Since
no one won Friday's California Mega Millions drawing, the jackpot is
now up to $356 million. The biggest Mega Millions jackpot ever was
$390 millions in 2007. If no on wins this week, the new Mega Millions
jackpot could top this record. An incredibly high jackpot means more
attention is paid to the Mega Millions lottery and more people will
be buying tickets – which means chances of winning are lower than
usual, and that the winners will probably have to share the prize.
Why
do people spend money on lottery games? The cliché expression
compares the odds of winning a lottery to lightning striking – but
I think your odds of being struck by lightning are actually higher
than winning the Mega Millions lottery. If you can live without the
thrill of waiting for the drawings, you should stay away from lottery
games and save your money instead. Look for a good investment plan,
open a savings account or buy valuable items you can sell later for a
profit. The price of a lottery ticket might not seem very high, but
if you play these games on a regular basis, you could be spending
thousands a year.
Most
winners find themselves unable to manage the large sum of money they
won. An important part of the jackpot money goes toward taxes, and
the rest can be either cashed out or distributed over a certain
number of years. The cash out option usually leads to spending sprees
and the winner eventually ends up broker because he or she did not
realize the money would run out so fast. A distributed jackpot is
ideal to sustain a reasonable lifestyle – but the money eventually
runs out, and if the winner did not make any plans to support
themselves afterward, he or she might end up broke.
In
short, I have never heard of a lottery winner who became successful
by investing the money smartly. Perhaps some kind of financial
education program should be organized by the Mega Millions lottery to
guide their winners throughout the years and help them make the best
decisions about their money.
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