janitor leaves library and hospital $6m

racing_blue · 6 February 2015 at 9:57AM

Story in The Independent

Bones of it seem to be that this 92 year old had lived a modest life, over the course of which he had quietly amassed several million dollars through investing. No one knew.

Love it!

Gadfium · 6 February 2015 at 10:27AM

There's a salient lesson in there. Many people go to extraordinary lengths to scrimp and save (just look at some of the examples in the Stingy thread), but also seem to fail to realise that life is for living and you don't get a second chance.
So this guy went around dressed in old clothes and left a fortune. Why bother amassing all that money and not use it during your one shot on this planet?

DigForVictory · 6 February 2015 at 10:36AM

Awe. Deep respect that he put his money where he thought it would do the most good for his community.
That folks misread his frugal style for poverty is a bit of a nudge that we can judge a bit too quickly sometimes.

racing_blue · 6 February 2015 at 10:38AM

This guy chose not to consume but at the end of his life to distribute his wealth altruistically, I think that is amazing. Possibly he gained more pleasure this way - who knows? It must have made sense to him I guess.

BJV · 6 February 2015 at 10:40AM

Good on him for doing something good with the money. I just wish he could of enjoyed some of it himself. But hey guess he did. To save that much must of been a way of life and perhaps a lesson to us all that you don't need to splash out every 2 seconds.

ViolaLass · 6 February 2015 at 11:02AM

DigForVictory wrote: »

Awe. Deep respect that he put his money where he thought it would do the most good for his community.
That folks misread his frugal style for poverty is a bit of a nudge that we can judge a bit too quickly sometimes.

Although the people who so judged him appear to have gone out of their way to help him so I don't think they need to be told off for it.

puk999 · 6 February 2015 at 12:14PM

Great story. Even if I was very rich I'd still try avoid paying to park if that meant a 5-minute walk.

I did have to laugh at the following though:

"You'd never know the man was a millionaire," Mr Rowell said. "The last time he came here, he parked far away in a spot where there were no metres so he could save the coins."

I guess The Independent just blindly search and replace meters->metres in stories coming from the USA. Reuters managed to get it right.

Rollinghome · 6 February 2015 at 12:25PM

It says something about most of us when we find it strange that someone should spend money only on what he needs and leaves the rest to a hospital but are less surprised when someone spends thousands on a Rolex watch that doesn't tell the time any better than a Timex. Might be a saner world if there were more like the eccentric 92 year old.

jimjames · 6 February 2015 at 1:11PM

Good story.

Also highlights the benefits of investing!

Shame this type of outcome isn't highlighted more when people say investment is too risky.

Glen_Clark · 6 February 2015 at 1:43PM

I can well understand him keeping it a secret.
In his Biography, Duncan Bannatyne says how much women are attracted to rich men. Although very wealthy and staying at a 5 star hotel, he told others at the acting school he attended that he was kipping on a friends sofa. He says none of the women were interested in him then.

IronWolf · 6 February 2015 at 2:31PM

Gadfium wrote: »

There's a salient lesson in there. Many people go to extraordinary lengths to scrimp and save (just look at some of the examples in the Stingy thread), but also seem to fail to realise that life is for living and you don't get a second chance.
So this guy went around dressed in old clothes and left a fortune. Why bother amassing all that money and not use it during your one shot on this planet?

Why does 'living life' have to equate to spending lots of money?

janitor leaves library and hospital $6m

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