lottery

News, discoveries and ... fun

Can you plan to win the lottery?

Joseph and Joanne Zagami of North Attleborough, Mass., have won $1 million on a lottery ticket that they fished out of their trash after mistakenly throwing it away, the Associated Press reports.

More than $70 billion dollars: that's the amount of money that was spent on lottery tickets in North America last year. Seems like a lot of money to be spending on a thrill that usually only lasts a few minutes, according to state lottery commissions (and this AARP article), the odds of winning a grand prize in state lotteries can be as outlandish as 1 in 175 million, depending on the game. Is spending money on such a slim chance really worth it - especially when nearly one half of baby boomers in the U.S. between the ages of 56 and 62 are at risk of not having enough money for retirement?