We all dream of becoming a millionaire. Many of us believe the chances of this actually happening though are slim to none. It’s why the The National Lottery continues to attract a legion of loyal players more than 25 years after the balls were first set rolling. These players reckon that that blind luck provides the best chance for them to make million.
It’s true that The National Lottery has enabled more than 5,500 players to make a million (or more) since 1994. However, for every one person that’s won big, there are tens of thousands who’ve little to show for their spending.
Remember that chance of successfully guessing the six numbers on the National Lottery’s bog-standard Lotto game stands at a wildly-improbable one in 45,057,474. But these odds seem positively generous compared with what aspiring millionaires can expect by scooping the top prize with the EuroMillions game. The odds of winning here sit at a jaw-dropping one in 139,838,160.
A better way to make a million
The purpose of playing the lottery is, of course, to make money. It should never be treated as anything more than a bit of fun though.
If you’re serious about wanting to make a million you’d be better off investing in UK shares. Just ask any one of the growing number of millionaires who’ve made a fortune by putting their money into a Stocks and Shares ISA.
The number of people getting rich through stock investment is rising because more and more are using these tax-efficient vehicles instead of parking their money in low-yielding products like cash accounts.
Even if you don’t manage to become a millionaire through stock investing, you’re still more likely to have something to show for your money over the long run by buying UK shares than you are by shelling out on lottery tickets each and every week.
Say you buy 10 lines each week to play the Lotto game at £2 a pop. If you’d invested that money in a Stocks and Shares ISA, you’ll likely have made a return of at least £122k over the space of 30 years. I’d much rather have that in my pocket to retire on than having spent tens of thousands of pounds in an impracticable attempt to try and make a million.
Buy cheap UK shares
Share investors have had to endure a rocky ride in 2020. And there might be more choppiness in the near term as the economic consequences of Covid-19 play out. Still, I reckon the recent stock market crash provides a great opportunity for share pickers to become millionaires.
The sharp selloff that spanned late February to early March has left many great-looking shares trading at rock-bottom prices. It’s a phenomenon that allows investors to buy in at low prices with a great chance of selling later on at much, much higher levels as economic conditions improve and corporate earnings rise.
And there’s a wealth of information out there to help you try and make that million with UK shares.