So, You Won This Week’s Powerball…

This article was featured in our weekly newsletter, the Liberator Online. To receive it in your inbox, sign up here. We all went to Chino Hills, California to purchase a Powerball ticket this week, right? Now, it’s time to discuss the realities of having won. Assuming you chose the cash option, you’ll “earn” $930 million dollars. The IRS gets 25% off the top, before the money hits your hands, with another 14.6% due at tax time. Surprisingly, California has a personal income tax exemption for lottery winnings, stemming from a law passed in 1984. How are you going to spend the remaining $561.72 million dollars? Obviously, you’ll want to ensure that your family is comfortable for the rest of their lives. Let’s assume you also want to make a positive impact on the world around you. This is a path taken by many entrepreneurial philanthropists like Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg. Let’s say that you have $200 million dollars for your philanthropy. How can you make the best use of those dollars? Option 1: Write a check $568.28 million ($200 million beyond your “tax liability”) already taken by the bureaucrats in Washington DC to add to the Treasury to be doled out as they see fit. Option 2: Research to find 200 charities and organizations that have similar goals that will make $1 million go a long way toward their mission. Option 2, right? When discussing the coercion of government to have you spend money on things you may not want to fund, this is a great exercise with those skeptical of libertarian ideas. Almost EVERYONE picks Option 2, regardless of political affiliation. That’s because the waste and inefficiency associated with government is known far and wide. That knowledge is another opening to build rapport to share libertarian philosophy with those who already have some libertarian leanings without even realizing it.