Are You Sure You Want to Win the Lottery?

Autoplay when over $200 million

Sometimes the most obvious answers are more complicated than we think.  Or at least they are more complicated once answered.  I'm not sure how we stumbled upon this topic the night of BGE's baptism, though I do know it was fueled by a some good local microbrews and, according to BGE's godmother, a few bottles of wine.  I have a vague recollection of it starting with a discussion of all the huge houses around the golf course Mojo lives by, but no one was sober enough can recall that for sure.

While everyone thought I was nuts for arguing against winning the lottery, I found it surprisingly easy to come up with counterpoints for my side.  Let me preface this with, if given the choice, I would absolutely take winning it.  We always play when it gets over $200 million... which seems really odd since I'm pretty sure we would be just fine if we won like $30 million.  And, fun lottery fact, the odds of you winning the lottery are the same no matter what the size the jackpot.  The odds of splitting go up as more people play, as it's more likely someone else will have the same/winning numbers as you.  Did you also know that the odds of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 coming up are the same as any other combination?  Sounds like something an idiot would have on their luggage... Mojo and I are much smarter than we look...

Get him, David!

My biggest counter to winning the lottery was the struggle in teaching certain values to your kids, e.g., hard work to earn rewards, goal setting, delayed gratification, for example.  Malcolm Gladwell references this in Chapter 2 of David and Goliath, at one point stating, in sum, that when scarcity is eliminated, values may diminish.  We have quite a few family members and friends who have done very well for themselves, and much to their credit, you would never really know who they were when you met them (aside from some of them demanding to pick up every bar tab, even when I/we insist on paying.  I've been reprimanded quite a few times for not allowing some of them to pay, which is both unnecessary and generous of them).  So whatever they are doing is working.

Unfortunately, we don't know any "generationally rich" if you will, and I suppose that's cause those cats are all hanging out with each other.  But remember the story of the rich kid in Texas who got off a manslaughter charge in part because some idiot judge bought the argument that he was too rich and sheltered to know the consequences for his actions?  No, peeps, check that link, I am not making that up.  This case highlights two things...

1.  Some kooky shrink sent my field back about 5,000 years by acknowledging "affluenza" as a psychological disorder.  However, it did bring attention to the idea that there could be serious consequences for sheltering a rich kid from the real world.

Bye bye, STC Law School

2.  Whatever law school that judge graduated from should have its accreditation immediately revoked.  Seriously, our six year olds wouldn't have bought that bulls**t.  Further Googling finds she may be a bit of a shady character, though.

Now, as we were drunkenly intellectually debating this whole lottery thing, we all agreed that none of us would struggle with this part; similarly to the friends and family referenced above, we all had worked hard to get where we were, and were confident we could find ways to instill values in our kids.  Mojo told the story of how Mark Cuban makes his family fly coach when they go away, for example.  I think the big problem here would be trying to teach our kids they "can't have something" when they are growing up knowing that we could literally afford anything.  Hell, we sometimes have that struggle now whenever we go to freaking Target.  Thank God they still think Dollar Store toys are amazing.

The wife summed it up as such:  "There are a**holes everywhere, we just don't know any of the rich a**holes because we wouldn't hang out with them or any other a**hole people."  In a related note, she could probably write our posts in like 1/1000 of the words Mojo and I use.

Anyways, we all agreed money does not buy happiness.  Gladwell actually notes that happiness seems to peak around $74,000/year in salary, at which point it flat lines.  Below that, and you are at risk of being less happy.  Above that, and it's all pretty much a wash.  I only mention this because I'm sure most people generally think winning the lottery will make them happy.  It wasn't really applicable to our conversation since none of us need the lottery to be financially secure, but I think it's important to note.

My first purchase

The conversation then turned to how our lives would change/how we would change our lives if we won the lottery.  Comes down to a few questions for me..

1.  Would you keep working?  I would definitely keep working, though I'm sure what I did would change.  I thought about this for a long time, and still don't quite have a concept of what I would do.  Given my non-profit profession, there are also a multitude of charitable opportunities within my work that could arise, so this is a bit complicated for me.  I don't want to speak for the wife, but my hunch is she would continue to work as well, though I could see her retiring and going into a venture that supports something she is passionate about.  Mojo is a few years short of retirement, and I'm aware of one of he and Mrs. Mojo's post-retirement projects.  My hunch is they would work at that and use some of the cash to fund it.  Consider this my RSVP for that event, Mojo.

