[MSchu]

Scoops logic for figuring lifestyle choices based on a comparison of a lottery purchase and a mutual fund is so flawed it's not even funny, it's sad.

I certainly hope the more impressionable here on the forum do not take him seriously.

$20 in lotto odds are 1 in 175 million for a return on investment of $1/$550,000,000.00 IF you win and do not split. otherwise it's a negative ROI of 100% or $20/$0 when you loose.

$20 mutual fund deposit that is in NO WAY guaranteed to perform at a stated level(it only has the probability of performing at the level) of 10% yields $2 for a ROI of $1/$.2 per annum which eventually will compound to a fraction of that .20 per annum or .02 for the first year.

those are the real figures for this Lottery pick. no other prediction or contribution should be included in this comparison.

I defy anyone to even come within a fraction of the Lottery ROI using any legitimate or illegitimate investment on a one time basis.

[MSchu]

Oh yeah... I got my $20 worth right here

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by Cyborgt800

Show where I said the lottery was a solid investment strategy?

What I said was SOME people can't handle money no matter how much you give them...which is why some win big and go broke soon after.

You're trying to connect different colored dots!

And spending $30 bucks and taking a 40 mile drive to AZ once per month isn't killing me...besides, It comes out of my entertainment budget... How much do you blow on things you enjoy that might seem like a waste to ME or others?

Do you drive an SUV or truck? Do you GOFF? Do you eat out a lot? Do you travel? Do you buy Starbucks drinks? Do you have cable/TV?

Those things could seem wasteful to some, including me! I could judge you and say that whatever you spend on that stuff would be better used in some investment...


But in doing so I'd be sounding like a big judgmental D-bag wouldn't I?

LOL, FWIW driving to AZ and back in my little car HARDLY needs a fill-up! ...and not having a TV or cable saves me $100+ each month so if I want to take a nice drive and spend a few bucks on lottery that's MY business....besides, I still have $60+ dollars left over to invest!.... :P

You're not getting it. I am most CERTAINLY connecting the same-colored dots. You play lottery because it might pay off in a big way in the future. If not this jackpot, maybe next time. Right?

Take that SAME money and invest it. And you actually get something in return. If you invest a single dollar into a decent index fund, and then do nothing, you will have $60 when you retire. Your opportunity cost of the lottery ticket isn't $1. It's $60. If you take that $100 per month you're blowing on lottery, and invest it in safe index funds, after forty years you have $380,000. Even after 25 years you have $140,000.

Be honest with yourself: What do you think you're going to have after 25 years spending $100 per month on lottery? If your answer is anything other than "nothing" then you are deluding yourself.

It drives me nuts when I hear people say, "I buy a ticket and I get to dream for a few days." I dream too -- I dream of a nice, comfortable retirement, long before I reach the age of 60. At this rate, we can probably retire at the end of this decade. Think of all those DECADES that we don't have to work, all that extra time together -- all because we invested instead of gambled.

Now, I'll grant you, the economy could go over a cliff. Then we'll be just as screwed as everybody else. But barring a zombie apocalypse, we're in good shape to retire before we hit 50.


That's the difference between piddling money away foolishly and investment.

[newopty]

I think you guys are comparing oranges and apples. A mutual fund is for an investment. A lottery is for fun and excitement.

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by newopty

I think you guys are comparing oranges and apples. A mutual fund is for an investment. A lottery is for fun and excitement.

And we have a winner!!!

[von949]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

It drives me nuts when I hear people say, "I buy a ticket and I get to dream for a few days." I dream too -- I dream of a nice, comfortable retirement, long before I reach the age of 60. At this rate, we can probably retire at the end of this decade. Think of all those DECADES that we don't have to work, all that extra time together -- all because we invested instead of gambled.

Sounds like your only entertainment in life is early retirement. So that means dreaming of retiring early is your sole entertainment. As if you are holding off on enjoying life until you officially retire. So I take it as you are not enjoying life until you hit that certain age and not working anymore.

You get the point...

Some people are living life now. Doing everything they enjoy in life now while planning for retirement. It's not hard to balance. Plus, you really can't equate playing lotto with investing.

Buying a lottery ticket to me is the same as purchasing an alcoholic beverage. Both are temporary feel goods and you will have nothing to show for it in excess after 50 years of drinking or 50 years of non winning lotto tickets.

Do you drink?






Sent from cell...

[orca17]

Originally Posted by kcoliver

You can buy Powerball tickets in Littlefield, AZ - at the Beaver Dam store. Off I-15 N. just past Mesquite. Maybe 90 miles from N. Las Vegas.

This place may be a bit of a drive, but it's a heck of a lot less busy than Rosie's.

Just like the MegaLotto the last time it got big - I drove to Baker, bought my tickets and returned in less than half the time it would have taken me just to get in the door at Primm.

[Californiapch]

Originally Posted by von949

Buying a lottery ticket to me is the same as purchasing an alcoholic beverage. Both are temporary feel goods and you will have nothing to show for it in excess after 50 years of drinking or 50 years of non winning lotto tickets.

Do you drink?

And lottery tickets don't cause liver cancer like drinking can. So, lottery tickets are safer / better!


Actually, my smoking fund...... is my lottery ticket fund . because I don't smoke.


Brian

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by von949

Sounds like your only entertainment in life is early retirement. So that means dreaming of retiring early is your sole entertainment. As if you are holding off on enjoying life until you officially retire. So I take it as you are not enjoying life until you hit that certain age and not working anymore.

You get the point...

Some people are living life now. Doing everything they enjoy in life now while planning for retirement. It's not hard to balance. Plus, you really can't equate playing lotto with investing.

Buying a lottery ticket to me is the same as purchasing an alcoholic beverage. Both are temporary feel goods and you will have nothing to show for it in excess after 50 years of drinking or 50 years of non winning lotto tickets.

Do you drink?

Sure I drink, everyone knows that. We also take whopping long vacations. And we indulge our hobbies.

And yet we manage to save and invest anywhere between 50 and 80% of our income every year. Depends on what kind of year it is. But even when we're only investing half of what we make, we're still plowing all our dividends back into the various funds that produce them. We're at the point where our passive income is surpassing our wages.

The reason we're able to do this is we don't waste money. We don't open up all the windows in July then crank the air conditioner down to 65f. We don't buy expensive food, let it go bad and then throw it out. And we don't buy lottery tickets.

A $25 per week lottery habit is financially reckless. That's basically throwing away a quarter million dollars in retirement funds.

[von949]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Sure I drink, everyone knows that.
A $25 per week lottery habit is financially reckless. That's basically throwing away a quarter million dollars in retirement funds.

I understand where you are coming from completely. In a frugal/investment thread I would be all ears. But this is a thread about being entertained by playing a game. You have to admit that $25 a week on alcohol could be put to better use also, don't you think? Same with spending $25 a week on smoking, $25 on going out to eat, $25 on going to the movies, black jack...

It's all the same.




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