1.3 billion Powerball next Wednesday

Insane.

I NEVER buy lottery tickets of any sort, and gambling in general holds no appeal to me.

But Karen and I went ahead and blew $10 tonight. Not one number came up on the 5 quick picks.

So it goes...
 
Looks like I'm taking Monday off and traveling to the next state to by some tickets. They don't sell them in this state.
 
$1.3 billion. Gee a guy could annoy Bloomberg for a month or two with that.
 
That is a lot of cheddar. Might actually but a few tickets this time around. I do buy one here and there, and bought a few for the $900m one tonight, but this is one I can't miss.

Even though the odds are so stacked against me winning it is about the same as not playing at all, I've had such ****ty luck lately, I could use something crazy to turn me around.
 
dr-evil.jpg


1.3 BILLIOONNNNN

I'm buying more than one ticket this time around. I might be able to pay off my student loans with the winnings.
 
Holy crap! Hardly worth the effort tho. You'll only net about 700 million after taxes.

I guess I could buy that Commander I've been eyeballing. And that Husky, and that Cirrus, and that....
 
man that sure would cover a lot of CAPS repacks.
 
The usual argument against playing a lottery, that on the whole bettors lose more money than they make, could actually be wrong this time.

Due to the accumulation of funds from previous rounds that didn't have a winner, the prize this time could actually be big enough to make it a break-even investment to play.

Here's an article where the breakeven point for PowerBall was estimated at $1.7 million for the announced prize size:

If the billboards and newscasters ever announce a $1.7 billion Powerball, the math’s likely to be in your favor.

Because of that, I'm actually going to buy PowerBall tickets this time.
 
flhrci said:
Why bother when you would have the money to just buy a new Cirrus?
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if the cirrus motto was "hey, just buy another one", that's what I'd do.

but since it's "hey, just pull the chute", THAT's what I'd do.

in fact, I'd try to organize the Guinness Book of World Records 'most simultaneous cirrus coordinated CAPS deployment' in history. I'd make it RAIN chuted cirri.
 
flhrci said:
Why bother when you would have the money to just buy a new Cirrus?
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I'm sure you said that tongue-in-cheek, but actually a lot of people don't have any grasp of the numbers.

Here's how I learned how little people know about the value of $1 billion. It was about 35 years ago, and I was suckered into attending an Amway recruiting meeting. The speaker had a very clever scheme to his speech, which had goals among other things of instilling enthusiasm and greed while disarming skepticism. Within the first minute of the speech, with excitement in his voice, he asked the audience of about 80 people "if you had a billion dollars, what would you buy?" People raised their hands and one answered "a big house!" and another "a jet!". I just sat there chuckling, trying to imagine a house that is a thousand times bigger than any other, so that it cost a billion dollars.
 
JCranford said:
Holy crap! Hardly worth the effort tho. You'll only net about 700 million after taxes.

I guess I could buy that Commander I've been eyeballing. And that Husky, and that Cirrus, and that....
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Less than that. The lump sum payout is $806 million, then taxes out of that. Somewhere in the $390 million neighborhood will be net-net with the lump sum.
 
I guess that I would have to upgrade from my 760 sq. foot condo in Old San Juan, to a villa outside of town. I might start flying down here first class too.
 
eman1200 said:
in fact, I'd try to organize the Guinness Book of World Records 'most simultaneous cirrus coordinated CAPS deployment' in history. I'd make it RAIN chuted cirri.
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Now THAT could actually consume $1.3 billion. I'd guess the fleet of Cirri is worth about that much. So buy the whole lot -- that it would be a LOT of fun to watch!
 
Lessee, ten used Cirri at ~400K each is 4 Million. Add a few thousand in fuel and ferry pilots to get them all together, then ten refills of 30 gals (300 gals x $5 = $1500). Toss a few thou more at an insurer for property damage at impact, another few thou for pilot injury insurance. You're still at $4 M.

Buy all ten from one broker, you may save enough to pay for the film crew to record the waste.

Not included are the recovery costs for the downed airframes. Can't leave them to rot in place. Call the whole thing $5 Mil, and if any of the 5 is not spent, give it to the pilots as a bonus.

Want more than ten chutes? Bump the budget. You'll have $350 + Mil, what's five for ****s and giggles?

