Retiring on the lottery

From: Nancy Slator <neslator@amherst.edu>
Subject: Retiring on the lottery
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999 08:35:06 -0400 (EDT)

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On Sat, 30 Oct 1999, persfin-digest wrote:
> 
>      WASHINGTON -- One-quarter of Americans believe their best chance to
> build
>  wealth for retirement is by playing the lottery, not by patiently
> saving and investing, a
>  survey says.

This isn't what the people were asked.  (See below.)

>      Stephen Brobeck, the consumer group's executive director, said
> banks and brokerage
>  firms must take some of the blame for the fact that many Americans
> don't realize there are
>  ways to invest profitably even small amounts of money, such as in
> savings bonds or mutual
>  funds.

Are there really ways for a 20 year old with $50 to get 9 percent
interest?

>      The poll indicated 28 percent of Americans believe winning a
> lottery or sweepstakes
>  is their "best chance to obtain a half a million dollars or more in
> your lifetime."

My local paper didn't print this much of the article.  This is completely
different than the headline.  If I don't think I'm ever going to
accumulate half a million dollars, then it makes no difference to say the
best way to do it is the lottery.  The beginning of the story makes it
sound like there are a lot of people out there who are really *counting*
on the lottery for retirement.

I have a state retirement plan.  I'm not going to have half a million
dollars when I retire, but I will have a pension.  It's probably
statistically true that my best bet for having a half a million dollars in
the bank is the lottery -- and I don't even buy tickets.

- -- Nancy Slator, neslator@amherst.edu

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