Is winning the lottery all it's cracked up to be?
“The 360” shows you diverse perspectives on the day’s top stories and debates.
What’s happening
The Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.73 billion after no ticket had all six of the winning numbers on Monday. That means there’s still a chance — 1 in nearly 292 million — that someone could take home the grand prize after the next drawing on Wednesday night.
Even though a person is more likely to get eaten by a shark than win the lottery, it hasn’t deterred Americans from spending more than a few dollars in hopes of becoming rich overnight. In 2021, Americans spent over $105 billion on lottery tickets. In 2019, the average U.S. adult spent about $320 a year on them.
While lottery systems vary by state, a percentage of the revenue generated from lottery ticket sales is used to fund public programs, like schools, senior centers or infrastructure projects. It’s worth noting that five states — Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah — don’t have lotteries due to a mix of concerns over the impact on low-income families, gambling addiction or competition with existing gaming operations.
Why there’s debate
People who buy a lottery ticket may see it as a low-risk investment for a chance to win hundreds of millions of dollars, which can be life-changing — if the right steps are taken.
Whether winning will change your life for the better, however, is the subject of fierce debate. Lottery skeptics note that, depending on the state, taxes and mandatory federal withholdings can chip away significantly at one’s total winnings.
There’s also a laundry list of horror stories about big lottery winners whose golden tickets led to strained family relationships, bankruptcy, prison or even murder.
But research indicates that such anecdotes about the dark side of winning the lottery are the exception, not the rule.
In 2018, researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research who surveyed a large sample of lottery winners in Sweden reported that they “found little evidence in support of the hypothesis that winners often consume frivolously following a win.” In fact, the study found that “large-prize winners appear to enjoy sustained improvement in economic conditions that are robustly detectable for well over a decade after the windfall.”
Another study by the Swedish Institute for Social Research at Stockholm University found that more than a decade later, winners of large lottery prizes were typically more satisfied with their lives than non-winners or those who had won smaller amounts. The same study notes that life satisfaction is not the same as happiness, and that the difference in happiness reported by large-prize winners and the other groups was not statistically significant.
These findings echo those produced in 1978 by one of the first studies on lottery winners, which compared happiness levels among winners, non-winners and paralyzed accident victims and found no significant difference.
What’s next
After a California player took home the $1.08 billion Powerball jackpot in July, lotto enthusiasts nationwide are now looking ahead to Monday night’s drawing for a chance to win the fourth largest in U.S. lottery history.
Perspectives
The lottery will ruin your life
“Winning the lottery is probably one of the quickest, most surefire ways to ruin your life — we’re serious. Not to mention your odds of winning the lottery are slim to none. … If you’re looking for financial peace, you’re not going to find it in winning the lottery.” — Dave Ramsey, Ramsey Solutions
Money won’t buy happiness
“If you weren't happy yesterday you won’t be happy tomorrow. It’s money. It’s not happiness.” — American businessman Mark Cuban to Dallas Morning News
Winner beware: Be disciplined or lose the money
“I know a lot of people who won the lottery and are broke today. If you’re not disciplined, you will go broke. I don’t care how much money you have.” — Sandra Hayes, a Powerball jackpot winner who split the winnings with co-workers, to Associated Press
Hey, big spender … have a financial plan in place
“We like to say it doesn’t cost you to dream. But it does if your fantasizing about instant wealth robs you of a realistic plan to create financial stability for yourself and your family.” — Michelle Singletary, Washington Post
Financial stability can be achieved without winning the lottery
“Daydream how the win would make your life better, and then figure out how you can create this change in your life even if you don’t win. I’ve spent nearly the last two decades working with sudden wealth recipients — people who have come into a windfall overnight. Sudden wealth can radically improve a person’s life, but it’s certainly not a requirement.” — Robert Pagliarini, Forbes
Money can buy happiness, sort of
“Having more money makes people less stressed and more satisfied with their life. Money might not buy happiness, but it buys a lot of things that make the pursuit of happiness easier.” — Kelsey Piper, Vox
Actually, being rich is pretty awesome
“I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor, and I like rich a whole lot better. We’ve lived in big, fancy houses. I drive a Jaguar. We’ve gone on cruises. I can’t complain.” — Richard Lustig, a seven-time grand-prize lottery winner, to Time
