Not even lottery jackpots are enough to buy apartments in Seoul
(www.koreatimes.co.kr)
from schizoidman@lemmy.zip to world@lemmy.world on 02 Feb 12:17
https://lemmy.zip/post/58282514
from schizoidman@lemmy.zip to world@lemmy.world on 02 Feb 12:17
https://lemmy.zip/post/58282514
jackpots in 2025 averaged 2.06 billion won ($1.41 million), which falls to 1.4 billion won once taxes are deducted.
That after-tax amount is below the average price of an apartment in Seoul, which was 1.5 billion won in December 2025, according to separate data compiled by KB Land, the property data tracker of KB Kookmin Bank.
#world
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Buying lottery tickets to get a house… Maybe this man should get a financial advisor.
Yes, because it’s totally normal for apartments to cost over $1 million/1.5b won.
That is not what I said? Lottery tickets are just throwing money in a fire… Which is counterproductive when saving up for a 1,5 billion home.
I think saving up 1,5 billion with a normal job is not… realistic. At that point winning the lottery is the more realistic chance, as crazy as it sounds.
Yeah but at least you end up with more money to live somewhere affordable…
And where do you plan to live while you amass this money…?
A rental property?
Nothing like the perspective of getting milked forever… building someone else’s capital while tumbling towards old age. I say let them buy some hope…
You are just filling another scammer’s pockets. At least you get a roof above your head out of one of them.
You know one can afford rent AND lottery tickets right?
Just because you can afford it, it doesn’t make it a good financial decision to buy a lottery ticket.
Not everything in life needs to be a « good » financial decision… when it’s financially inconsequential while bringing pleasure it’s fair enough. Same for a lot of things that brings you pleasure. Unless you indulge in absolutely nothing your stance is quite hypocritical.
And if you indulge in nothing maybe consider the experience.
The issue isn’t pleasure, it’s expectation. Buying a coffee or a movie ticket reliably delivers the thing you’re paying for; a lottery ticket is designed to almost certainly deliver nothing. Calling that “financially inconsequential pleasure” glosses over the fact that the pleasure is mostly manufactured hope, not the product itself.
Enjoyment isn’t immune from criticism just because it’s cheap, and pointing that out doesn’t require living like a monk. You can acknowledge that people do it for fun while still recognizing it as a statistically bad trade-off compared to most other small indulgences
Or you can accept divergence in opinions and not be an ass about it. Go touch some grass…
Same goes for you. Except the latter part, I’m not that petty.
And when you stop working or fall ill, you become homeless. Great outlook, buddy.
I’m not saying any of this is fair.
Since you’re not playing lottery, it seems, go on, buy a house there ! We watch.
You give me 5 of your currency and I give you 4 back, and It’ll still be a better investment than a lottery ticket…
I mean, I buy up to a dozen lottery tickets a year next door in Japan. Paying off the house would be first and, were I not already a homeowner, buying one would certainly top the list. Those lottery tickets amount to something like 3600 JPY a year which is probably like 20 USD or so. It's not a financial plan, but I wouldn't complain if I won. I used to spend more than that at starbucks in a month.
Spoiler alert: you won’t win.
Ah but I have won... just not enough to do more than pay for about a year's worth of tickets. It's not an investment strategy; it's entertainment. If I ever get rich (and I don't expect to), nice bonus.
The chance of you playing your entire life and never winning a significant amount is much much much higher than you winning decently once.
Because those lottery businesses aren’t going to give out more money than they make. Your chance of getting more out of it than you put in is none.
But you do win every time you don’t play.
People waste their money on all kinds of dumb shit. Posters, pictures, plastic toys that will just end up in some landfill, etc. This is mine and I almost certainly spend a lot less on it (again, $20-$25 a year in USD depending on the exchange rate). I almost never eat out. I have real investments. This is entertainment.
Edit: to clarify, dumb here means not necessary. Support art and artists, but don't by plastic stuff that's going to end up in a landfill
That’s how they get you! Also, I meant the jackpot.
Hey, it worked. Sort of.
no wonder they have the lowest fertility
Exactly, and my country now has some of the largest populations of expat Koreans, because to them it’s cheaper living here and they get to learn English faster.
TFW regular lottery money isn’t enough for an average apartment in Seoul, let alone living expenses and upkeep costs.
<img alt="13058" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/de255bda-0a81-4639-bb0f-5f7eeaf2ce3b.jpeg">
TFW people realize Squid Game and Parasite are social commentary and not just fun meme shows
Is it The Fuck What? I have no clue. I’m old enough to remember that ROFL was a thing, gramps ain’t keeping up.
That Feeling When
When someone doesn’t know an initialism?
Seems like they are misrepresenting the costs of buying and renting. It’s the same in the US. If you tried to BUY an apartment they’d easily charge you close to 1 million in New York. It’s the same concept. Obviously rent in Seoul doesn’t cost 1 billion won per month.
Depends on what part of the city, but Bronx/Queens is about half that. Manhattan is double tho
I don’t think they are misrepresenting it. Between the NY State Lotto, Powerball and Mega Millions, the state lotto has the lowest estimated cash payout post-tax, and it’s still $1.6 million prize. You might be priced out of Chelsea and Soho, but there are plenty of decent enough neighborhoods in the outer boroughs where you can find an apartment for $750,000. The Powerball is the next smallest pot, with an estimated lump sum payment of $29.4 million, which would certainly let you buy an apartment just about anywhere in NYC you wanted, and still have plenty left over for living expenses to not have to work again.
Even then, the NY State Lotto has a smaller jackpot than typical at the moment, considering the average jackpot is $10.26 million, according to the state’s website. So, at least in this case, the NY State Lotto still offers one a feasible, if not reasonable, path to homeownership, while the Korean Lotto doesn’t offer that with its average jackpot for those who live in Seoul.
What Fatboy Kim loves to capitalize on, the awful costs of living south of the DMZ.
This is more a small lottery, if the US had lotteries that were that little it would be about the price of a house here too, not to say $1.4M is cheap for a house but the US lotteries can easily be <$40M.
Well, $1.4M is less than $40M. So not sure what you’re trying to say.
I thought most US lottery winnings were like $10
That’s not the jackpot prize
best I can do is a tenner