Could a Lottery Be the Answer to America’s Poor Savings Rate?
Skewness is the idea that some low-probability event could change your life.
.. Prize-Linked Savings (PLS). In a nutshell, PLS is a kind of savings account that pools some of the interest from all depositors and pays out a big lottery prize every month or so. It combines the thrill of the lottery with the safety of a savings account. It’s sometimes called a “no-lose lottery,” since a depositor is automatically entered into the lottery but can’t lose the original money she deposits.
In South Africa, this was tried, but the State Lottery later shut it down.