Lessee: 5 for home and runway (double that, I'll need summer and winter homes); another 5 for planes; ~3 for a good warbird; another 3-4 for toys; wife will need several for jewelry; so even with a Ten Chute Pull, we're not even at 10% yet.

Pull!! (Bang! Bang! Forgot to budget for firearms . . . )
 
So, for the record, I just said I'd 'organize' it, not finance it!
 
I'm trying to think of how I would spend 400 million. That is really really hard to do.
 
I just doubled my money by putting $10 in my pocket and folding it in half. :lol:

Not for me and not the least bit interested.

I think it is sad to see people put their hopes and dreams into a "Poor Tax" on people.

Just my opinion.

The biggest winner in this is the Lottery Board.

Terry
 
Remind me who benefits from these lotteries? Besides the federal and state governments....and the winner of course.
And then, who loses?
It is simply a transfer of money from some people to others.
 
Yes it is really sad to see people paying hundreds of dollars to the ticket sellers, when you know they are just throwing their money away.

I confess to buying one ticket each time the lottery is over $100 million. I can afford to pizz away $1 (or $2, in the case of powerball) That investment allows me to indulge in some dreaming.

But the odds of winning are effectively zero.

One ticket lets me dream a little. Buy a second ticket? Nope, the odds of winning are still zero - and the second ticket doesn't buy me an extra dream. So the second ticket is worthless to me.

-S
 
I was in line last Friday to buy 5.00 worth, the guy in front of me spent 1500 on tickets. I just laughed to myself. I will buy 5.00 worth again, why not?
 
eman1200 said:
in fact, I'd try to organize the Guinness Book of World Records 'most simultaneous cirrus coordinated CAPS deployment' in history. I'd make it RAIN chuted cirri.
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:rofl: Dude, if you win.. Please let me come have some fun with this. I really want to know the limits of the Cirrus. We could settle this spin recover-ability stuff and find out what will rip the wings off etc.
 
As I have said many times, it is a tax on the poor and stupid. But I did buy my first lottery tickets the other day, didn't win. If I remember the statistics right the expected value is positive, so mathematically you should buy a ticket..... I am going to buy more before next Wednesday against my common sense, but I can afford to lose the $20 a lot of people gambling can't and shouldn't.
 
I don't think my purchases would be any different with $400M than they would be with $25M. Probably 3 aircraft, build a nice permanent residence (preferably with a runway) and a nice lake home. The rest would be spent on travel and making others' lives better in some way, not necessarily being handing over cash outright. Obviously what wasn't needed for investments/maintenance of the estate could be used for whatever philanthropy I desired.

None of those things would be affected by a larger volume of winnings, aside from maybe the size/scope of the philanthropic efforts. Owning 3-4 residences and 20 aircraft just seems like a waste.


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BillTIZ said:
Looks like I'm taking Monday off and traveling to the next state to by some tickets. They don't sell them in this state.
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Now that is Ironic.....


The state " (Nevada) is the gambling capital of this country..

And they don't sell lottery tickets..:confused:......:rolleyes:
 
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Hank S said:
You get a check for $400,000,000 and then cheap out on your buddies???? :eek: :eek:
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nah I wouldn't leave y'all hangin. now that I think about it, if I won the lottery I'd definitely open a GoFundMe account to raise funds to cover the cost of the event. Minus administrative fees, of course.
 
I'm a community banker and it always pains me to see our past due and overdrawn customers in line at the gas station buying tickets by the handful. I will spend $6 for a three day daydream centered around how I would SAFELY advance my love for flight. Currently VFR 182 driver. My 5 year plan would probably go like this. Sell 182, buy Corvalis TTX, get IFR ticket, Piper Mirage for high alt/retract experience, and finally hire right seat experience to fly with me and my PC12 for a couple years as I get my turbine chops. Of course this will all be done with a Netjet card in my wallet for the long hauls.
 
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eman1200 said:
nah I wouldn't leave y'all hangin. now that I think about it, if I won the lottery I'd definitely open a GoFundMe account to raise funds to cover the cost of the event. Minus administrative fees, of course.
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There's the eman we all know!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by eman1200
nah I wouldn't leave y'all hangin. now that I think about it, if I won the lottery I'd definitely open a GoFundMe account to raise funds to cover the cost of the event. Minus administrative fees, of course.



flhrci said:
There's the eman we all know!
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Notice , he didn't say a word about sharing it with the Monkey..:rolleyes:.......:D
 
Had a man in Fla who had been driving south and purchased tickets in five states. Wonder if he's going to go on the road again?
 
