Today's topic: If I won the lottery I would...
I will never win the lottery because I don't throw my money away that way. The first episode of Numbers explained that if you bought 20 lottery tickets a day your chance of winning would be one in 20,000 years.
Okay I'll play along. Say I win a hundred million dollars. Great. Federal Taxes are 50% off the top. State and local taxes depend on where you live, but they take a bite.
A million bucks just became around 400,000.00. Great I can spend all that. Guess again, that is income for this year which places you into a higher income bracket and come recording time you're socked by federal and state taxes again. This is how those who win the lottery wind up bankrupt within two or three years. They go wild spending everything the first year and then the tax man cometh.
The only intelligent option if you win big on the lottery is take the yearly payments, put them in savings, cd's, bonds and live off the interest.
Say after the tax man I net a million dollars. In a saving account that will generate around (depending on interest rate) $10,000.00 to 12,000.00 per month.
With that I could upgrade my house and cars maybe add a summer home perhaps even a boat. There would still be money for travel and other living expenses without stretching your budget.
Finance, do not buy. Use each years' installment as income for the financing. Don't exceed your income and you'll do well.
13 comments:
Good answer!
You're far too practical for me! I can't put limits on my dreams, which tends to drive my husband a little crazy sometimes. :-)
Very practical approach, which is really how we'd have to do it in the end.
This is a practical way of looking at it... and, honestly, if I had an income of 12k a year, I could do pretty much anything I wanted :-)
Marianne, I've dreamed of having one of my books picked up as a movie or TV series, maybe becoming a best seller. When it comes to money I tend to be rather practical.
Glad you see it that way too, Shari.
Ooh, Judy, must be a typo. 12K a month is more like it.
Breaking it down by the numbers does put a very different spin on the question, doesn't it? I like your evaluation.
I don't buy the tickets, either, so I understand.
Thanks, Michael
Glad we're agreed. Michael.
A very practical approach!
Glad you agree.
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