Win the Mega Millions and Retire Today!

[Kadie]

Win the Mega Millions and Retire Today!
Millions Lottery Website: Save for Retirement With Friday's Big Jackpot

BY LYNEKA LITTLE
March 25, 2011

Given the long odds of winning tonight's $312 million Mega Millions jackpot, the multi-state lottery's website welcome page message to use your payout to "Save For Retirement" is a curious one -- and possibly a dangerous one, gambling experts say.

Those three words are etched above the image of a piggy bank against a clear blue sky on the Mega Millions website. It's one of a series of serving suggestions for your lottery "dreams" along with exotic trips and gifts. Click here to see the homepage image.

But, you'll have better luck getting struck by lightning. And, given your life span you might have better odds of getting struck by lightning more than 5,000 times before winning the big prize Friday.

Asked about the homepage message, a spokeswoman for the 12-state lottery was quick to defend its 176 million-to-1 odds retirement plan.

more...
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/mega-millions-lottery-hits-312-million-jackpot-retire/story?id=13215503

[FiveGoodMen]

1. These stupid fucking lotteries are one reason that 'Murkins never want to tax the rich

[HughBeaumont]

3. "I kin FEEL ITS! I'm-a gonna win this suckah ANY DAY NOW!!!"

It's sad, really.

It's even sadder (or funnier) if they do win it and blow the money on stupid shit like private jets. It's like "you were an unemployed teabagger from Kentucky before you got this money. What the shittery bollocks do you need a PLANE for?"

They don't seem to get that they only receive this money ONCE. Tom Cruise is the one that gets 20 million a movie, not you.

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. You know what? At 176 million to one odds, if they sell 200 million tickets

somebody IS going to win. And the odds are no worse for me than for anyone else who buys a ticket.

Now, blowing several thousand dollars to try to guarantee a win IS stupid. But buying one ticket won't break anyone. Risk vs potential gain. It's worth a dollar or three for a multi-million dollar payout.

[SDuderstadt]

12. Your post assumes....

every possible combination is played. That's simply not true.

[HughBeaumont]

2. "A tax on people who are bad at math" . . . but someone who's bad at math is likely to win that.

That is kind of lame of the MM Commission to ad that way.

Here's something that would be interesting though - take the average person out there and for each year, calculate their odds of being able to retire comfortably following a normal, non-lottery-jackpot plan of just working hard and attempting to save money. You know, given the enormous amounts of roadblocks, benefit takeaways, wage stomping, multiple layoffs, job offshoring, unplanned career obsolescence and general evilness bestowed upon workers by corporate America's leaders.

I'd like to see THOSE odds. Dollars to donuts they're getting longer and longer each YEAR.

[zorahopkins]

4. Some Men From Nigeria Have A Better Offer

Some nice men from Nigeria keep sending me emails that seem to be a better offer.

[ejpoeta]

5. my husband likes to play. i don't mind. it gives him something to dream about.

what would we do with that much money! i know what i would do. go around telling my teabagger family members to pull themselves up by the bootstraps like i did! of course i would not do that, but then again, i won't win either.

[Marblehead]

6. I've been struck by lightning

4,999 times, I'm going out right now to buy a ticket

[davekriss]

10. Unfortunately it is a Bernoulli trial

Your odds of winning are the same today, after 4999 lightening strikes, as they were the day of your first lightening strike.

(what's that smell? Meat roasting on the BBQ??)

[Marblehead]

11. if anything

my luck has got to change.:shrug:

[Bonhomme Richard]

7. Some people think that 312 million is a lot of money.

It just doesn't go as far as it used to.
Least that's the gist I get from one segment of our society.

[Kennah]

17. You can't buy the Presidency ...

... but you could buy a number of Congressional seats or a key state in a Presidential race.

[bluedave]

9. 176 million-to-1 odds

is better odds than the infinity to one odds I'd have otherwise.

[Curmudgeoness]

13. Winning the lottery has always been my retirement plan.

The chances of me having the money to stop working in my lifetime are worse than winning this sucker.

[Kennah]

18. You and me both

[malaise]

14. Weren't these lotteries supposed to be supporting

education?

[FiveGoodMen]

16. If so, they're clearly not working.

[GSLevel9]

21. they give TENS of MILLIONS to education...

and school districts are still broke...

[Rage for Order]

15. I certainly hope so

Not many things piss me off more than someone winning tens of millions of dollars in the lottery only to subsequently proclaim that they have no intention of quitting their job.

[LibertyLover]

19. I have tickets - 2 - for this drawing

It's fun to dream about walking into the office on Monday morning and handing in my retirement papers (it's kind of complicated, but I'm vested in my pension plan and could retire, athough I wouldn't get any payout until I turned 62, in 4 and a half years) and buying a house in France.

[DainBramaged]

22. It makes for a good escape....

I play $5 a week, if I remember, $1 for each large lottery each night, and there is one every night now. I won $17 last year. But the thought of getting just a few thousand to say I won at the lottery is enough, and that money can help some people.


So much angst, so much anger of nothing any of u can control (in this thread)....

[GSLevel9]

20. it's all good...

If you WIN tonight 50 MILLION dollars goes to the Federal Gov't and should cover nearly 80 Tomahawk missiles.

[Ghost in the Machine]

23. I bought $5 worth of tickets... you never know, and people DO win these things..

The Powerball game for tomorrow night is an estimated $125 million, too. Last week I bought one $3 scratch-off ticket and won $100. Not bad, huh?

I hope whoever wins it, when it is eventually won, does a lot of good with the money. I know I would. My family would be set for life, then I would start a nonprofit foundation and open a homeless shelter & food kitchen.