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To win the lottery

New Zealand's Lotto is offering the biggest prize ever in tonight's draw.

It's a cool $45 million if there is only a single winner and could be as much as $46 million if there are no other first-division winners.

That's a serious amount of money and speaks to the way so many people are willing to buy a few day's of "what-if?" happiness by way of a ticket that will allow them to dream about becoming wealthy overnight.

Gambling is a huge problem in this country (and many others) and I am always gobsmacked when I see long queues at the local Lotto agent, with people exchanging fists-full of $20 notes for a stream of yellow entry vouchers. Sadly, if the way they dress and the cars they drive are anything to go by, all too often these are the people who can actually least afford to waste their money in this way.

I can understand however, that if you are at the bottom end of the economic scale, the prospect of suddenly becoming super-rich must be a huge temptation to throw money away in this fashion.

But... what if you did win?

I'm pretty sure we've all daydreamed about what we'd do if a large lottery win came our way.

Cars, houses, travel, rich food, fine wine... these are just a few of the things that most people would likely consider the trappings of wealth and are probably high on the list of "must haves", should such fortune come their way.

Interestingly enough, I fear that if I won such a substantial amount of cash, I'd be paralyzed by the sheer range of choices that would suddenly open up to me.

I recall that in 1999, when I sold half of my online news company, I suddenly found myself sitting on a very large chunk of change, after several years of investing every penny I had and every moment of time into that venture.

My wife and I decided that we'd set aside $20K each as "mad money" that we could spend on whatever we wanted without guilt. Whatever we wanted, up to that amount, could be ours.

One day I headed off into the big smoke with that hefty sum ready to be blown on a hundred and one "wants" that I'd had for years.

Late that evening I returned home.

I hadn't spent a cent. The $20K was still sitting in my account, untouched.

My wife found herself in the exact same situation and we laughed about it over our dinner.

The problem (at least for us) was that years of living frugally, counting every cent and carefully husbanding our finances left us ill-prepared for the freedom of no longer having to worry about such things.

It took weeks before I spent a single cent of that mad money and even then, I still felt uncomfortable when I forked out just over $1,000 for an RC model helicopter I'd been lusting after for ages. Somehow, it just didn't seem right.

Sadly, I fear that if I were to become the winner of tonight's huge Lotto prize, I would be exactly the same as I was quarter of a century ago, unable to spend.

Contributing to that paralysis would be the knowledge that whatever I might buy would only bring me joy for a few years -- given my age. It's not like I could buy a lovely piece of land, build a great house, plant wonderful trees and gardens -- because odds are that I'd have kicked off long before I got to see the final results.

That, therefore, would seem to be a frivolous spend.

Perhaps I could buy a Lambo or Ferrari but then again I get far more joy from walking than I do from driving these days and those cars would likely sit in the garage and gather dust.

Travel?

Not for me. My travelling days are over. As you age, international travel becomes a riskier business, given that you're more prone to injury and less able to recover quickly from illness.

Expensive wine?

I doubt it. While writing this column I realised that I haven't touched a drop of alcohol in over a year. I'm not anti-drinking, it's just that I've simply not felt like it in the least. In fact there's a six-pack of DB Export larger in the pantry that I'll probably give to my neighbour for Christmas because I doubt I'll get around to drinking it myself.

Expensive new clothes?

Nope. My favourite clothes are the ones that already have a year or two's wear in them. They're simply more comfortable and I like them. There's always a fight in the house when my wife suggests I should throw out some highly worn article of my clothing just because it has a few holes in it.

Gourmet food?

Not likely. The loss of my sense of smell means I also now have a highly attenuated sense of taste so food is more a simple necessity of life rather than a pleasure. As a result, I've found that just as with alcohol, I no longer desire the things I once really enjoyed. I no longer eat bacon, ham, fast-food or anything like that. My diet these days consists mainly of dairy products such as greek yoghurt, high-protein milk and cheese along with fruits and vegetables with a bit of chicken thrown in so that I can avoid being labeled a vegetarian.

I cook/assemble all my own meals ease, simplicity and nutritional profile are the only things that really matter to me.

Let's face it... I'd be a lousy lottery winner.

Perhaps the only thing I would do is buy a chunk of land and build an recreational area where people could come and enjoy the hobby of RC models. A large open space for flying model aircraft, helicopters and drones; a couple of big ponds for RC boats and yachts and perhaps a couple of racing tracks for on-road and off-road RC cars. That's something I could really sink my teeth into and I'd love to share the benefits of any newfound wealth with others.

The rest would likely go to family and deserving charities.

OMG, old people are boring aren't we?

Hmmm... I guess I'll have to buy a ticket now, if only to prove that what I've written above is the truth.

Carpe Diem folks!

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