How big is winning 5M?

[JTrout]

The prize money for winning the Masters in golf is $1.17M.
However,
the value of winning the Masters (endorsements, appearance fees, etc.) is most likely over $10M.

[jumpthru]

I hope that was a joke.

And how did you figure living off $5 mil for the rest of your life if you are taking $200,000 a year off it?

To answer the question: Five million is a lot, definitly life changing. You are in the upper 1-2% I would say of Americans.

[ QUOTE ]
The lottery pays over $100 million sometimes. I think a poker tournament is much more like a "skillful lottery" than a sporting event because even if you're #1 in the world by a huge margin the chance of winning the WSOP event in your lifetime is pretty slim. Heck even if you could see everyone's cards you would be likely to lose.

[/ QUOTE ]

[jumpthru]

[ QUOTE ]
If you own the horse that wins the triple crown then VISA will pay you 5 million. This promotion is pretty new but nobody has won the triple crown for some time but that's likely to change this year.

[/ QUOTE ]

And what is in it for VISA??

Oh...by the way: if you win the Pepsi promotion, you get a billion. Woo!

[NotMitch]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If you own the horse that wins the triple crown then VISA will pay you 5 million. This promotion is pretty new but nobody has won the triple crown for some time but that's likely to change this year.

[/ QUOTE ]

And what is in it for VISA??

Oh...by the way: if you win the Pepsi promotion, you get a billion. Woo!

[/ QUOTE ]


A ton of advertising, and I'm guessing the $5M is covered by an insurance policy.

[jdl22]

They get to call it the Visa triple crown. Just like next year it will be the Levitra World Series of Poker.

[cianosheehan]

Whats Levitra?
What commercial impact does this have?

[DrPhysic]

PM,
All of the answers are probably correct from the point of view of a sports star or rock musician that makes so much that counting it is a waste of time.

To an average American that makes 50000 per year it's a ton. Put it in the investment portfolio, make 6% per year on it and your income just went up to $200000 per year after taxes. Forever. It is an amazing amount of money even for patent attorneys who make a lot more than the 50K. Finding that amount after the expenses is BIG. It can change a lifestyle, put one permanently out of the "work for a living worry about paying the bills" class.

Doc

[jdl22]

Sorry, it didn't occur to me that non-Americans might not know what it is. Levitra is like Viagra. It's a drug for erectile dysfunction.

The reason I used it in my example was that it is advertised very heavily during sporting events in the States. I'm not actually saying that they will sponsor the next WSOP, just that it wouldn't surprise me a bit if some company sponsored the event.

[Senor Choppy]

[ QUOTE ]
I hope that was a joke.

And how did you figure living off $5 mil for the rest of your life if you are taking $200,000 a year off it?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think CDs that pay 4% annually would do the trick.

[daryn]

if so it sounds like a pretty accurate joke