Lottery is, in theory, one of the most fair and equitable ways to win big money. Nevertheless, it’s also very complicated to actually win. It takes a team of lawyers and financial experts to help you manage the complexities that come with winning such a large sum of money. And that’s just for starters, because there are many other things to do with your newfound wealth: pay off debts, set up college savings, diversify your investments, etc. And then there’s the mental health component, which past winners are quick to point out can be hard to navigate.

There is no denying that winning the lottery is a life-altering experience. It’s easy to fall into a trap of thinking that you’ll be able to handle everything at once, but the reality is much more complex than that. It’s easy to let the euphoria of winning take over your entire world and forget how much work it’ll actually be to keep that money in the bank, pay off debt, save for the future, and protect yourself from potential vultures or toxic relationships.

The word “lottery” has its roots in Middle Dutch lotinge, a calque on the Old French noun lot, meaning “fate.” In fact, the first lottery was probably held in the Low Countries in the 16th century, though records of earlier private lotteries are found in the town archives of Ghent and Utrecht. The lottery quickly became a popular means of raising funds for a variety of uses, including town fortifications, public works projects, and helping the poor.

When the lottery was introduced to the United States, it was widely viewed as a painless form of taxation that would allow states to expand their array of services without burdening the middle class and working class with excessive taxes. However, that arrangement began to crumble as the costs of running a modern state began to exceed the revenue generated by lotteries.

In order to make up for the shortfall, states have started pushing a different message, and they’re relying on two messages primarily. One is that winning the lottery is fun and that people should play. It’s a bit of a misleading message since it completely obscures the regressive nature of the game and the fact that a very small percentage of lottery winnings go to the actual jackpot. But it is a very effective marketing tactic. The other message they’re relying on is that even if you don’t win, you can still feel good about yourself because you’re contributing to your state’s coffers. And it’s an effective message because a lot of people play the lottery anyway. They just don’t know it. They think they’re doing a civic duty or they’re doing it to support their kids’ schools. The truth is that it’s really just a form of gambling, and people are paying for the privilege. Eventually, that will catch up to us all.