GAMBLING ON FUTURE; LOTTERY ONLY WAY TO `INVEST,' MANY SAY.

Byline: Chris Sieroty Staff Writer

Despite the almost decade-long economic expansion in the United States and Wall Street specifically, many Americans believe the best way to build wealth is to buy lottery tickets, according to a survey to be released today in Washington, D.C.

In fact, when asked what a person's best chance was to obtain $500,000 in a lifetime, 28 percent of respondents said to win a lottery or sweepstakes, according to a public opinion survey commissioned by the Consumer Federation of America and Primerica.

The survey is stunning, coming at a time when Wall Street has never been more popular. Individual investors are jumping into the market, helping to propel it to new heights. Cable television networks relay market information around the clock, buoyed by a flood of ads for the thousands of mutual funds that have been created in the last few years.

Yet, according to the survey of 1,010 Americans taken in July, a large minority of those polled believe the best way for them to accumulate wealth is to gamble on a weekly basis.

``If Americans understood that their chances of winning a big lottery jackpot were 10 million to 20 million to one, but that they could accumulate hundreds of thousands of dollars through regular savings, more families would put $50 away rather than spending it on gambling or unneeded consumption,'' said Joseph Plumeri, chairman of Primerica, in a printed statement.

Lotay Yang, vice president and branch manager of Fidelity's investment center in Woodland Hills, said even $25 a week, if invested at a conservative 8 percent per year, would be worth $103,000 in 25 years.

Still, he acknowledged that sometimes everyday expenses take priority over savings.

``Your investments are not always financially based. Sometimes the best investing is in your family,'' said Yang. ``When you have the money that's when you start.''

Van Nuys resident Pamela Cupp agreed.

``When I was younger and raising a family, I couldn't put away $5,'' said Cupp. ``Not in your 30s. But now that my daughter is an adult, I have been investing in the stock market. Before that, I didn't even think about the stock market.''

In a related survey also to be released today, Capital Research Associates economist Joseph M. Anderson concluded the average American household has net financial assets of $1,000 and net wealth of $35,000.

Using 1995 data collected by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the most recent government data available, Anderson said the reason for the low net financial assets was consumer debt, mainly from credit cards.

Average gross financial assets were about $2,700 before subtracting unsecured debt, the survey said.

Anderson said the most disturbing trend in the survey was that one-fifth of Americans with the lowest financial assets typically were from middle-income households with earned income of about $31,700 a year. The typical middle-class household had $4,700 more in unsecured debt than in gross financial assets, the report said.