Winning the lottery will not make you a happier person. As this video from Ted Ed explains, a famous survey of past lottery winners indicated that winning all that money did not make those lucky few any happier than non-lottery winners over the same period of time. Money can make people mean, it can make bad friends come out of the woodwork, and it can disappear very quickly.
On the off chance a bucket of cash suddenly makes itself available to you, your best bet may be to buy experiences. Make them luxurious, overload with extravagance, whatever. But do something instead of acquire something. Another option is straightforward: give. Studies have found that when someone uses their money to buy things for others instead of themselves, they are much happier for it.
The odds for winning the last Powerball jackpot were one in 292 million. But the odds of winning £5 off that ticket were only one in 317, almost as high as the odds of dying in a car crash. Spend wisely.