Terry said:
I just doubled my money by putting $10 in my pocket and folding it in half. :lol:



Not for me and not the least bit interested.



I think it is sad to see people put their hopes and dreams into a "Poor Tax" on people.



Just my opinion.



The biggest winner in this is the Lottery Board.



Terry
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The math is starting to change at the $1.3 billion amounts.


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I'd give a lot of it away, however, to avoid gift tax everybody would only get $12,000 annually. It would be a full time job just managing the money.
 
Ya know a guy could waste quite a bit of that money after he'd spent it on hookers and blow!
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Remind me who benefits from these lotteries? Besides the federal and state governments....and the winner of course.
And then, who loses?
It is simply a transfer of money from some people to others.
Click to expand...
At least it is voluntary.
As for it being a "poor tax", now many on this board that bought tickets are poor?
 
Sure are a lot of Debbie Downers on here. I bought one ticket yesterday, and I'll buy one more before the next drawing. It's fun, I can afford it, and it's the only gambling I'll participate in.
 
GlennAB1 said:
I'd give a lot of it away, however, to avoid gift tax everybody would only get $12,000 annually. It would be a full time job just managing the money.
Click to expand...

I think the only way to survive is to not tell anyone, except an attorney and an account sworn to secrecy.

Cautionary tale(s) here:

Jack Whittaker, a Johnny Cash attired, West Virginia native, is the poster boy for the dangers of a lump sum award. In 2002 Mr. Whittaker (55 years old at the time) won what was, also at the time, the largest single award jackpot in U.S. history. $315 million. At the time, he planned to live as if nothing had changed, or so he said. He was remarkably modest and decent before the jackpot, and his ship sure came in, right? Wrong.

Mr. Whittaker became the subject of a number of personal challenges, escalating into personal tragedies, complicated by a number of legal troubles.

Whittaker wasn't a typical lottery winner either. His net worth at the time of his winnings was in excess of $15 million, owing to his ownership of a successful contracting firm in West Virginia. His claim to want to live "as if nothing had changed" actually seemed plausible. He should have been well equipped for wealth. He was already quite wealthy, after all. By all accounts he was somewhat modest, low profile, generous and good natured. He should have coasted off into the sunset. Yeah. Not exactly.

Whittaker took the all-cash option, $170 million, instead of the annuity option, and took possession of $114 million in cash after $56 million in taxes. After that, things went south.

Whittaker quickly became the subject of a number of financial stalkers, who would lurk at his regular breakfast hideout and accost him with suggestions for how to spend his money. They were unemployed. No, an interview tomorrow morning wasn't good enough. They needed cash NOW. Perhaps they had a sure-fire business plan. Their daughter had cancer. A niece needed dialysis. Needless to say, Whittaker stopped going to his breakfast haunt. Eventually, they began ringing his doorbell. Sometimes in the early morning. Before long he was paying off-duty deputies to protect his family. He was accused of being heartless. Cold. Stingy.

Letters poured in. Children with cancer. Diabetes. MS. You name it. He hired three people to sort the mail. A detective to filter out the false claims and the con men (and women) was retained.

Brenda, the clerk who had sold Whittaker the ticket, was a victim of collateral damage. Whittaker had written her a check for $44,000 and bought her house, but she was by no means a millionaire. Rumors that the state routinely paid the clerk who had sold the ticket 10% of the jackpot winnings hounded her. She was followed home from work. Threatened. Assaulted.

Whittaker's car was twice broken into, by trusted acquaintances who watched him leave large amounts of cash in it. $500,000 and $200,000 were stolen in two separate instances. The thieves spiked Whittaker's drink with prescription drugs in the first instance. The second incident was the handiwork of his granddaughter's friends, who had been probing the girl for details on Whittaker's cash for weeks.

Even Whittaker's good-faith generosity was questioned. When he offered $10,000 to improve the city's water park so that it was more handicap accessible, locals complained that he spent more money at the strip club. (Amusingly this was true).

Whittaker invested quite a bit in his own businesses, tripled the number of people his businesses employed (making him one of the larger employers in the area) and eventually had given away $14 million to charity through a foundation he set up for the purpose. This is, of course, what you are "supposed" to do. Set up a foundation. Be careful about your charity giving. It made no difference in the end.

