Was scrolling elsewhere when I saw the headline that the ticket was sold in Illinois, giving my wife and I the news that we didn't win; not that we were expecting to. $2 for the entertainment...
Was scrolling elsewhere when I saw the headline that the ticket was sold in Illinois, giving my wife and I the news that we didn't win; not that we were expecting to.
$2 for the entertainment value of discussing what our money-no-object animal sanctuary would be like is $2 well spent.
People who say that lotteries are a tax on the stupid have zero imagination. Sure, it's a dumb investment if you expect to win, but if your expectation is the entertainment value of imagining what...
$2 for the entertainment value of discussing what our money-no-object animal sanctuary would be like is $2 well spent.
People who say that lotteries are a tax on the stupid have zero imagination. Sure, it's a dumb investment if you expect to win, but if your expectation is the entertainment value of imagining what you're gonna do if you potentially win, it's a whole different situation.
I 100% agree. I buy a lottery ticket when I win at poker. It's a fun little bit of silliness, and not an investment. One of my friends likes to point out that I have a degree in Maths and should...
People who say that lotteries are a tax on the stupid have zero imagination.
I 100% agree. I buy a lottery ticket when I win at poker. It's a fun little bit of silliness, and not an investment. One of my friends likes to point out that I have a degree in Maths and should know that playing the lottery is a tax on the stupid, while drinking his $7 starbucks made from $0.04 worth of ingredients.
Lotto Max has a series of commercials with "Max, Professional Dream Coach" and I hate that they've actually tapped in to this for advertising purposes, but it's true - you spend a couple of bucks to dream for a day. Sure, you can dream without spending 2 bucks, but the little thrill of possibility is fun.
My problem with lotteries is that they are used to shift tax burden from the wealthy to the poor. In theory there's nothing wrong with them, as you described. In practice, they are yet another...
In theory there's nothing wrong with them, as you described. In practice, they are yet another factor behind the growing class disparity. Calling them "a tax on the stupid" is a way to shift blame to the people they prey on.
Chance of winning the big one is one in 303 million. 352 million tickets sold. Ticket costs $2. $1.34 Billion big prize. The lump sum is $780.5 million. After taxes you are looking at $390-$491...
Chance of winning the big one is one in 303 million. 352 million tickets sold. Ticket costs $2.
$1.34 Billion big prize. The lump sum is $780.5 million. After taxes you are looking at $390-$491 million.
I bought $10 worth of tickets because I thought each ticket cost $1, and I thought there was a positive (but highly skewed) return on investment.
Guess I am stupid. Still not sure what to do with my $2 of winnings. Can I deduct the other $8 from my tax return?
There have been lotteries in the past with positive expected value -- they are usually quickly gamed by groups doing mass ticket purchases as the variance is always so high you need thousands and...
There have been lotteries in the past with positive expected value -- they are usually quickly gamed by groups doing mass ticket purchases as the variance is always so high you need thousands and thousands of tickets.
I'd spend $2 to have one of the tickets of such a record-holding jackpot. Heck, on that basis alone, the ticket is probably worth more now that the jackpot's been won.
I'd spend $2 to have one of the tickets of such a record-holding jackpot.
Heck, on that basis alone, the ticket is probably worth more now that the jackpot's been won.
An absolutely pathetic $433.7M, I don't know how they expect anyone to live off that. Alternative take: Oh look, a billionaire that actually had to pay taxes.
An absolutely pathetic $433.7M, I don't know how they expect anyone to live off that.
Alternative take: Oh look, a billionaire that actually had to pay taxes.
Depends on the state. You do not pay FICA taxes on lottery earnings, and furthermore with this much money all the brackets but the last one are basically insignificant, so the federal taxes will...
Depends on the state. You do not pay FICA taxes on lottery earnings, and furthermore with this much money all the brackets but the last one are basically insignificant, so the federal taxes will be 37% + whatever the largest state income tax is. In California, for instance, that's 13%, so about 50%. Whereas in Washington, it's 0%, so 37%.
Then there's also how you choose to get your money. You can get it in a lump sum of 768m or in 30 annual payments of 42m. This has little effect on the taxation rate since in both cases the last tax bracket overwhelmingly determines your total tax rate.
