The Guaranteed Secret to Winning the Lottery

Once in a blue moon, whenever I happened to notice the current Jackpot Lottery was up through the $200m+ stratosphere, I would often duck into a 7-11 and buy one ticket for $1.  Always a 'random' pick with no system.  I really never expected to win, but I knew if I had that ticket I had that chance.



I always went through the mental gyrations of [what I thought to be] my highly rational inevstment approach:

1. claim in secrecy
2. work with a team of top financial/legal/tax advisors
3. invest and live modestly on a fraction of the interest...no consumer binging for me).

Every time I did the math I goggled at how the fraction-of-a-fraction annuity from these winnings was so much higher than my everyday discretionary budget.

So then came the fun part...the dream part...what would I do with this insane amount of money.

And the answer was always really simple.  Spend time with my family, go sailing, continue to pursue my fields of fascination, and start a charitable foundation to help make our world a better place.

And at the end of this exercise I always came to the same conclusion as Lawrence in Office Space.  I didn't need a millon dollars, I could just go and do it.



So what I really bought with that one dollar lottery ticket was permission to dream.  It was an unncessary device to encourage introspection into what I could just be doing anyway.

What is my super secret, guaranteed, no-fail formula for winning the lottery?  Dispense with the ticket and just take that first step towards your dreams.

In this way, I won the lottery at last.  In January, I started a donor advised fund instead of buying that lottery ticket.  Following the recommendation of my trusted financial advisor, I went with the reputable organization Impact Assets who provide a wide range of socially responsible investments with good returns.  My new donor advised fund allows me to:

• invest tax-free
• leverage investments to earn a [tax-free] return and create positive social and environmental impact
• donate a share of these returns to charities of my choice.

Each year I can contribute more to the fund, grow the pool, and distribute to charitable organizations of my choosing.  No paperwork and voilà, I have the equivalent of a non-profit charitable foundation.

Exactly what I wanted to do and I didn't need $200m to do it.  It's called the Bluecrue Foundation and I have had SO MUCH FUN deriving the over-arching philosophy behind my eclectic choice of charities.  Next baby step is to identify the best charities that reflect our family values and passion for marine conservation.  Ella has been helping me with this one...Seaworld Orlando was such an inspiration.

Oh, and I'm sailing with the kids next weekend too!

Love winning the lottery this way.