To top it all off, Whittaker had been accused of ruining a number of marriages. His money made other men look inferior, they said, wherever he went in the small West Virginia town he called home. Resentment grew quickly. And festered. Whittaker paid four settlements related to this sort of claim. Yes, you read that right. Four.

His family and their immediate circle were quickly the victims of odds-defying numbers of overdoses, emergency room visits and even fatalities. His granddaughter, the eighteen year old "Brandi" (who Whittaker had been giving a $2100.00 per week allowance) was found dead after having been missing for several weeks. Her death was, apparently, from a drug overdose, but Whittaker suspected foul play. Her body had been wrapped in a tarp and hidden behind a rusted-out van. Her seventeen year old boyfriend had expired three months earlier in Whittaker's vacation house, also from an overdose. Some of his friends had robbed the house after his overdose, stepping over his body to make their escape and then returning for more before stepping over his body again to leave. His parents sued for wrongful death claiming that Whittaker's loose purse strings contributed to their son's death. Amazingly, juries are prone to award damages in cases such as these. Whittaker settled. Again.

Even before the deaths, the local and state police had taken a special interest in Whittaker after his new-found fame. He was arrested for minor and less minor offenses many times after his winnings, despite having had a nearly spotless record before the award. Whittaker's high profile couldn't have helped him much in this regard.

In 18 months Whittaker had been cited for over 250 violations ranging from broken tail lights on every one of his five new cars, to improper display of renewal stickers. A lawsuit charging various police organizations with harassment went nowhere and Whittaker was hit with court costs instead.

Whittaker's wife filed for divorce, and in the process froze a number of his assets and the accounts of his operating companies. Caesars in Atlantic City sued him for $1.5 million to cover bounced checks, caused by the asset freeze.

Today Whittaker is badly in debt, and bankruptcy looms large in his future.

But, hey, that's just one example, right?

Wrong.

Nearly one third of multi-million dollar jackpot winners eventually declare bankruptcy. Some end up worse. To give you just a taste of the possibilities, consider the fates of:
Billie Bob Harrell, Jr.: $31 million. Texas, 1997. As of 1999: Committed suicide in the wake of incessant requests for money from friends and family. “Winning the lottery is the worst thing that ever happened to me.￾
William âBudâ￾ Post: $16.2 million. Pennsylvania. 1988. In 1989: Brother hires a contract murderer to kill him and his sixth wife. Landlady sued for portion of the jackpot. Convicted of assault for firing a gun at a debt collector. Declared bankruptcy. Dead in 2006.
Evelyn Adams: $5.4 million (won TWICE 1985, 1986). As of 2001: Poor and living in a trailer gave away and gambled most of her fortune.
Suzanne Mullins: $4.2 million. Virginia. 1993. As of 2004: No assets left.
Shefik Tallmadge: $6.7 million. Arizona. 1988. As of 2005: Declared bankruptcy.
Thomas Strong: $3 million. Texas. 1993. As of 2006: Died in a shoot-out with police.
Victoria Zell: $11 million. 2001. Minnesota. As of 2006: Broke. Serving seven year sentence for vehicular manslaughter.
Karen Cohen: $1 million. Illinois. 1984. As of 2000: Filed for bankruptcy. As of 2006: Sentenced to 22 months for lying to federal bankruptcy court.
Jeffrey Dampier: $20 million. Illinois. 1996. As of 2006: Kidnapped and murdered by own sister-in-law.
Ed Gildein: $8.8 million. Texas. 1993. As of 2003: Dead. Wife saddled with his debts. As of 2005: Wife sued by her own daughter who claimed that she was taking money from a trust fund and squandering cash in Las Vegas.
Willie Hurt: $3.1 million. Michigan. 1989. As of 1991: Addicted to cocaine. Divorced. Broke. Indicted for murder.
Michael Klingebiel: $2 million. As of 1998 sued by own mother claiming he failed to share the jackpot with her.
Janite Lee: $18 million. 1993. Missouri. As of 2001: Filed for bankruptcy with $700 in assets.
 
Yup, no doubt I'd be claiming the prize via an LLC into a revocable trust. No way I'd be telling anyone but a lawyer and estate planning accountant/professional.


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