to lotto or not to lotto?

A Burnsville couple won the Powerball this week, with a ticket they purchased just a few miles from our home.   The big $228.9 million will become a $123 million cash payout, then 'only' $84 million after taxes.  Seems this couple met with their financial adviser earlier this week and their retirement prospects weren't looking stellar.  Funny how things work out sometimes.

Lots of lotto winners end up going bankrupt.  We like to think we wouldn't be idiots and lose it all, but if you imagine the nitty gritty details of a life with sudden wealth, the pressure must be insane.  When the jackpot gets huge we fantasize how we'd spend it - besides the nicer house and $$ set aside for college, etc., we'd pay off the mortgage at church (so they stop pestering us with capital campaigns), give some to our fav charities, and to family and friends.  But how much?  And would you really become an instant philanthropist anyway?  Whatever you do give away, it's probably never enough.  Putting the shoe on the other foot, what if it's someone close to us that pockets 84 mil?  Say my brother Chris wins, and all he does is give me 2 million?  Chris, you lousy cheapskate.  Alesha, we practically grew up together, how could you only take me on a world cruise?  How messy it would all be.

Well, it's pointless anyway, 'cuz we never play the lotto.  And lightning never strikes twice - a winning ticket already sold in our hometown.