Like most of you, I have had that dream of what I would do if I actually won the lottery. I’m not talking about the $100 people occasionally win from some scratch-off a colleague bought them for Christmas or a birthday. I’m talking about the whole enchilada, the Powerball jackpot. Hey, it’s my fantasy so I may as well dream big!
When I was younger, I thought about all the “stuff” I would buy. The big house, the vacation home(s), the yacht, the classic cars — you know all the things that our western society says we should purchase. As a kid I would leap through the Sears Catalog (essentially the in-print predecessor of Amazon) and fantasize about all the stuff I would buy if I had all the money in the world. It was a rather selfish and self-centered Wishlist.
As I’ve gotten older, I just don’t desire material things like I once did. I desire experiences, especially with family and good friends, and to serve others. As I have “matured” (stop snickering!), I would like to think my priorities would have changed as well, that I would be vastly more philanthropic.
How about you?
After all, as many of us were once taught in Sunday school, in Acts 20:35 Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” So, would you lean toward selfishness or selflessness? Maybe a compromise?
The Powerball jackpot was at $1.1 billion on Monday just before I submitted this column. Oh, the thrill of it all just thinking about winning! Actually, for almost everyone, that momentary thrill is all you are likely to win with any of that money you so eagerly put down.
In reality, you probably didn’t win the jackpot. In fact, nobody probably did, which means the next jackpot will be even greater. Wait, you matched the Powerball? Great! You win $4 back on the $20 or so that you spent. Three numbers and the Powerball? You win $100, and because of the euphoria of winning you will likely “invest” it in additional tickets the next night because you are on a hot streak, right?
Sorry to be that “Pragmatic Passion” guy again but the odds of hitting the jackpot in Mega Millions or Powerball are around 1-in-292 million. According to a USA Today video by Scott L. Hall from Nov. 10, 2023, here are “Seven things more likely to happen than winning the Powerball or Mega Millions lottery”.
- Finding a pearl in an oyster – 1 in 12,000
- Getting struck by lightning – 1 in 15,300
- Dating a supermodel – 1 in 88,000
- Getting attacked by a shark – 1 in 3.7 million
- Being an NBA draft pick – 1 in 6.8 million
- Achieving sainthood – 1 in 20 million
- An asteroid destroys the earth – 1 in 700,000
Whoa, that last one kind of freaked me out a bit. But at least we can watch 1998’s “Armageddon” and have Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck show us how to save the planet.
Sorry to be such a humbug in this holiday season but if you don’t believe me maybe University of Colorado psychologist and department chair Leaf Van Boven can let you down a little easier. He was interviewed in a March 2024 article by Blake Puscher entitled: “You’re (very likely) not going to win, so why play?”.
“Nobody expects to win the lottery, but what you’re buying is the enjoyment of thinking about what would happen if you won,” Van Boven says. “It’s more about the enjoyment that people experience when they imagine things that are going to happen in the future, which is a really powerful emotion.”
A few months ago, when the Powerball jackpot reached $1.78 billion, I shelled out my $20 and didn’t match a single number. By the way, the all-time high is $2.04 billion. Yep, $2 billion, and it was won by a single ticket holder in California in 2022. It would be fascinating to learn what that person has done with their winnings.
There are many urban legends out there about how 70% of lottery winners end up miserable and bankrupt, but my research has found that number to be at the worst 30% and in fact most winners have very few issues at all.
In full disclosure, I am not a gambler. I don’t play the lottery on a regular basis, I don’t bet on sporting events, I don’t play poker with the guys, and on the golf course I might, but rarely, bet even a $5 Nassau. I learned at an early age that the house always wins in the end, so other than getting the entertainment value and the thrill of the chase, I have always chosen to use my leisure time and discretionary income in other ways.
Unfortunately, I have seen the devastating impact on families (including my own) who have dealt with gambling addiction. I worry about what the influence of online betting apps and sports gambling is having, especially on our young people. Given our lack of personal finance education, most people just don’t understand the power of compounding interest and the more practical lifestyle that comes with a disciplined financial investment plan that includes the dreaded budget.
So perhaps I’m being hypocritical by even blowing $20 on the astronomical chance that I would actually win the lottery. But I will participate in this futile experiment for the sake of research and a shot of dopamine from the short-lived fantasy of actually winning.
Here’s what I’d like to think I would do (after taxes, of course!) if I ever won the Powerball:
I would create a family trust that would help to make sure my wife, our three children and any future grandchildren would be financially secure. I’m talking pragmatically, of course, meaning helping pay off mortgages, set up college funds and maybe a Roth IRA or two. If any other family member or close friends had serious health or financial difficulties, I’d give real, but well-vetted, thought to assisting.
I would create a foundation that would allow my wife and I to regularly help 3-5 charities that have special meaning to us on an annual basis. It would start with our church, with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and other causes that really matter to us and that we believe have very low overhead, so the money actually gets where it’s needed.
But I would also want to have a fund that I would refer to as my “Good Samaritan” fund. I would use it to give anonymous gifts to people in need that have suffered some tragedy that was not of their own doing or to help someone get their life turned around as long as they showed a sincere desire to do so.
I would also take a page from former Cowboys and UCLA star QB Troy Aikman, who recently made headlines by saying he was done giving to NIL and athletics at his alma mater. In my world, I would not even consider giving significant money until the NCAA and universities put in better rules for governing both the NIL and the Transfer Portal. That’s a different discussion for a different day.
The lasting joy of helping those less fortunate and changing lives through bringing the gospel to others, even if it means doing it a little at a time, is my real passion. I would leave the big outreach gifts to the people with a greater audience and access to more media resources. Remember, I’m the guy who gave up social media three years ago (and haven’t regretted it).
Think of the joy you’d bring to others (and yourself) with anonymous gifts. I would want to help veterans. I would help people like Rev. Terry King from Saving Grace Ministries in Buffalo, New York, who upon his own release from prison, dedicated his life to helping other convicts get a second chance through his Grace House Transitional Residence Program. I would want to help families with young children where parents have lost jobs or are struggling to make ends meet.
During this Christmas holiday season, I will ask you to consider making at least one of your gifts an anonymous one to people in your life that you know could use the help. If you have the resources, the desire to bring joy to the less fortunate, and want to go deeper into changing a life, I have a thought. How about finding a young person who might have to drop out of school because of financial difficulties and “investing” in their future? It could be a generational change that you could be sparking. How about helping a single parent get a broken-down car repaired or help a troubled teen get tutoring so they can learn the value of education?
It is a dream I have.
So, while I don’t know that I would be entirely capable of not buying some new “toys,” I’d like to believe that I also don’t need a bigger house, or nicer clothes, or the most expensive car on the block. I want to believe my wife and I could just do a lot of good things for others. For now, especially during this Christmas season, we will continue to donate what we can, including our time and experiences. To me, that’s worth getting excited about. What about you?
