Author Topic: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?  (Read 20096 times)

Roboturner

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #50 on: January 13, 2016, 01:50:04 PM »
You people that say you wouldn't want to win baffle me.  Just don't tell anyone but a tax lawyer from a top 10 US law firm, have him/her set up trust (blind perhaps) and give the lottery ticket to the trust.  Now you are the billionaire next door that nobody realizes.

Yeah is the hassle of hiring a good lawyer and making a couple trusts really worth it? How much time would that take? lets be generous and say 100 hours, I'm sure we all make more than $15,000,000/hr sooooo totally not worth it right?

JLee

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #51 on: January 13, 2016, 01:51:08 PM »
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks $1.4B is just way too much hassle :-)  I wouldn't mind a million, though...

It's not nearly $1.4bil, though. 930mil lump sum, ~550mil after tax.

zephyr911

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #52 on: January 13, 2016, 02:01:55 PM »
I want all the money I can ever get. Of course, anything past a million or so is going to other people/groups that I deem worthy. I like giving.

justajane

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #53 on: January 13, 2016, 02:07:32 PM »
I want all the money I can ever get. Of course, anything past a million or so is going to other people/groups that I deem worthy. I like giving.

Yes, when I think about winning all that money (and we did buy a few tickets this afternoon just for the dream), I get excited about how much fun it would be to give it all away. I have pretty modest needs in life, which means I don't get that excited about all the things I would buy.

PathtoFIRE

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #54 on: January 13, 2016, 02:41:26 PM »
My lottery fun is to play once I hear about it in the news. I bought some tickets two drawings ago, then let my winnings ride on the last jackpot. No winners, so no additional plays this time, but I'm certainly in for the 10k as well:)  I guess I could see why someone wouldn't want to win, but I think the downsides for me would be small compared to the upside, and I agree with those of you above in that I would prefer a smaller more anonymous prize...that's counter to my rule above to play only when in the news though, but hey, nothing about a lottery is rational anyway, so why should be motivations be too!

AH013

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #55 on: January 13, 2016, 02:54:31 PM »

meh, with so much money there are few problems you couldn't solve. Hire Mike Tyson to punch anyone in the face that ask you for money, then pay them the settlement. Wouldn't even be a percent of the dividends on that stache.


Have to go with utilizing his best skills there Scandium.

"Oh you want some money?  I have $100,000 for you in a special bank account.  The account number is *psst* *psst* *psst*"
And right when they lean their ear in to hear you, yell out "Tyson!  Bite it off!"

Totemic

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #56 on: January 13, 2016, 03:25:49 PM »
I'd give away 99% of it and if I was required to be interviewed I would say as much on TV. Less of a chance to be harassed that way. And 1% of 800mil (approx after tax lump sum?) is still 8mil, more than enough to live in style the rest of my life.

Villanelle

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #57 on: January 13, 2016, 04:51:30 PM »
I don't know whether I would or not. I'd be wealthy, but would I be successful? I want to earn wealth and success by overcoming obstacles, so that it's meaningful and builds character. Were I to win, I feel like people would credit my wealth to luck. That would be unsatisfying on a deep, personal level. I'm driven to succeed because I got a late start in life and people had given up on me. I have a chip on my shoulder, something to prove. My personal "story" is one of turning it all around and making good. If wealth just landed in my lap, I honestly think I'd be unhappy.

That being said, I did buy a few tickets :)

Does it matter what other people attribute your wealth to?  I think I could feel very successful running a non-profit or doing other things that make a difference in the world.  And I don't think I'd stop achieving just because I had gobs of money, so suddenly things like polishing my novel and publishing it seem doable. Or building several houses that you rent (free) for a year to disabled vets, or whatever causes you cherish. If you have something to prove to other people, those things might not be good enough, but if you have something to prove to yourself, they should be more than enough. 

dragoncar

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #58 on: January 13, 2016, 05:13:01 PM »
Just walked by a 7-11, it's getting intense in there.

Rachelocity

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #59 on: January 13, 2016, 05:20:55 PM »
I bought a ticket, because it's now a cultural phenomenon and it's a cheap way to be part of it.  I am hoping to win a million, which would be the perfect amount to leverage myself into retirement.  But I won't say no to the 10K so generously offered!  And of course, I will match it if I win the 1.5 billion. 

browneyedgirl

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #60 on: January 13, 2016, 06:13:24 PM »
I'd like the money, but it does give me pause. I think I might be happier winning the million dollar prize. :)

JLee

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #61 on: January 13, 2016, 07:45:20 PM »
I'd give away 99% of it and if I was required to be interviewed I would say as much on TV. Less of a chance to be harassed that way. And 1% of 800mil (approx after tax lump sum?) is still 8mil, more than enough to live in style the rest of my life.

