Wilson: Powerball dreams bring ideas to light

We had a pretty good idea we weren’t winning the Powerball jackpot, since the odds were around 291,999,999 in 292,000,000 our ticket wouldn’t match. But we weren’t completely sure.

With that in mind, my friend Drake and I went into what we’d do with a $1.5 billion prize, and where others had gone wrong.

First off, I said, I’d take the annuity. Seven of 10 lottery winners spend it all within three years, regardless of prize amount, so a 29-year payout seems the best way to beat those odds. Drake added, “Most people are bad handling what they make now, and they’re the same person when they get the money so they’ll likely be bad handling it then.”

Soon after, our great idea came. It was set up when Drake mentioned musician Timbaland, and how he bought every car he could find when the music started paying off.

Problem? Until his mother chastised him, Timothy Mosley never took into account he had to insure all of them even though he’d only be driving one at a time.

Both Drake and I are in the lower 99 percent of America, where we pay less than $50,000 for our vehicles and we pump our fists when the multi-car discount kicks in on our monthly insurance premium. But why couldn’t we make insurance a little easier for the Timbalands of the world?

“Lifetime insurance,” I said. “What if you were to pay an extra amount of upfront money — let’s say 33 percent of the purchase price — and in exchange, you never worry about paying premiums and it stays with you for as long as the car stays in your immediate family?”

We went back and forth on this plan. It’s more than you’d pay over the life of a car with monthly premiums, so we’d also give the benefit of full replacement value when the car is totaled instead of the depreciated value. “What’s the point of paying $33,000 for lifetime insurance on a $100,000 car,” I said, “if eight years down the road you total the car and only get back $25,000?”

We told ourselves this could work, but Drake responded, “There’s got to be a flaw, though. How is it possible that we’re coming up with this on a drive to a meeting, and nobody else has ever figured it out?”

I shrugged. “We are two pretty smart guys, Drake.”

Following the meeting, we broke for lunch and added our friend Jon to the mix. We told Jon of our tendency to solve the world’s problems, and mentioned lifetime insurance.

“Well,” Jon said, “what’s the benefit for a 40-year-old who has to pay the same premium as an 18-year-old, even though he gets into far fewer accidents?”

OK, so we’re not that smart of guys. Sorry, Timbaland, we tried to help.

Kevin Wilson is a columnist for Clovis Media Inc. He can be contacted at 575-763-5541, or by email:

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