Mega Millions Lottery Tickets Megamillions Megamillion Mega Million Powerball Lottery Tickets Powerball Tickets and Powerball Online
Buy Mega Million Lottery Tickets
| Powerball |
| Powerball Lottery |
| Powerball Online |
| Powerball Tickets |
| Lottery |
| Mega Millions Lottery |
| How to Play |
| Mega Millions |
| Megamillions |
| Lottery Tickets |
| Mega Million |
|
|
A: False. Sadly, this isn’t the no-brainer that it should be.
In a 1999 survey by the Consumer Federation of America and financial services firm Primerica, 40% of Americans with incomes between $25,000 and $35,000 -- and nearly one-half of respondents with an income of $15,000 to $25,000 -- thought winning the lottery would give them their retirement nest egg. Overall, 27% of respondents said that their best chance to gain $500,000 in their lifetime is via a sweepstakes or lottery win, the survey said.
Consider this: If you take that $150 a year and put it into a 401(k) or IRA at age 30, you’ll have $28,000 by age 65, assuming a reasonable 8% rate of return, says Jim Holtzman, an accountant and certified financial planner with Legend Financial Advisors, in Pittsburgh. That figure doesn't even consider the added boost of contributing to a plan in which a company matches contributions.
To save that $500,000 nest egg, you'd have to tuck away a little less than $100 a month starting at age 21. What's more likely: that you can find an extra $100 a month -- or that the 1-in-several-million odds of even the smallest seven-figure jackpot suddenly tilt in your favor?
“If you’re playing because you think you’re gonna get rich, then don’t play,” says Don Feeney, research director for the Minnesota State Lottery.