More like 550 after taxes, but yeah...even 1% of that is plenty.

MacGyverIt

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #62 on: January 13, 2016, 08:19:04 PM »
I haven't bought any tickets; I've only bought two lotto tickets in my life actually. My folks bought one each and my mom said something similar to the sentiment on this thread, how difficult it could be to win so much money and who needs that amount of cash? I said, well, think about the amazing change you could make for the world: rebuild schools, pay great teachers a great wage to work in tough places where they're most needed, rehabilitation centers, etc., and since you're so insanely wealthy you can spend as much or as little time you want ensuring these efforts are fulfilled.

And I'd probably buy David Bowie's apartment on Lafayette Street in NYC. Because he lived there, which would be my version of living in a (music) church. And you *know* it's a great apartment and secure enough that "friends" and relatives can't get in without my express approval. Based in NYC, I could attend any music and cultural events I'd want or travel anywhere in the world. Visit at least every capitol city in most countries of the world, tour every great vineyard, see every museum. Music and language lessons.

I'd be a global gypsy and take my closest friends and family along with me for the ride.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2016, 08:44:34 PM by MacGyverIt »

dragoncar

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #63 on: January 13, 2016, 08:34:47 PM »
Ultimate prank for those who are ready to FIRE:

Tomorrow, tell everyone that you are resigning because you won the Powerball.  Actually leave and don't come back.

Works better if you live near the winning ticket, I guess, but it'll blow everyone's minds for a little while. 

JLee

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #64 on: January 13, 2016, 09:08:26 PM »
Ultimate prank for those who are ready to FIRE:

Tomorrow, tell everyone that you are resigning because you won the Powerball.  Actually leave and don't come back.

Works better if you live near the winning ticket, I guess, but it'll blow everyone's minds for a little while.

LOL, that would be fantastic.

ender

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #65 on: January 14, 2016, 05:25:04 AM »
Meh, seems like a small price to pay.  Take a photo, get your name blurbed everywhere, probably all over the world.  In exchange you get a large share of 1.4 billion.

Steps to take:
Delete any social media
Toss phone in nearest body of water
Cash checks.

Then just disappear.  Go to Europe.  Charter a boat and island hop the Caribbean for a year.  Buy camping gear and go to the Boundary waters canoe area and arrange to have supplies flown in once a month.  Or insert whatever remote destination you would enjoy.

Granted I have no kids, don't feel the need to see family all that often, and no real attachment to my current location.

This is pretty correct.  Mine was pretty similiar.  First, find a big law firm and hire said law firm partner.  Claim money, leave country for 1 or 2 years, have very little contact with anyone.  Hire a security (team) to monitor me.  I presume it would cost somewhere between $150-$250k a year.

If necessary, change name and come back to States.

I feel like I agree with this in theory but have enough friendships/relationships that I've built over the course of my life that I wouldn't want to destroy/start over with.

I don't know whether I would or not. I'd be wealthy, but would I be successful? I want to earn wealth and success by overcoming obstacles, so that it's meaningful and builds character. Were I to win, I feel like people would credit my wealth to luck. That would be unsatisfying on a deep, personal level. I'm driven to succeed because I got a late start in life and people had given up on me. I have a chip on my shoulder, something to prove. My personal "story" is one of turning it all around and making good. If wealth just landed in my lap, I honestly think I'd be unhappy.

That being said, I did buy a few tickets :)

I think this is a factor too. I think that if I could just quit through no real effort of my own, it'd be somehow less satisfying than quitting based on my savings.

Which is somewhat irrational, when I think about it, since I have had plenty of "luck" getting me to where I'm at financially anyways.

Ultimate prank for those who are ready to FIRE:

Tomorrow, tell everyone that you are resigning because you won the Powerball.  Actually leave and don't come back.

Works better if you live near the winning ticket, I guess, but it'll blow everyone's minds for a little while.

This is particularly amusing since my last day at my current employer is tomorrow. Maybe I should tell people that ;)

bb11

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #66 on: January 14, 2016, 09:57:21 AM »
Meh, seems like a small price to pay.  Take a photo, get your name blurbed everywhere, probably all over the world.  In exchange you get a large share of 1.4 billion.

Steps to take:
Delete any social media
Toss phone in nearest body of water
Cash checks.

