Perhaps you heard about the Vermont janitor who left 8 million dollars to his local library and local hospital. While many hold the story out as an heroic example of frugality and I do admire his investing savvy, but I have to admit I felt a bit sorry for him. According to the article, “before his death on June 2, 2014, Read’s only indulgence was eating breakfast at the local coffee shop, where he once tried to pay his bill only to find that someone had already covered it under the assumption he did not have the means.” Maybe this was all that he needed, but then again, maybe there were many other experiences that he might have enjoyed.
I believe life is about balance and money is merely a tool. I have to question, why would an individual work an entire life only indulging in “breakfast at the local coffee shop” and then leave the money to a hospital, where executives and medical staff generate many times the income of this janitor? Did he not want to experience an around the world trip, or driving across country in a sports car, or even giving the money while he was alive to various philanthropic causes and experiencing the real impact of the giving firsthand? There was so much more which could have been done with his life and money.
He does leave a very interesting and admirable story, but I will always wonder, “what was the point?” Life is not about hoarding stuff in our garage, or even stuffing money into our portfolio. Life is about living. Maybe he had everything he needed in life, maybe he was content. However, I could argue that he missed out on really knowing what this life has to offer. Maybe he was content because he did not really know what was out there to experience. Ignorance may be bliss, but I believe experience is much more blissful. We don’t have much time on this planet and I for one certainly seek more than breakfast at the coffee shop. I certainly don’t disparage his gift or his legacy as it is still a powerful message about assumptions. We should never make certain assumptions about others regardless of what we may see on the outside. Still, I seek to balance wealth accumulation with actual living. I hope the hospital patients and library patrons appreciate his gift but I would imagine that most will never even know about it.