Lotto!!

[christiek]

"I wanna be a billionaire so ****ing bad, buy all of the things I never had"
I recently heard that song for the first time (maybe 2 weeks ago) and along with the fact that I play Powerball lotto twice a week every week it got me to thinking. Why isn't there an SRS lotto? Not that it would have to be twice a week or even twice a month; maybe just once a month.

The research I did didn't turn up that many current results. Most of what I found is from early 2000's and before. It was also based off of estimated SRS operations preformed in the US only and not on people seeking SRS and mostly MtF not FtM. Even in 2002 the estimated number of SRS operations were around 15k and above. With increased population and the times becoming more so that people are actually not as scared to come out and try to be who they are anymore, we know the number is increasing.

That being said we know there are a lot of us out there. No even 20-30k people out of 307+ million (US statistics) is not a lot of people. But I think thats enough people to start an organization of this sort.

If you take even 20k people and say a $5 lotto ticket . . .I'm sure no one seeking SRS would bypass a chance for it by spending even $5 a month ($60 a year, The average person spends over $200 a year playing powerball) Its such a small amount! Supposing 20k people play ant $5 thats $100k invested in the lotto draw itself. Minus cost to keep the business going, That is plenty of money to fund the winners surgery! And maybe even other surgeries such as Breast enhancement/reduction, FFS, FMS(idk if its called that but you get my point) Hair transplants, electro/laser, etc. (Sorry I really don't know much about the FtM side of the community but I don't want any of you to feel left out either! We are all family!)

I do realize there are a few issues such as.
Heres a simple one. Since it isn't actually a money prize. It would have to be more like a raffle. We don't want to be taking everyones money without them even having a chance at winning something small back even if its just their $5.

Having some sort of control over which people can play. If you aren't actually transsexual and seeking surgery there would be no point in playing nor could you benefit from winning. Yet I am sure there would be people out there that would want to say that this is excluding the majority of the population and thus shouldn't be allowed. We also couldn't give it away to someone who has not gone through therapy and lived full time to know for sure. Last thing we would need is a lawsuit from someone saying that "at the time it was what they wanted but now they don't" and that we never should have let them go through with it.

A lot of people may not play for fear of being "outed" as well. Some of us try to transition (at least for a while) w/o being "out". I'm sure there are people out there that would jump at the chance for something like this but would hate to have the friend find their lotto ticket.

In a way this would also show the world that we (as a group) are serious about our rights and that we need just as much as the next group of people. I'm sure much of the world as well as many of the people in the community aren't ready for that sort of thing yet or are scared that we would then become an even larger target.

I am totally serious about this and may very well look into something of the sort. I still have a few old contacts that could help me get started. Or well if I ever won the lotto itself I would have to take a good chunk of the money and invest in something like this. It is something I have been dreaming of for years now. I am a very giving person (probably why I don't have much to show for myself anymore) and I want to help as much as I can.

I would love to hear your thought, question, concerns as well as maybe other issues that would have to be taken into consideration/taken care of in order to get something like this going.

I have actually seen Travie live a couple years ago and as he made his way through the crowd he actually stopped to sing directly to me! Not once but TWICE! I about died!

I see a lot of people have read this but no replies! Don't event think about stealing my idea! lol j/k! Please I really do want to know what you all think.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

who pays the winners taxes?

[Hope]

1 in 30,000 odds? No thanks. I'll keep my $5 safe, and hope that when it rubs up against next month's $5 it will have babies.

[christiek]

Do you realize that the Powerball lotto odds of winning are 1 in 195,249,054.00 on the jackpot alone? Yes the cost is less and it is played more often for a bigger prize. Also there is a chance that no one will win it at all whereas with this there would be a guaranteed winner every time. With powerball the organization itself makes tons of money off of it. This organization would be non-profit. The only money that would be withheld from the winnings is the money to keep the business going for the next person to win. 1 in 20 thousand is a lot better odds than 1 in 195+ million.

With what I am thinking about there is no cash prize. Rather you win a consultation and you have your surgeries payed for by the company. Therefor the tax thing shouldn't be an issue as the company is paying for it not you directly and there is no money given directly to you therefor you wouldn't be paying taxes on that either. The company would be paying for EVERYTHING!

This is all just an estimate. I haven't looked far enough into it to give you actual numbers. This is to help people. Not to take their money and give them nothing. Like I said there would be a winner each month for sure.


1 in 30,000 odds? No thanks. I'll keep my $5 safe, and hope that when it rubs up against next month's $5 it will have babies.