Then just disappear.  Go to Europe.  Charter a boat and island hop the Caribbean for a year.  Buy camping gear and go to the Boundary waters canoe area and arrange to have supplies flown in once a month.  Or insert whatever remote destination you would enjoy.

Granted I have no kids, don't feel the need to see family all that often, and no real attachment to my current location.

Agree with this. I think people overestimate the permanence of the celebrity status of these short term news stories.

What's the name of the balloon boy? What about that kid in Texas who built a clock that looked like a bomb? Can you even name a previous lottery winner?

The issue would obviously be personal connections. That might be tough but that'd be an okay problem to have for me, because I have no problem telling people "no thanks."

Agreed with this. I think people drastically overestimate the amount of hassle you'd get from non-family members. How many lottery winners do you know the names of?

Every owner of an American major pro sports team is a billionaire with their name all over the news (much moreso than a one-time lottery winner) but it's not as if they have to walk around with a SWAT team to protect them. Could you pick out Stan Kroenke, Terry Pegula, Vivek Ranadive, or Charlie Johnson if you were passing by them on the street? Neither could I. I doubt they spend their days frightened of being attacked.

Now your family, sure, requests are probably endless from them. If I were a billionaire I probably wouldn't mind fulfilling most of them though.

Yes, I'd be happy to win.

YK-Phil

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #67 on: January 14, 2016, 10:53:30 AM »
I would love to win, except I never bought a lottery ticket. I've been stuck in the Arctic for 35 years, far away from friend or family, so I'm already immune to a lot of social pressure around money and success and would have no problem leaving everything behind to live a secluded life with my hermit wife, somewhere in the world, anonymously for a while. Knowing myself, I would probably waste a few millions on trivial pursuits at first, but as a mustachian and all-around cheap bastard, I'm pretty sure I could handle the windfall without any problem.

Trudie

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #68 on: January 14, 2016, 04:27:41 PM »
I'm with you. I dont want to win $1.4B. Winning something the $1M second prize would be nice since I could then FIRE immediately.

I agree.  1M is enough to immediately change your life for the better, with less hassle.  And not so much that you couldn't stash it.  These big prizes are enough to ruin your life by bringing on a whole slew of problems.  I've thought that a win like that would require me to move, or at least temporarily go into hiding.  I wouldn't like being approached all the time with requests for help/money.  I want to give lots for charity, but making gifts of that size would make me want to do it anonymously.  People with big money are treated differently -- and not in good ways.  Jealousy is a powerful thing.  And after developing a low cost lifestyle, I think I would have a hard time enjoying a spendy one.

TheBuddha

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #69 on: January 15, 2016, 03:57:07 AM »
I don't know whether I would or not. I'd be wealthy, but would I be successful? I want to earn wealth and success by overcoming obstacles, so that it's meaningful and builds character. Were I to win, I feel like people would credit my wealth to luck. That would be unsatisfying on a deep, personal level. I'm driven to succeed because I got a late start in life and people had given up on me. I have a chip on my shoulder, something to prove. My personal "story" is one of turning it all around and making good. If wealth just landed in my lap, I honestly think I'd be unhappy.

That being said, I did buy a few tickets :)

Does it matter what other people attribute your wealth to?

For me, yeah. I want wealth to represent ingenuity and work ethic, not being in the right place at the right time. Just like I respect self-made rich people more than those who inherited their wealth. Not that I'd give the money back or anything.

I think I could feel very successful running a non-profit or doing other things that make a difference in the world.  And I don't think I'd stop achieving just because I had gobs of money, so suddenly things like polishing my novel and publishing it seem doable. Or building several houses that you rent (free) for a year to disabled vets, or whatever causes you cherish. If you have something to prove to other people, those things might not be good enough, but if you have something to prove to yourself, they should be more than enough.

Well I hope you won, so you can do those things :) Fortunately for me, I didn't win. Whew!

dragoncar

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #70 on: January 15, 2016, 11:00:04 AM »
I don't know whether I would or not. I'd be wealthy, but would I be successful? I want to earn wealth and success by overcoming obstacles, so that it's meaningful and builds character. Were I to win, I feel like people would credit my wealth to luck. That would be unsatisfying on a deep, personal level. I'm driven to succeed because I got a late start in life and people had given up on me. I have a chip on my shoulder, something to prove. My personal "story" is one of turning it all around and making good. If wealth just landed in my lap, I honestly think I'd be unhappy.

That being said, I did buy a few tickets :)

Does it matter what other people attribute your wealth to?

For me, yeah. I want wealth to represent ingenuity and work ethic, not being in the right place at the right time. Just like I respect self-made rich people more than those who inherited their wealth. Not that I'd give the money back or anything.

