Green Retirement Blog

This evening at a convenience store, the woman in front of me said to the store clerk, “This is the winning lottery ticket - the one that’s going to let me retire - right?” And earlier in the day, while signing up for a blog service, I came across a fellow retirement blogger’s site who admitted to buying lottery tickets. How many people are buying lottery tickets hoping, nay gambling, that they will be able to win their retirement?

I admit, that in the past, I have been guilty of buying lottery tickets in hopes of an early retirement. What’s $5, when the jackpot is $65 million, and you couldn’t begin to dream of the ways to spend the money? I bought lottery tickets, maybe 3 or 4 times a year when the jackpots were large, and it’s been many years since I bought one. I knew that the chances of winning were 1 in 17 million, and the odds of getting struck by lightening, were far higher. Fortunately it wasn’t a habit, and the few dollars a year I spent, didn’t take a huge toll on my actual retirement investments.

My grand-father used to play the “Irish Sweepstakes”, as faithfully as he went to church, every Sunday his entire life. He never won. But he never stopped trying, never stopped believing, never stopped hoping, that the lottery ticket that he just bought - would be the ticket to his retirement.

“Better lucky than smart” goes the saying. But when it comes to retirement, buying lottery tickets, is not a winning plan. Now about all the retirees who get on busses headed for casinos…

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