By Dave Kavanagh
Well, statistically, the short answer is “Yes” but we know what they say, “there are liars, damn liars and statisticians”. The recent changes that saw the company that runs the Irish National Lottery, reduce your choice of six numbers from 1-47, to 1-45, therefore reducing the chance of winning the jackpot from 1 in 10.7million, back to 1 in 8.1million, which is what it was up to 2015 before they increased the numbers. When the Irish Lotto first started it was 6 numbers from 36 but following a syndicate realising that they could purchase all combinations for less than a million pounds and guarantee a jackpot win, the amount of numbers was increased. In addition to the slightly better odds of winning the jackpot, they have also increased the prize money for winning Lotto Plus 2 from €250,000 to €1million (the same as Lotto Plus 1) so statistically, there is a higher probability that we will see a higher number of people win at least €1million.
By comparison, anyone in Ireland that has Serious Illness Cover (AKA Critical Illness cover or Specified Illness Cover) has a 1 in 4 chance of making a claim before they reach the age of 65. Now, 1 in 4 sounds a lot better odds than 1 in 8.1million but human nature being what it is, people don’t want to think about bad things happening to them. They would rather think of good things happening to them, so they will happily spend their hard-earned money on the Lotto or even Euromillions (which has even higher odds to win the jackpot of 1 in almost 140million) than consider spending some of it on protection type plans, such as serious illness cover. When we see the vast amount of claims paid out by the life companies every year and also the amount of people diagnosed with illnesses that are covered, the real gamble is not having cover in place.
Dave Kavanagh QFA has been advising people financially for over 25 years. For quotes or information (with no cost or obligation) he can be contacted by emailing info@financialcompanion.ie or use the contact form on www.financialcompanion.ie or @Davekav_advice on Twitter and Instagram. Combined with his previous role of gym/nutrition adviser, he regularly gives talks and workshops at seminars and events for groups, companies and government departments on financial wellbeing, positivity and motivation. As heard on RTE 2FM , LMFM and TV3.