Like you, I'm wary of the addiction. When I was 20 or so, an older fellow I knew got addicted, lost his house and his family, then committed suicide. Later, my wife's aunt got addicted, lost her house and her husbands retirement savings. Just recently, a neighbour lost his farm.

But I don't think lottery tickets are an addiction and I don't fault others who buy tickets.

Although I only buy tickets for charity raffles and fund raisers, I do gamble in other ways. For example:

I never buy extended warranties. I figure if I add up all the money I might have spent on extended warranties for everything I buy, I can afford to buy a brand new fridge (or whatever) 3 years in, with zero hassle.

I have also always believed in putting money aside to "gamble" on opportunities - like auctions or a yard sale.

Like @TorontoBuilder, I learned to save early in life - when I could least afford it. My trick was to put 1/3 of every raise after taxes that I ever got away. That way our standard of living could improve with 2/3 of a pay raise and so could savings. Since I didn't have it before, I could easily live without it. After many years and many raises both big and small, the cummulative savings started to grow.

My biggest gamble is to hope that I live long enough to spend my savings and if not that my wife and kids will.

 

[140mower]

My biggest gamble is to hope that I live long enough to spend my savings and if not that my wife and kids will.

This might not be of much help, but if you folks find it too much of a struggle....... I'm a pretty good spender, you could send over the excesses and I'll show you how it's done.

 

[Susquatch]

This might not be of much help, but if you folks find it too much of a struggle....... I'm a pretty good spender, you could send over the excesses and I'll show you how it's done.

You were one of several that I expected would reply that way. Thanks for not disappointing me!

I still remember being asked a few years ago to put @kevin.decelles into my will......

 

[trevj]

I never buy extended warranties. I figure if I add up all the money I might have spent on extended warranties for everything I buy, I can afford to buy a brand new fridge (or whatever) 3 years in, with zero hassle.

Extended warranties are so much not worth buying, they should be made illegal. Pure profit, esp in the Cars and trucks world.

And a high pressure pitch to buy an extended warranty, esp on a vehicle, is best met with the phrases "These are that bad then? I should buy something different, then! Goodbye."

I didn't have a bunch of money to save as a kid. But I did get in to a job that offered a great pension, and kept my eye firmly on the prize. I did dump the odd sum in to RRSP's, but paltry in comparison to anyone who had to plan for their own needs...

 

[whydontu]

My biggest gamble is to hope that I live long enough to spend my savings and if not that my wife and kids will.

Best strategy - try to have enough savings to maintain you and your wife until you shuffle off this mortal coil, but not much more. Don’t make you kids fight over the inheritance, just exit with enough left over to pay for a really good wake.

 

[slow-poke]

Sad story, I had an uncle that was a serious alcoholic (apparently drank a 40 every day), he got sick and died fairly young. My aunt also an alcoholic took out a big insurance policy on him, as he became sicker and sicker, the insurance premiums were going up and up, obviously the insurance company wanted out, but she took loans to keep up on the premiums. When she finally cashed in she spent it ALL within a year or two. Bought a Jaguar, and new cars for the kids and all expenses trips to the Caribbean for all her new friends 10-20 at a time. Outrageous Christmas gifts on and on. There is one in every family.