The lowest-income families in the United States spend an average of $412 a year on lottery tickets, four times more than the highest-income families.
This seems crazy to me.
This may seem crazy to you too. But I am not in the lowest income group. Chances are you will too. This makes it difficult for many of us to intuit the subconscious reasoning of low-income lottery ticket buyers.
Buying a lottery ticket is the only time in life when we can fulfill the tangible dream of getting something good that you already have and that you take for granted.
We are paying for a dream, and you may not understand this because you are already living the dream. That's why we buy more tickets than you. You do not have to agree with these arguments.
Buying lottery tickets when you don't have money is still a bad idea. But I can understand why lottery ticket sales continue.”
(From Morgan Housel's book The Psychology of Money: The Lasting Lessons of Wealth, Greed, and Happiness)
