Posted on 10/16/2018 10:04:35 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Some lucky lottery players will walk away with huge winnings as the combined Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots now approach almost $1 billion. But let's get real: Chances are, it's not going to be you.
The odds of winning the combined $999 million jackpots stands at 1 in 88 quadrillion -- that's 88 thousand trillion, or the numeral 1 followed by 15 zeros, according to the Allstate Data Science Team. The previous odds, when the jackpots were smaller, stood at roughly 1 in 75 quadrillion.
To be sure, lottery players will have slightly better odds of winning either one of the jackpots. The odds of scoring the $654 million Mega MIllions prize is 1 in 302 million, while the $345 million Powerball is sporting odds of 1 in 292 million, Allstate said.
To grasp how unlikely even those odds are, it's worth checking them against the probability of other rare events. The likelihood of being struck by lightning within one's lifetime is 1 in 3,000.
You're also much more likely to date a millionaire, which carries a likelihood of 1 in 215. Even better, Americans have fairly strong odds of becoming a millionaire through work and investment, with economists at the St. Louis Federal Reserve calculating that people younger than 40 years old have a 1 in 55 chance of achieving a 7-figure net worth.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
It could happen!...............
It’s the odds of WINNING BOTH at the same time!.....................
Odds of somebody winning 100% !!!!!!!!!
$380 million- Mega Millions
$199 million- Powerball
And then here in OK...they will tax you near 43% total...Feds and state.
So, you’re sayin’, there’s a chance, then?
Kerry was also the subject of the hit song "Just a Gigolo".......
Same odds that Warrens DNA would prove she’s an Indian.
I can improve those odds to near 100%.
Contribute the maximum annual amount to your 401k or equivalent retirement vehicle and watch it grow. I think the maximum annual contribution to a 401(k) this year is $18,500 - or $1,541/mo.
It can be done with discipline.
I actually got to seven figures just by contributing 10% of my income over the years (since around 1987). So I wasn't even near the max most of those years.
This is the hardest thing for people to do for some reason even though it guarantees future wealth. Less than half of the employees in my company even contribute to the 401(k) which blows my mind. It made me a millionaire without even trying. However, I won't feel like a millionaire until I get old enough to start withdrawing it. Hopefully I live that long.
But we all "pay" for this as those who cannot afford to lose buy these tickets and predictably (see odds)lose and need more welfare support. And in NY, Cuomo uses tens of millions to produce and advertise for the lottery - total wasted expenditure from taxpayer coffers.
Yep! Also, the statement that "I'm going to give most to charities and help out the poor children in South America and Africa."
And will need to keep his job because he will have blown it all in five years.
My girl says I can’t play if I don’t win.
Lotteries: Redneck retirement plan.
If I could come up with the 302 million I could buy every possible combination and guarantee a winning ticket......
But just my luck, two other people would have a winning ticket too and I'd be screwed.....
“Do you know how much it costs to feed a millionaire for a week?”
No idea, but I’m willing to find out!
Sadly, I’d probably keep my job, too.
And use that money to make MORE money.
“I’m going to give most to charities and help out the poor children in South America and Africa.”
~~~
Right, which means they really just caught the charity board owner’s yacht payments.
This sort of thing is said a lot, but it takes no account of the “entertainment” and “enjoyment” aspects of buying lottery tickets. I don’t buy them myself, but if people get some flash of enjoyment from dreaming of big winnings etc., it belongs under the category of “entertainment budget” imho. It is not purely a rational calculation of winning payoffs, it is a form of self-indulgence like buying a movie ticket or buying an ice cream. Not how I generally choose to spend my money (that’s all money down the drain to me), but people get to choose their own forms of enjoyment within legal limits.
No one is going to win BOTH these things at THE SAME TIME for a long, long time. There, fixed it.
Every drawing, whether the pots be large or small, the chance of winning both is one in 88 quadrillion. That's why we've never seen it and probably never will see it in our lifetime, our children's lifetime, our grandchildren's lifetime. I'd go further out, but it could happen with probability one in 88 quadrillion.
I can’t win even if I play...
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