5 ms·

It's scarcely believable that the author (who is also the submitter) is making statements like the following: "Now suppose you go into the bank and say “hey, c

It's scarcely believable that the author (who is also the submitter) is making statements like the following: "Now suppose you go into the bank and say “hey, can I borrow $90k to buy this house, and I’ll put down $10k?” If you have decent credit, you’ll get the loan easily." "So you end up making a profit of let’s say $110k – $100k = $10k on your $10k investment. Cha-ching $10k became $20k, a 100% return on investment." less than 5 years after the worst financial crash since the great depression caused exactly by that exact line of reasoning by millions of people. This is a guy who claims to have learned "a lot about .... investing." More than likely it's all affiliate/SEO spam for the book he's flogging in the post. And we've all (including myself) made it worse by commenting on the post here I'm sure.

001sky 13y ago
Unfortunately, the math is true. Its the same for student loans. Who is going to lend an 18 year old 150,000 to buy a lottery ticket? Nobody. If somebody is going to lend you 150k to buy a lottery ticket should you buy it? Interesting question. All lottery tickets are negagtive NPV. But they sell well to poor people. So, if you need 150K for college, your probabably pre-disposed to buy negative NPV lottery tickets. And thus, the availability of capital distorts asset values.
- vinceguidry 13y ago
  If I had $150K to invest in only lottery tickets, I'd buy wholesale and resell at a discount. That's how you make money in the lottery.
  - 001sky 13y ago
    Like the abstract approach. But if you get 'wholesale pricing', the ticket is worth more to own, no? you'd then lose money on the sale. AFIK lottery tickets are only sold on comission, for this reason. If you could get the govt to sell you the tickets at a discount (lobbying.ribels), that would be an interesting investment fund, indeed.
    - vinceguidry 13y ago
      > But if you get 'wholesale pricing', the ticket is worth more to own, no? Not necessarily. You have to line up a whole lot of factors to increase the odds enough so that the tickets' worth get anywhere near face value, and when you kick in taxes, forget it.

001sky 13y ago

Unfortunately, the math is true. Its the same for student loans. Who is going to lend an 18 year old 150,000 to buy a lottery ticket? Nobody. If somebody is going to lend you 150k to buy a lottery ticket should you buy it? Interesting question. All lottery tickets are negagtive NPV. But they sell well to poor people. So, if you need 150K for college, your probabably pre-disposed to buy negative NPV lottery tickets. And thus, the availability of capital distorts asset values.

vinceguidry 13y ago
If I had $150K to invest in only lottery tickets, I'd buy wholesale and resell at a discount. That's how you make money in the lottery.
- 001sky 13y ago
  Like the abstract approach. But if you get 'wholesale pricing', the ticket is worth more to own, no? you'd then lose money on the sale. AFIK lottery tickets are only sold on comission, for this reason. If you could get the govt to sell you the tickets at a discount (lobbying.ribels), that would be an interesting investment fund, indeed.
  - vinceguidry 13y ago
    > But if you get 'wholesale pricing', the ticket is worth more to own, no? Not necessarily. You have to line up a whole lot of factors to increase the odds enough so that the tickets' worth get anywhere near face value, and when you kick in taxes, forget it.