$1.5 Billion Lottery Winner

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Captain Kirk
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$1.5 Billion Lottery Winner

Post by Captain Kirk »

Forgive me if I don't join in with the smiling happy clappers at the news someone in the US has won one and a half billion dollars in a lottery. Actually it saddens me somewhat. Could have had 1500 millionaires or even 150 folk getting $10m each, a far more palatable outcome in my estimation.
Jun

Re: $1.5 Billion Lottery Winner

Post by Jun »

I'm very much not a socialist, but still tend to agree with you.

Getting through $1.5 billion would take extreme effort, bordering on waste.

I would much rather have 150x the chance of winning $10 million. Admittedly, this just buys a modest house and perhaps an indefinite annual income of merely ~$350,000. But that's almost $1000 a day. Even in Soi Twilight, I can get by on this.
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Gaybutton
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Re: $1.5 Billion Lottery Winner

Post by Gaybutton »

I would agree unless, of course, the holder of the winning ticket happens to be me . . .
fountainhall

Re: $1.5 Billion Lottery Winner

Post by fountainhall »

Important to remember that a win of $1.5 billion does not actually put $1.5 billion in your account. You get it over 30 years paying tax as you go. You can elect a one-off payment but that is a lot less and after taxes comes in at around $490 million. Even that is bordering on the obscene IMO.

It’s a bit like those talent tv shows that advertise a prize of $1 million for the winner. But if you can actually read the credits at the end as they flash past, that $1 million is paid over 25 years!

I’m not sure who gets the actual profits from running the lottery or if all income goes to winners. I like the Hong Kong lottery system where all profits are donated to local charities.
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Gaybutton
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Re: $1.5 Billion Lottery Winner

Post by Gaybutton »

fountainhall wrote:You get it over 30 years paying tax as you go. You can elect a one-off payment but that is a lot less and after taxes comes in at around $490 million.
Either way, I'll take it . . .
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Captain Kirk
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Re: $1.5 Billion Lottery Winner

Post by Captain Kirk »

fountainhall wrote:I’m not sure who gets the actual profits from running the lottery or if all income goes to winners. I like the Hong Kong lottery system where all profits are donated to local charities.
Of course the other big winners win big every week, the company who run the lottery. That's the charity they are most interested in.
Jun

Re: $1.5 Billion Lottery Winner

Post by Jun »

Two completely separate points here.

1 If you won $1.5 billion, I imagine it would take a lot more effort to stop the media from finding you & to keep your privacy, than it you had merely $20 million. The one advantage we have over the likes of Bill Gates is we can visit every gogo bar in town, without having the paparazzi on our case.

2 Your typical charity may be not for profit, but the CEO still often commands a very large salary & runs an expensive car. I know of someone who worked at a so called charity and less than 10% of the money raised made it out to the good cause. Clearly this is a structure where there is not much pressure to operate efficiently.
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