The legendary philanthropist Charles Feeney died yesterday at the age of 92. He’s legendary because of an accident, really, as he went out of his way to give an entire billions-of-dollars fortune away, in his lifetime, anonymously. And what’s more, the anonymity was more important to him than the tax deductibility.
When Feeney signed a pledge in 2010 to give most of his fortune away, he had this to say:
“I cannot think of a more personally rewarding and appropriate use of wealth than to give while one is living, to personally devote oneself to meaningful efforts to improve the human condition.”
In everything I’ve read about Feeney it seems his decision to live a simple lifestyle, jettisoning the trappings of wealth, came as a great relief to him, as if a great burden had been lifted from his life.
What if we refuse the burden to begin with? What if we decide, today, that a simple life is enough and that to give down to that lifestyle is the most rewarding adventure we could undertake?
It might be worth trying.
Meaningful Returns 