Across America, we spend over $80 billion each year on lottery tickets. That’s enough to build a decent emergency fund for every household in the country and pay off most credit card debts. Instead, we waste it on dreams of becoming rich quick with just a few dollars spent on a ticket. In the rare event that we do win, there are huge tax implications and a lot of people end up going bankrupt in a couple years. This is why it’s so important to make sure you have a solid savings plan and an emergency fund before purchasing a lottery ticket!
The lottery has long been a popular pastime, from ancient Rome (Nero was a fan) to the Middle Ages to colonial America. State lotteries began as a way to raise money for public projects, but they soon became a tool of social control, allowing authorities to distribute wealth and power without involving the courts.
When it comes to winning the lottery, there is a simple formula: the more tickets you buy, the better your chances of hitting the jackpot! However, many players believe they have quote-unquote systems that are not based on statistics or probability, such as buying tickets at certain stores and times of the day.
The obsession with unimaginable wealth, sparked by super-sized jackpots and the media’s constant drumbeat of stories about them, grew in the nineteen-seventies and eighties as wages stagnated, the income gap widened, and the old meritocratic promise that education and hard work would eventually render us all rich ceased to be true for most.