Every time the lottery comes up in the news, I re-read that post. Despite it being a huge warning, with big examples of why it's a mess to win the lottery... there's something thrilling about just...
Every time the lottery comes up in the news, I re-read that post. Despite it being a huge warning, with big examples of why it's a mess to win the lottery... there's something thrilling about just reading the steps they laid out. Imagining yourself finding a bit lawyer, setting up funds, the secrecy game... it's a great fantasy.
Like watching an action movie. Sure, in real life, action movies would be awful to participate in—blood, trauma, tinnitus, etc. But they're fun to experience from afar.
Was scrolling elsewhere when I saw the headline that the ticket was sold in Illinois, giving my wife and I the news that we didn't win; not that we were expecting to.
$2 for the entertainment value of discussing what our money-no-object animal sanctuary would be like is $2 well spent.
People who say that lotteries are a tax on the stupid have zero imagination. Sure, it's a dumb investment if you expect to win, but if your expectation is the entertainment value of imagining what you're gonna do if you potentially win, it's a whole different situation.
I 100% agree. I buy a lottery ticket when I win at poker. It's a fun little bit of silliness, and not an investment. One of my friends likes to point out that I have a degree in Maths and should know that playing the lottery is a tax on the stupid, while drinking his $7 starbucks made from $0.04 worth of ingredients.
Lotto Max has a series of commercials with "Max, Professional Dream Coach" and I hate that they've actually tapped in to this for advertising purposes, but it's true - you spend a couple of bucks to dream for a day. Sure, you can dream without spending 2 bucks, but the little thrill of possibility is fun.
My problem with lotteries is that they are used to shift tax burden from the wealthy to the poor.
In theory there's nothing wrong with them, as you described. In practice, they are yet another factor behind the growing class disparity. Calling them "a tax on the stupid" is a way to shift blame to the people they prey on.
Chance of winning the big one is one in 303 million. 352 million tickets sold. Ticket costs $2.
$1.34 Billion big prize. The lump sum is $780.5 million. After taxes you are looking at $390-$491 million.
I bought $10 worth of tickets because I thought each ticket cost $1, and I thought there was a positive (but highly skewed) return on investment.
Guess I am stupid. Still not sure what to do with my $2 of winnings. Can I deduct the other $8 from my tax return?
There have been lotteries in the past with positive expected value -- they are usually quickly gamed by groups doing mass ticket purchases as the variance is always so high you need thousands and thousands of tickets.
This would also be a good attitude if you wanna dab in crypto or NTF.
I'd spend $2 to have one of the tickets of such a record-holding jackpot.
Heck, on that basis alone, the ticket is probably worth more now that the jackpot's been won.
I only hope that the money goes to someone kind and thoughtful.
It'd be cosmically unfair if some colossal asshole won it. :p
Anybody know, roughly, what the actual take-home amount will be after taxes?
An absolutely pathetic $433.7M, I don't know how they expect anyone to live off that.
Alternative take: Oh look, a billionaire that actually had to pay taxes.
Depends on the state. You do not pay FICA taxes on lottery earnings, and furthermore with this much money all the brackets but the last one are basically insignificant, so the federal taxes will be 37% + whatever the largest state income tax is. In California, for instance, that's 13%, so about 50%. Whereas in Washington, it's 0%, so 37%.
Then there's also how you choose to get your money. You can get it in a lump sum of 768m or in 30 annual payments of 42m. This has little effect on the taxation rate since in both cases the last tax bracket overwhelmingly determines your total tax rate.
Someone wrote a whole guideline on what to do if you win the lottery and their advice was just to take the lump sum.
Funny enough, a good chunk of that text likely came from the AR15.com forum and possibly the old Rotten.com.
Every time the lottery comes up in the news, I re-read that post. Despite it being a huge warning, with big examples of why it's a mess to win the lottery... there's something thrilling about just reading the steps they laid out. Imagining yourself finding a bit lawyer, setting up funds, the secrecy game... it's a great fantasy.
Like watching an action movie. Sure, in real life, action movies would be awful to participate in—blood, trauma, tinnitus, etc. But they're fun to experience from afar.