Powerball

mo money mo problems

I am not buying a ticket.

We just did a company pool. We got the powerball and another number or 2 a few years ago and it ended up being 7 center per person, so I guess technically we won the lottery? 

I can't imagine keeping that much for myself. As Forrest Gump's mom says "There's only so much money a man really needs, and the rest is just for showing off"

You and me both.  I just refinanced my student loans.  Well I had some private ones.  Got a much better rate, crazy the amount I will be saving in interest each month.  It is a variable rate, but the feds would have to raise the rates to about 5% for it to go over what I was paying, don't see that happening anytime soon,

I'll keep the money in my pocket right now.

$800M is a lot of $$.  

Spread over 30 years at a 5% Rate of Return, the annual payout would be $26.7M which works out to a lump sum value of $410M.  

Odds of picking the winning number are about 1:292M.  

$410M/292M = $1.40, so statistically, the expected payout is $1.40 but the ticket is $2.00, meaning I'd expect to lose $0.60 for each ticket purchased.  The payout would have to be $1.15 BILLION given the above assumptions to justify buying a ticket.  

This doesn't even account for taxes.  

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1/292M.  

The advertised jackpot is paid out as a 30 year annuity.  If you take the lump sum payout instead of the annuity, you get a much smaller payout.  If you opted for the lump sum rather than $800M annuity payout, you'd collect about $410M before taxes.  

So the expected payout of a random ticket is $410M*(1/292M) = $1.40.  

But it costs $2.00 to buy that ticket.  

Expect to lose $0.60 on every ticket purchased hoping to win the $800M jackpot.  

Alternatively, to buy each one of the 292 million combinations, you'd spend $584M.  You win (it'll take you a long time to find your winning ticket, but it is in the stack of tickets you purchased)!  Congratulations, they now offer you a one-time check of $410M.  You're down $174M as long as nobody else picks the winning numbers.  

Now, to add insult to injury, the IRS wants their cut of your winnings.  

Or you spend $10 on 5 tickets and hope for the best.  Are you going to win?  No, but I can afford to throw away $10.  To me it's no different then going to go see a movie or spending it on something of that nature.  It gives me a few minutes to dream about something bigger then myself.  I'm sure it's a problem for some people but it's not for me. 

This thread wasn't supposed to be about the odds I was curious of what some of you would do if money was not an issue in your lives. 

I think you're missing the point of betting.  Sure if you try to corner the market on a guaranteed win you can do per ticket calculation on losses etc., however the premise of the "game" is people collectively spend minimal amounts on a chance to win a lot...

It's entertainment and a game of chance, it's not intended as a business venture.  Having said that I'm not saying there aren't people who over-bet based on their income levels however that's a different discussion.

It's entertainment.

I'm never thinking about anything that much.....just reading it hurt my head.

It's TWO dollars!!!!

If I win I will hire you to manage my money for the next 12 months.....which should just about coincide with my life expectancy. LOL

Just saw this on Facebook -

Powerball 1.3 Billion ÷ U.S. Population = 4.33 Million per person

Poverty solved!

Like that would EVER happen.  WAY too much greed in this country.

Except that math is wrong by a few decimal points.
It's $4.33 (as in four dollars and thirty three cents) per person.

Don't believe everything you see on Facebook

#themaths

My bad!  I should have checked the math.  Doesn't really matter though in my opinion, $4.33 or $4.3 Million per person, either way, still a much better outcome than one person getting $1.3 Billion, that is bordering on obscene.

If I win 1.4 billion dollars Webster will have to redefine obscene.