2.  Would you move?  I know we wouldn't.  We love our house, neighborhood, schools, etc.  And I think part of trying to instill "normalcy" for the kids would be to stay put.  I took  random poll of friends about this one, and all agreed they would keep their current homes (assuming they had no intention of moving).  The ones who said they would already have future plans to move and just said they would probably just buy a bigger house.

2nd purchase

3.  What would you buy?  Instead of a bigger house, I would buy more houses in places we like to visit.  Definitely a lake house or two in Michigan - one near Ann Arbor and one near Short's Brewery Up North.  A beach house in Ocean City.  Then I would buy a 1968 Camaro.  The kids already say "Daddy needs a race car!" and we would knock that right off the bucket list.  After that, I'm honestly not sure.  Definitely a couple nice vacations with the family/friends.  Fund the inevitable return of the baseball road trip with my friends (hint hint, peeps, I check the schedule every year, and we WILL bring this back!).  Honestly, I think it would take six months for the shock to wear off, at which point we'd probably have to figure out what else to do.  Probably some practical stuff, like paying off the house, student loans, and a couple house projects.  I know, total dorks.

4.  Charitable plans?  I think this would be the hardest part.  Ironically, I think it actually depends on how much you won, but since we only play when it's $200 million or more, let's go with "living very comfortably just off interest for the rest of our lives."  Do we pay off friends/family mortgages?  Student loans?  The wife and I have many causes near and dear to us, so it would be a challenge to decide who gets what, when, etc.  I'm not even considering how many solicitations would come in under this scenario.  I can imagine this would be the most difficult part for anyone we know.  How do you say "no" to people when you have that amount of bank?  I'd say "first world problems" here, but I think that's understating it a bit.  Maybe just pick a few causes, let everyone know this is it, and go from there.

Old school lottery

I've said enough.  On to the introspective brains of this operation, Major Mojo...

I would like to win the lottery.  Who wouldn't right?  I get the arguments.  People who win end up bankrupt in X years or it makes you someone you are not immediately go to a class you don't belong.  However, I would like to think I would use the money wisely.  I would use it to build a future for my kids that I could enjoy now.  I would likely buy property that can be rented and long after I am gone can still give income to my kids, but I can still make amazing getaways to places I love.  Depending on how much I would buy places in Michigan, the Outer Banks, and maybe even a loft in NYC!  These are places I lived and would love to be able to go to time and again.

How much would I give away. I am not sure.  It would be at least 10%...don't want to piss off St. Peter ;).  I would love to do good for someone or something.  Not a foundation, but take a chance on a kid that can't pay for college, or someone who loses the ability to work, or something else.

What would be the first thing I would by. A vacation for my family.  When luck shines down on you don't be afraid to use it.

I know there are many cases where winning the lottery worked out horribly.  I guess you have to tell yourself what kind of lottery would you be winning.  One where you have been given a gift for yourself, or one where you have the gift to give of yourself.  I would like to think I have the strength for the latter and I would love to find out :)  Signed, Mojo.

Getting heavy, LB...

Wow, that last line was heavy... this conversation was about two months ago now, and the details are a bit hazy, but I think that last line was, to my best memory, where I was going with the "are you sure you want to win" argument.  Can you look inside yourself and say you would do good with such a blessing or would you be an a**hole?  Okay, so maybe not an a**hole per se, but would you be able to "have the gift to give of yourself."  I'm sure most people would say "of course I would give" if they won, but I'm wondering if most people believe themselves when they say that.  

Look, it's your money, you do what you want with it.  Blow it like those peeps in the link above.  Give all of it away to some Nigerian prince who sent you an email and can re-invest it at 1000% profit.  The whole "winning the lottery" debate, in a strange, twisted, and "taking the fun out of the whole thing" sort of way, challenges your morals.  I don't doubt you would pay for a nice, long vacation for you and your closest family and friends, but would you really use the money for good, or would you blow it on houses you couldn't afford in the long run?  The conversation that night got a pinch emotional at times, and I think this is why.  I threw out these ideas about how hard it would be to raise your kids right, what you would do with the money, e.g., and it does actually test your sense of self.  I have full faith in the people in my life to do well with it because we surround ourselves with people like that.  I think the biggest challenge would be ensuring our kids continued to surround themselves the same way, and not let money take over.

My only regret from this post is we weren't able to work in a picture of Ted DiBiase.  Oh well.  I wish someone would do a study on how often big lottery winners actually play, e.g., are they playing every week or are they the "hey, it's over $200 million, let's do this!" crowd.  I'm not a huge fan, but I didn't have much choice but to invite Barenaked Ladies to play you guys out this time.  Live long and prosper.  Hasta.