NPR's All Things Considered tells the short story of a homeless man in Phoenix who apparently traded stocks between sleeping on the floor of a senior center. After his death 2 years ago, he left a grand total of $4 million to NPR and other non-profits.
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Something I've been wondering about lately is why people often engage in informal competitions to earn the most money and consume the most yachts, sports cars, oversized homes, exotic vacations and other such extravagances, but why it is so rare for people to put their efforts not into salaries or possessions, but in how much they have. By having I mean the total amount of money to your name, which is maximized not with high salaries but with investments and time.
I am sure this has something to do with the fact that it is much easier to signal wealth and power with tangible things like yachts rather than financial asset statements, and that hoarding is generally not looked upon favorably, thus diminishing the attractiveness of having over spending, but you would still expect that there would be some people out of the planet's 7 billion who are seriously devoted to having, and so will reduce their costs to the point of spending as little as humanly possible. After all, you can make a good moral argument for having in that by investing you are providing access to capital, encouraging innovation and thusly increasing quality of life for all human beings, and that after your death, you will be able to leave an enormous amount of money to whichever good causes you choose, far exceeding whatever chump change you could have left them during your living days.
If you can agree with me on this much, why then (I am asking because I really want to know) is such a person so rare? Even Warren Buffet who is known for his frugality and living in the same Omaha home he bought in 1958 for $31,500 grants himself some excesses, such as traveling by corporate jet. And beyond Buffet, I can't think of any half-wealthy person who lives what I would consider to be modestly.
What am I missing?
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Earlier: Why I'm cheap
