Who Wants To Be A Billionaire?

You may be familiar with the TV game show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" that began in England and has a U.S. version as well as versions in other countries around the world. If you know the program, you know that the host asks a contestant a question and gives them four choices to select the correct answer from. Each time they answer correctly their winnings increase up to $1,000,000.00. Of course, there are curves and pitfalls in the process to make it interesting. The contestant can quit after each question and take their winnings up to that point and leave. If they continue and miss a question, the game is over and they left the game with a certain prescribed amount depending on what level question they missed. Well, the show has been on the air in the U.S. since 1999 in network and syndication form and has been judged to be about the 6th most popular game show of all time out of 60 in the rankings.

But, I have a different game I want to play with you. I call it "Who Wants To Be A Billionaire" and it only has a few questions to answer. The rules are simple, answer the questions correctly and you win. Answer the questions incorrectly and you STILL win. "What kind of game is this?" you're probably asking. I can't lose. What great odds. So, here goes. Today you get the questions. Tomorrow, you get the correct answers.

Question #1. How old are YOU?

A. 29

B. 43

C. 68

D. __ (Enter Your Age)

Question #2. What year were you born?

A. 1984

B. 1970

C. 1945

D. ____ (Enter the Year YOU were born)

Question #3. What is the current average Social Security actuarial life expectancy male/female for the year you were born?

A. 77.5 years/82 years

B. 78.5 years/82.5 years

C. 83.5 years/86 years

D. ________ (Your life expectancy based on your current age, when you were born and your gender)

Question #4. By what age do you become a millionaire?

A. Age 1

B. Age 29

C. Age 43

D. Age 68

Question #5. By what age do you break 100 million?

A. Age 43

B. Age 29

C. Age 4

D. Age 68

Question #6. (Final Question) By what age do you become a billionaire?

A. Age 68

B. Age 32

C. Age 29

D. Age 43

Have you determined your final answers? I hope you have. These are all very simple questions. And, as I said earlier, this game has great odds. You can't lose.

I had a college professor in my senior year who ran his philosophy course on a very similar set of rules. At the outset of the class he told everyone in the class they would receive an A for the course. He said he would be there for every class, but it was voluntary for the students to attend since they already had the A for the course. There would be reading assignments and written assignments, but again, reading and doing the written assignments were voluntary. There was a mid-term and a final exam, however, he would supply all the questions in advance and the exams would be open book exams. In other words, there was no way to flunk this course. We all won whether we participated or not. I'll tell you the outcome of this class when I explain the correct answers to the six questions in the "Who Wants To Be A Billionaire?" game.

Tune in to the next post for all the answers.