Are you stupid enough to give away 45 cents of every dollar ?

Graeme from Frankton

Of course , we have to pay tax . We mostly dislike that . Same with GST . And no , I'm not adding 30% top tax , and GST . This actually has nothing directly to do with tax .

But would you knowingly give away 45 cents of every dollar you spent ?

This weekend , Lotto hits $50 million , so here is your chance to win $50 million ! Race out and buy a ticket . If you have more dollars than sense .

Have you read the Lotteries Commission glossy PR brochures ? You must be in to win . Safe , smart gambling . Blah , blah , BS .

Dig a bit deeper , behind the headlines , and you will never , ever by another Lotto ticket .

" In the 31 years that New Zealanders have been paying Lotto , over $4.6 billion in essential community funding has been contributed via the Lottery Grants Board " . Wow -- what a great community service . Yeah right .

WHERE YOUR LOTTO MONEY GOES ( per $1 ) --

22 cents -- Lottery Grants
12 cents -- operating costs ( yes , thats what Lotto NZ spends on itself ! )
6 cents -- retailer commissions ( including credit card fees )
5 cents -- taxes -- goes to Government
55 cents -- Prizes .

Yes , if you spent $1 million on Lotto tickets , you are likely to get around $550,000 back . Spend that next week , and you will be down to $302,500 next weekend . 'Reinvest' that , and by week 3 your $1 million will be down to $166375 . By the time you have been through 4 draws , you'll be down to $91506 ! Seriously ! So in 4 draws , you have lost over $900,000 of your original $1 million .

So who is buying a ticket for Saturdays draw ?