I Feel Lucky; Gambling as a Road to Wealth
EXCITING NEWS: I was selected to deliver a national training in San Francisco this November entitled: Personal Finance Solutions for Busy Mental Health Professionals. This 3 hour workshop includes material from my upcoming eBook about Investing. Stay tuned to get first crack at the NEW EBOOK; and it’s FREE to my readers.
This article is the 4th in a series relating poor money behaviors with stress. The topics are inspired by an article entitled Emotions, Money, & Financial Stress by Nancy Losinno, published at the US Department of Energy, Brookhaven National Laboratory website.
Why not read the whole series?
Part 1: GO SHOPPING to solve your problems?
Part 2: Overcome a Passion for Procrastination (in dealing with financial matters)
Part 3: Money & Relationships-Make it Work!
“Here’s something to think about: How come you never see a headline like ‘Psychic Wins Lottery’?” Jay Leno
Is this an indictment on psychics or the lottery? I’m not certain, but either way winning the lottery is highly unlikely.
MAIN TOPIC: Can you Believe this Guy?
Last week a well dressed business man pulled up a chair, laid down his laptop, and proceeded to the counter to pick up his coffee. As he walked into the shop, I marveled once again at the number of virtual office workers who congregate at the coffee shop.
Wow, was I surprised when the man laid out his “work.” He had about 10 lottery tickets which he began scraping with a small tool. This time I forced myself to KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT!
Here’s what went through my mind:
“Oh my G-d. Doesn’t this guy know that he is flushing his money down the toilet? Didn’t anyone tell him the odds of winning anything significant is at least 1 in a million? He should take the amount he regularly wastes on the lottery and put it in a broad based index mutual fund like the Vanguard Total World Stock Index! ……… I really want to talk to him, but I know it is none of my business.”
This is one of my biggest financial pet peeves; trying to WIN YOUR WAY TO WEALTH. Unfortunately, this stranger is not the only one I know with this mindset. Several family members share this distorted money-making attitude. It’s the demonstration of trying to GET RICH QUICK. It is very very unlikely! The lottery ticket buyers are frequently those individuals who carry large credit card balances, and collect the latest gadgets (even when they can’t afford them).
These individuals are missing a key SUCCESS STRATEGY: the ability to DELAY GRATIFICATION.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Get Rid of Toxic Thinking
Any sort of gambling will not lead to wealth; not lotteries, black jack, roulette, poker etc. The odds are IN FAVOR OF THE HOUSE.
If you even consider gambling or playing the lottery in the hopes of “STRIKING IT RICH,” ADJUST YOUR THINKING NOW.
As Losinno said, “The reality is that most of us will have to work until we get to retire, and only a tiny percentage of people ever win lotteries. It’s far better to use your wits to plan soundly towards making your retirement dream comfortable. You’ll probably come out ahead anyway, by being a tortoise rather than the hare, since most Lotto winners have lost their winnings within the first five years.”
Old thinking: Buy lottery tickets to get rich!
New thinking: There is no such thing as a free ticket to wealth. I have to plan, save, and invest in order to gain wealth. It’s not easy, but if I take it step-by-step, it’s possible. Delaying Gratification leads to financial success.
ACTION STEPS:
Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it to keep all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.
- Go to the human resources (HR) office at work to set up an automatic withdrawal from your paycheck into a savings account. If it’s taken out immediately, you will not miss the cash.
- While you are at the HR office inquire about a savings plan &/or 401(K). Don’t get scared if you don’t understand the program, ask the human resources staff to help you. It’s their job!
- Pick up my RSS feed (the big orange striped button on the top right) and read BarbaraFriedbergPersonalFinance regularly to learn how to achieve wealth.
RECENT PERSONAL FINANCE CARNIVALS
I am honored to have my work showcased at these sites recently. Why not stop by the CARNIVALS and check out the fine articles?
The Carnival of Personal Finance at Miss Thrifty featured my article, 3 Amazing Career Tips
The Carnival of Money Stories 2 at Simply Forties ran How Daniel Makes Extra Money and you can too.
Your post brings to mind the experiment by Dr. Mischel where the young children were given a choice: eat the marshmallow now and receive no more or wait and receive an extra marshmallow. In follow up studies those who could delay gratification did better in school, were better adjusted socially etc.
People have a hard time picturing that 65th birthday party but it’s coming for most of us and whether we took advantage of the choices you mention will determine our quality of life going forward.
Great quote from Jay Leno… a great commentary on both the inaccuracy of psychics and the futility of gambling. That phrase so resonates “Win Your Way To Wealth.” That’s rich, and is exactly what we should aspire to do. The whole gambling thing (despite the spiritual issues) is just a statistical improbability. It can be mathematically proven that you are almost definitely wasting your money. I don’t find that exciting.
@DIY-How thoughtful, I appreciate the research and certainly agree. It just makes sense that planning & saving beats out self destructive behaviors.
@Shawn-You continue to further the discussion by adding in another aspect-spiritual. Although gambling, if looked at as entertainment is one thing. But, thinking of making money by gambling is a waste of spiritual,emotional, and financial energy.
Thanks to the both of you for your continuing involvement.
Best regards, Barb
Gambling as a road to wealth certainly fits in with the series on reducing stress by getting rid of dysfunctional behaviors. I can’t think of too many things more stressful and dysfunctional than trying to gamble toward wealth. As the years go by, the stress will certainly escalate. On the other hand, investing steadily will immediately reduce stress and will give great peace as the years go by. Thanks for pointing out the obvious to us!
There is a preponderance of instant gratification thinking in our society. Everything is getting faster, from corrrspendence/keeping in touch, service at restaurants, access to money, etc. This is counter to saving and investing for the long run. While it has become easier to spend, it’s not necessarily easier to make and save. Financial education and self-discipline can play a big role in getting people to turn around behaviors.
It would be great if basic money management was taught to kids in school, from the time they were young. Maybe then we would be on the road to being a nation of savers, rather than having such a gargantuan national debt!
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