I think I could feel very successful running a non-profit or doing other things that make a difference in the world.  And I don't think I'd stop achieving just because I had gobs of money, so suddenly things like polishing my novel and publishing it seem doable. Or building several houses that you rent (free) for a year to disabled vets, or whatever causes you cherish. If you have something to prove to other people, those things might not be good enough, but if you have something to prove to yourself, they should be more than enough.

Well I hope you won, so you can do those things :) Fortunately for me, I didn't win. Whew!

Sorry to break it to you, but all wealth at least partially (and usually significantly) represents being in the right place at the right time.

TheBuddha

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #71 on: January 15, 2016, 12:35:54 PM »
Sorry to break it to you, but all wealth at least partially (and usually significantly) represents being in the right place at the right time.

Wow that's deep. I guess I'll stop working hard and just wait for the wealth fairy then.
« Last Edit: January 15, 2016, 12:37:34 PM by TheBuddha »

Roboturner

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #72 on: January 15, 2016, 12:42:58 PM »

Wow that's deep. I guess I'll stop working hard and just wait for the wealth fairy then.

So youre feeling the BERN i see

dragoncar

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #73 on: January 15, 2016, 03:11:25 PM »
Sorry to break it to you, but all wealth at least partially (and usually significantly) represents being in the right place at the right time.

Wow that's deep. I guess I'll stop working hard and just wait for the wealth fairy then.

Nice straw man.

bb11

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #74 on: January 19, 2016, 01:51:16 PM »
Sorry to break it to you, but all wealth at least partially (and usually significantly) represents being in the right place at the right time.

Wow that's deep. I guess I'll stop working hard and just wait for the wealth fairy then.

Nice straw man.

+1. Roughly half of all wealth is gotten through inheritance, and even the wealth that is earned is highly skewed towards those with parents who have higher incomes to afford the best education/healthcare/personal attention/etc for their kids. Yeah, there's a hell of a lot of luck involved.

Dicey

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #75 on: January 19, 2016, 04:56:02 PM »
I love my life, so no way would I risk screwing it up by buying a lottery ticket. If somehow I did end up with a winning ticket, I think I'd have a blast deciding which charities to give it to. Anonymously, of course. Yeah, that might be fun, but who needs the pressure?

hoping2retire35

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #76 on: February 05, 2016, 07:18:53 AM »
Anyone with CWs that said they would keep working? I mean I guess if it was a doctor or someone who thought they were doing something that had a lot of humanitarian value to it...

We all do something that adds to society, even if just a little bit, but there is no way I would continue to work at my job.

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #77 on: February 05, 2016, 01:28:45 PM »
Anyone with CWs that said they would keep working?

The only person I know that would keep working their current job is my stepmom, who's a professor.  They're already FI (dad's been retired for 10 years), and she does what she does because she genuinely likes it and likes the mental stimulation.

I always figured if I won a ridiculous amount of money in the lottery I'd start a trust that pays for college (tuition, room and board, 100%) for kids that would otherwise have no chance of going.  It'd be fun to interview them personally and see a significant change in their life outcome.  That would also set me up for people begging for money.  'Can't give you money, it's all locked up in a trust, but I can pay for you to go to school'.  Aside from significant medical issues (which may warrant actual cash help), if you can't make it work with a free education, your problems aren't money, and I can't help you.

Larabeth

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #78 on: February 09, 2016, 02:17:53 AM »
I don't play so it is probably a moot point, but I would totally make a huge deal about donating a majority of it to a non-profit I liked and then keeping just a small bit to use toward FIRE.

Less of a target on my back, more time enjoying life.

Parizade

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Re: Am I the only person that legitimately would not want to win the lottery?
« Reply #79 on: February 09, 2016, 04:33:42 AM »
I don't know whether I would or not. I'd be wealthy, but would I be successful? I want to earn wealth and success by overcoming obstacles, so that it's meaningful and builds character. Were I to win, I feel like people would credit my wealth to luck. That would be unsatisfying on a deep, personal level. I'm driven to succeed because I got a late start in life and people had given up on me. I have a chip on my shoulder, something to prove. My personal "story" is one of turning it all around and making good. If wealth just landed in my lap, I honestly think I'd be unhappy.

That being said, I did buy a few tickets :)

Yes! One of the parts of FIRE that I'm looking forward to is having others ooo and ahhh and admire how clever I am. Or maybe just being able to see myself as a clever person who has beaten the system. I want the achievement, the sense of having taken control of my own life, the pride of having created my own heaven. You can't get that from a lottery win.