# What's up with old people playing the lottery? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 11, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857 "2016-01-11T23:10:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![escaped](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@escaped](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/escaped)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/21 "2016-01-12T04:00:25Z")
Retirement is not enough. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/22 "2016-01-12T04:04:23Z")
> [@Cardboard](#): > > Seriously, what is 80-year-old Mabel going to do with a $1.3 billion Power Ball victory with the 2.7 years she has left on earth? They say there are no stupid questions. They are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/23 "2016-01-12T15:36:13Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > They say there are no stupid questions. They are wrong. /win ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/24 "2016-01-12T16:11:26Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Set up college funds for her grandchildren? šŸ˜› How about for all of her descendants, into perpetuity? Lump-sum payout, after taxes, leaves her with $300M. Invest it, withdraw just 3%=$9M every year. Even allowing for $75,000 per year in tuition and living expenses, thatā€™s enough to send 120 kids to college every year. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/25 "2016-01-12T16:37:49Z")
Good Lord. You are serious, arenā€™t you? It probably wouldnā€™t take more than 3 or 4 months to set up a charitable foundation, hire a board, and begin helping whatever social group you planned on serving. And with that kind of funding, properly invested, it could continue to help people for many years into the future. And this lovely mature woman to whom you so snottily refer would still have enough money to spoil herself and her grandkids for that 2.7 years. ---
**Author:** ![txtumbleweed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@txtumbleweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txtumbleweed)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/26 "2016-01-12T17:24:33Z")
Getting old is expensive. My grandmother is 97 and has been in independent living and now assisted living for close to 15 years. Independent living (an apartment, food service, transportation, activities) ran around $22k per year and you could count on an increase of about 3-4% every year. Assisted living, which is similar to independent living but adds much more medical support, runs closer to $50k per year. Granted, $1.3 billion PowerBall winnings would be overkill, but little old ladies worry about supporting themselves, too. They donā€™t want to be a burden on the family. ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/27 "2016-01-12T18:48:54Z")
She probably figures people will finally start calling her and inviting her to go places with them. Donā€™t ask me how I came to this idea. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/28 "2016-01-12T18:55:05Z")
> [@Cardboard](#): > > Seriously, what is 80-year-old Mabel going to do with a $1.3 billion Power Ball victory with the 2.7 years she has left on earth? So she can wave all that cash in your face and cackle ā€œNeener, neener, neener!ā€. Mabel gots a mean streak. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/29 "2016-01-12T19:07:41Z")
Iā€™m 77 and Iā€™m in the pool. I think I can do more good in the world with a billion dollars, than the US Defense Department has done with its last trillion. So I look forward to the opportunity to try. And I donā€™t care if I squander it all in the first five years ā€“ I donā€™t have that to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/30 "2016-01-14T07:11:56Z")
Iā€™m 75 and I damn sure bought a ticketā€”didnā€™t win a nickel but I had plans to make my three nieces and their children happy and secure. Two things Iā€™ve never been. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/31 "2016-01-14T09:59:51Z")
Even though I recognise it is a bit of a dumb thought, I canā€™t deny I havenā€™t wondered the same as the OP myself on occasion. A big win is wasted on a 20 year old, who doesnā€™t appreciate the value of money. And itā€™s wasted on an 80 year old, who might have five years left to use it. The ideal winner is someone in their 40s, who has lived through the occasional hardship, and who still has 30 or 40 years left to live it up. On the other hand, buying a lottery ticket isnā€™t about the big win, as even getting one of the lower divisions of a few thousand dollars can make a difference, where the odds are a little better. Nobody would begrudge anybody winning that, I hope. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/32 "2016-01-14T10:37:25Z")
> [@Cardboard](#): > > Seriously, what is 80-year-old Mabel going to do with a $1.3 billion Power Ball victory with the 2.7 years she has left on earth? If my dad had won a jackpot like that at 80 he would have had 7 more years to spend it before passing away. I had a friend who lived to be 102 - if she had won at 80 and taken the annuity option she would have outlived it. Not everyone dies on schedule. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/33 "2016-01-14T11:13:40Z")
Even if they do die on schedule, the average remaining life for an 80 year old woman is more like nine or ten years, not 2.7 or five. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/34 "2016-01-14T12:09:32Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Sheā€™d finally be able to afford all those black market virgins that she could drain of essence to finally become immortal. This made me LOL. I need therapy. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857/35 "2016-01-14T16:22:45Z")
Many people are ā€œgiving type peopleā€ and do not only think of themselves. Selfish people can not comprehend this. So to answer your question, give it away! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-old-people-playing-the-lottery/742857.md?page=1)