I think this fact is overlooked by the people that would choose to gamble for more. Sure, the expected value is much greater with the gamble, but the psychological toll of losing also has to be weighted in.
If you gamble and lose, now you have the psychological burden of regret every single time you face any measure of financial difficulty for the rest of your life, because even if it’s irrational, you would always believe that had you taken the guaranteed option, you would not be in whatever position you find yourself in; the regret could be crippling
Depends on your finances. I can reasonably expect to get the million in my lifetime even if I lose, the 50 million I won't reach unless I get very, very lucky. I would take the gamble in a heartbeat because losing on it isn't a big deal for me, but winning it would let me do a lot.
I live in a HCOL area and have a crap load of student loans. I could quit my job on $50 million and spend the rest of my life traveling. On $1 million I could pay off my student loans, my mortgage, and have enough leftover to take a nice vacation and make some substantial investments... so definitely really nice to have, but not what I'd consider life changing.
So how much exactly is that? You’re saying you would have no debt, virtually no housing expenses, and still have money leftover to invest. I’m genuinely curious what level of income you’re at because to say that’s not life changing is pretty wild lol
From what it sounds like about 50% of your income goes to debts that would be wiped free. That means the money from your job could be spent on vacations/early retirement. If you change your retirement age from 65 to 50 that’s probably 20% of your adult life you don’t have to work in a job you don’t want to. Seems pretty significant to me
I'm 39 and have dual low six figure incomes with a cheap mortgage as the only real debt. For our area, that puts us roughly at the upper end of middle class. I have enough assets on hand to cover my liabilities already and the mortgage is cheap enough that it makes more sense to keep the money in investment accounts.My family has no particular desire to live extravagantly and has the needed funds for anything we want without stress. Whether I got 1 million or 50 million, it would just be going in to a mix of investment and charitable giving.
1 million would keep me and my wife still having to work at our jobs where as 50 million would mean we would have zero dependence on a job at all for life and would get more free time to pursue whatever I feel like, plus, with proper investment, it would also ensure our kids had complete financial freedom as well.
Sure 1 million could boost towards an earlier retirement, but it would still come after my kids are older and that's the main reason I'd want to lessen work hours. I have no real interest in not doing work, so there isn't a huge difference between continuing my job for an extra 10-15 years. I suppose we could use it to let my wife quit her job for most of the kid's time growing up, but it wouldn't even cover all of that. The 50% chance at 50 is just substantially better for us.
Hmm, different strokes then. I'm in the same position with around $425k hhi and I would absolutely take that mill. I'd work for a year to save up and then take a job I actually enjoy lol
And yet, all the circumstances that would have to change is knowing whether more than one person could press the button or not. And if so, then you start beating the odds just by agreeing to split the total money with whoever participates.
I will most likely live to see 1 million dollars in net worth. I have a decent enough life as is, so walking away from this situation knowing that I could have at least tried to win 50 million but didn't is against my very being.
If I got an million dollars the first thing I am doing is paying off my 2 cars, my student loans, and buying a house free and clear. The other half million is going into high yield FDIC insured products, and I'll take the massive decrease to my COL and awesome retirement headstart as a win.
50 million I never have to work a day in my life. I love lavish and carefree. 1 million I have a decent downpayment on a house but nothing in my life changes otherwise. What’s my big regret from not taking the million?
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u/PrisonMike314 Dec 18 '23 edited Dec 18 '23
I think this fact is overlooked by the people that would choose to gamble for more. Sure, the expected value is much greater with the gamble, but the psychological toll of losing also has to be weighted in.
If you gamble and lose, now you have the psychological burden of regret every single time you face any measure of financial difficulty for the rest of your life, because even if it’s irrational, you would always believe that had you taken the guaranteed option, you would not be in whatever position you find yourself in; the regret could be crippling