If You Win The Lottery, Take The Lump Sum
from the well,-duh dept
In last week's California Super Lotto, the prize was $141 million, making it the largest single state lotto prize ever. It was even so high, that for the first time in my life, I actually bought a lotto ticket. For my efforts, I actually won a whole $10 (whoo hoo!). So, lucky me, I didn't have to make the choice as to whether or not to take the lump sum, or accept it over 20 years. Anyway, the day of the drawing I was discussing with several friends the benefits of taking the lump sum up front, and it's very simple: can you invest the money more wisely than the state's extremely conservative investment plan? Chances are, if you have half a brain and hire a good financial advisor: yes. Well, apparently (and, sure, this might be a first), the experts agree with me. I guess those finance classes I took really paid off. Obviously, however, the many many courses in statistics did not pay off since I actually bought a ticket, knowing the odds.
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