“But if you could win any one lottery, would you really choose to win $1.3 billion?
That’s definitely a dollar amount where winning would become terrifying.”
Andy’s article says exactly what I was thinking when I heard that number. I simply can’t imagine how one could handle suddenly having that much money. You would immediately need to go into hiding – in a luxury hotel – and hire an army of lawyers, accountants, and bodyguards.
I’d love to win a lottery. I could use, say, £1 million or so, to buy a nice house, and to ensure my retirement income. A few million more, and I could help out friends and family. And if I won a lot more, I’d do like John Beresford Tipton, Jr. and give it away, anonymously, one million at a time.
Oh, and I’d probably arrange for a private performance of this play, and perhaps a few concerts. I wonder how much it would cost to have Bob Dylan do a living room concert…?
Source: Who Wants to Be a Billionaire? — Andy Ihnatko’s Celestial Waste of Bandwidth (BETA)
“I’d love to win a lottery. I could use, say, £1 million or so, to buy a nice house, and to ensure my retirement income.”
Don’t forget taxes! And the up-front payment is far less than the annuity! So you’d need a £3 million jackpot to get there.
I always figured a $3-4 million nest egg would be about right. A vacation home would be nice.
But yeah, entirely agree with the pullquote. Unfortunately, Ihnatko later backs of the general sentiment: “Nonetheless, I think all of the hassles would be worth it,”
I *genuinely* disagree. There comes a point where I really think it’s far more agita than it’s worth. Actually gave the matter some decent idle thought at one point. Plus, I had some contact with one mega-rich family, and it didn’t seem to be bringing them any happiness at all. Amazing art collection, but little joy in the air. Of course, some can handle it better. But why risk all the unnecessary complications?
(If I did have a billion, the only real upside I see is that I could massively influence the corrupt US political system by funding a systematic effort to help bring about a more Scandinavian social system. I’d far rather do that than charity. But that’d be long and hard work, while $3-4 million is just freedom.)
Interestingly, the lottery here in the UK is not taxed. And I think the jackpot amounts they present are lump sum amounts.
“I’d love to win a lottery. I could use, say, £1 million or so, to buy a nice house, and to ensure my retirement income.”
Don’t forget taxes! And the up-front payment is far less than the annuity! So you’d need a £3 million jackpot to get there.
I always figured a $3-4 million nest egg would be about right. A vacation home would be nice.
But yeah, entirely agree with the pullquote. Unfortunately, Ihnatko later backs of the general sentiment: “Nonetheless, I think all of the hassles would be worth it,”
I *genuinely* disagree. There comes a point where I really think it’s far more agita than it’s worth. Actually gave the matter some decent idle thought at one point. Plus, I had some contact with one mega-rich family, and it didn’t seem to be bringing them any happiness at all. Amazing art collection, but little joy in the air. Of course, some can handle it better. But why risk all the unnecessary complications?
(If I did have a billion, the only real upside I see is that I could massively influence the corrupt US political system by funding a systematic effort to help bring about a more Scandinavian social system. I’d far rather do that than charity. But that’d be long and hard work, while $3-4 million is just freedom.)
Interestingly, the lottery here in the UK is not taxed. And I think the jackpot amounts they present are lump sum amounts.
“the lottery here in the UK … the jackpot amounts they present are lump sum amounts.”
America leads the world in the deceptive use of fine print. USA! USA!
That’s exactly how $10 Tomayto Soup from Hotel room service in NY ends up as $40 when you check out…
“the lottery here in the UK … the jackpot amounts they present are lump sum amounts.”
America leads the world in the deceptive use of fine print. USA! USA!
That’s exactly how $10 Tomayto Soup from Hotel room service in NY ends up as $40 when you check out…