I can tell you now that I have left 2 $5 bills in a coat pocket all summer and when winter rolled back around and I found them there were still only the 2 $5 bills in there. Are you being serious? Are you trying to insult everyones intelligence? Or are you just trying to be smart? I can tell you that I am serious about helping others if I got the chance. As I stated before if I do win the powerball jackpot there wouldn't even be a cost for it I would pay for it out of pocket but you would still have to register/play to win. If you aren't interested simply say "I wouldn't be interested." If you were trying to be smart and there was a smiley face or an "lol" or something in there to make me see that then thats one thing and I would have lawled as well. Being smart is one thing but there is no need to be rude.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

hi cristi..

I am serious. You have to pay tax on your winnings, so your $5 investment, for a $20,000 surgery will make the surgery cost about $7,000. Not free.

Also, if you hold your lottery every month. IN one year, you will have 12 winners, and 29,988 losers if 30000 people do it.
who cares about powerball odds, the odds of winning this surgery are incredibly slim and you are way over estimating the chances of winning in your "intuitive mind". Humans are notoriously AWFUL at considering probabilities...
(btw...i have a mathematics degree from swarthmore college and i studied probability theory and statistics--no kidding)

administering the lottery would involve a national effort. and would have to include using the internet for bringing in and organizing the data and the bets, you need a bank for protecting the cash (probably multiple banks), lawyers to ensure the organizers are up and up, you may need lawyers in every state in the country to comply with state laws including tax returns every year (this is a scam in every state to keep lawyers in business IMHO -do you realize this alone would cost $10's of thousands) and accountants to make sure the entity can pay for the surgeries...even if you assume that the costs would be 25% of the proceeds, that's a huge number and it significantly reduces the number of winners
if you don't do all of the above (and i'm sure i'm missing stuff) you risk going through all of it only to find that you are unable to legally follow through, or you may find you can only do it in 43 states, and would have to return (at your expense) any bets made from the other 7 states

also the srs surgeons may deem some candidates as not viable..does every one of your "players" need 2 letters? those letters can cost alot of money to get..

sorry but in the end, there is no question you are better off saving your money..and if you say that some folks will never be able to save up the $$, then why should folks that CAN save up and be ASSURED of surgery in the future take the risk that someone else will win their surgery? i saved up over many years for my surgery, i would never have bet for it.

i think your idea is a great idealistic thought, but its not a real world winner ...sorry...:hugs:

[christiek]

Thanks for your input. It is great to hear from someone who knows more than I do about these sorts of things. I was a math major in HS but tbh thats as far as my schooling has gone. I also understand what you are saying about the taxes that is why i was trying to make a way to overshoot what is needed so it wouldn't cost anyone anything. Lets face it if I owe 7k in taxes and someone else pays it. They really don't care where the money is coming from as long as they get it. Which is why I am trying to overshoot it. So everything would be payed for rather than having to pay the taxes yourself. Of course at that point it would have to be that you would receive more of the money that is in the "funds" to cover the taxes that would need to be paid.

I also understand where someone would rather save their $60 a year and put towards their surgery rather than possibly paying for someone else's. In the end tho $60 is a very small amount. Maybe I just look at things differently but that small amount is still helping someone else and that alone would make it worth it to me. I know that most people out there don't think like that tho. In this day and time people are way more worried about what they can do for themselves rather than what they can do for other. And even more so with the way the economy is right now. Not saying it isn't understandable but Im also looking at this as a way to get people to start giving again.

Like I said if I won the Powerball Jackpot I would set up something to help others pay for their surgery. It may not be completely free of cost but if I could give many people that 20k to get the surgery, even if they had to pay 7k in taxes, that would still be less than half of what their goal was prior to. Those people out there would either have money left over for other surgeries or be able to reach their goal much faster.

I hate that it seems like there is hardly anyone out there who cares about the well being of others. I also know there are a number of other people out there that could use that money just to survive let alone for surgeries. I would also do what ever I could for those people.

You hear of all these people that win the lotto and a few years later have nothing to show for it because they blow it. I may not have much to show for it but I will be able to say that I have helped a large number of people out. And to me that means more than a big house, nice cars, fame, and w/e else comes with or is spent on. That is why I have hardly anything to show for myself right now. I have given most everything I have to someone else. Some of which I am not so happy with because they claimed they would pay me back but never did. But the majority of it was given out of the goodness of my heart, as they say, and I would never ask for it back nor do I want it back. I did that to help others just like I am doing my best to help other people here now. I may not be able to give a whole lot other than an honest opinion and advice here but thats about all I have to give right now.