The Lottery

The jackpot at the nearby Powerball Lottery is at a breathtaking $280 million. I live in Massachusetts, which doesn't participate in Powerball, but bordering Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire sell tickets. So Jenn's father got us tickets from Connecticut.

Fantasizing about winning the lottery is a delicious game.

Today, if $280 million were dropped into my lap, I'd pay off the car and the house, get a nanny, and move us to another neighborhood. I'd work part-time. I'd get into digital video and editing. I'd be buying a bigger TV, a bigger car, a bigger computer (maybe even two) and custom-fitted golf clubs. I'd increase my annual giving (always to my high school and college almae mater). I'd get my basement finished (oh wait, the bigger house will have a finished basement). My parents and brothers and close family would share this wealth. Needless to say, Jenn and Mia's future would be vastly different too.

While fantasizing about this is fun, there is always the letdown when I realize $280 million won't fall into my lap. I need to get past the letdown (and not blow $100 on scratch tickets and the lottery), and get back to patience, savings, 401(K), IRA, being careful with the money I do earn, keeping myself 'employable' in a field that I find 'enjoyable'. These are my slow tickets to wealth. And it's a more sure bet that if everything goes well, Mia, Jenn, and I will be able to enjoy some of these things over time.

(But if it were to happen, rest assured that I'll probably be into a new Audi A6. OK, I'll stop fantasizing now!)