Today is January 9, 2016 and the Powerball jackpot has reached $900 Million.  It is undoubtedly fueling more people buying the lottery tickets than ever in the past. So what are the odds?? Note: I have rounded the odds to make it easier to read.

According to the lottery association, the odds of winning is about 300 Million to 1 — or stated differently: roughly one person in the USA will win the lottery. Are you that “one” person??

Some interesting odds to consider:

• 1 in 100 is the odds that you’ll be audited by the IRS according to Kiplinger.
• 1 in 3,000 is the odds that you’ll be struck by a lightening in your lifetime according to National Geographic News.
• 1 in 200,000 will die from chronic constipation (really?) according to Time magazine.
• 1 in 600,000 of winning a gold medal in the Olympics in your lifetime according to ASAPScience.
• 1 in 4.5 Million of dying from being “left-handed” but unfortunately using a “right-handed” product incorrectly according to moneyminiblog.
• 1 in 10 Million is the odds that you’ll contract ebola according to NPR.
• 1 in 10 Million of becoming the President according to thedailybeast.
• 1 in 20 Million is the odds that you’ll be a saint according to the author Gregory Baer.

I don’t know about you, but despite knowing the odds, I’ll admit that I’ll buy a couple of tickets and keep my fingers crossed.  The $900 Million jackpot will probably get bigger so why not go out and buy a ticket (and skip that coffee for one day) because you could be that “one” person to hit the jackpot !

Good Luck !

Source: Picture of money from the wiki site “springghs2012bd3”