Money Can't Buy Happiness, So Man Gives Away Every Penny of His £3 Million Fortune

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

Source: Money & Finance

Karl Rabeder grew up poor and thought that life would be wonderful if he had money. But when he got rich, Karl discovered that he was unhappy … so he decided to give away every penny of his £3 million fortune:

"My idea is to have nothing left. Absolutely nothing," he told The Daily Telegraph. "Money is counterproductive – it prevents happiness to come."

Instead, he will move out of his luxury Alpine retreat into a small wooden hut in the mountains or a simple bedsit in Innsbruck.

His entire proceeds are going to charities he set up in Central and Latin America, but he will not even take a salary from these.


Read more: http://neatorama.cachefly.net/money-happiness.htm

[Hestia]

1. Delete this reply - man, was I wrong!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

3. Huh? nt

[formercia]

2. It would be great if we had single-payer health care,

so people would not have to slave their whole life just to have health insurance. How many people you know, have some shit job just for the medical benefits?

You don't need a lot of money if you're healthy, but you slave anyway, just in case.

[Uben]

4. I've considered this......

......the money is just such a burden. Oh hell, fuck it, I'll keep the money! I'm a glutton for punishment!


There, I feel better already!

[Robb]

5. Perhaps the original article will help shed more light

...Rather than just a blogger's excerpts.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/austria/7190750/Millionaire-gives-away-fortune-which-made-him-miserable.html

Of course, the original article is two days old.

[Judi Lynn]

6. What a story! So good to see it. Thank you. n/t

[jmowreader]

7. Maybe THIS guy is happier poor, but I don't think I would be

This guy isn't unhappy because he has money, it's because money has him. When the guy got his cash he completely changed his lifestyle, moving away from his friends and neighbors into a "luxury Alpine retreat," Unfortunately, he didn't bring any of his support structure with him--the odds on his having deserted everyone he knew are higher than the purity of Ivory Soap. If he woulda stayed in his old home (or built a new one close by, so he could continue to go to his old bar and drink beer with his friends) you would never have heard of Karl Rabeder.

Money does not buy happiness, but it puts you in the position where you can find it without starving first.

[Joe Chi Minh]

9. No. It may prevent your starving, but it always comes at a price.

[jmowreader]

15. NOT having money comes at a price, too

[Joe Chi Minh]

24. Alas, that can be true, too. The worst factor in our societies is the

disparity, the polarisation of the wealth, the injustice. But to be homeless and hungry must be dreadful.

That, however, does not invalidate my point. In the UK, we have certain, ultra rich families, who seem to have some kind of curse on them. The children become alcoholics, drug addicts, suicides and so on, just as if they had lived at the margins of a ghetto of dire poverty. They do, and difficult though it is to see, in comparison with economic dereliction, their plight, or rather the plight of their parents, is the more pitiable. To bring up a family as best one can, must be just about the supreme achievement we can aspire to, but alas Mammon is also a jealous God.

To be extremely wealthy is a most unhealthy position to be in, although of course we are always generalising to an extent. Some very wealthy individuals and families manage to retain a spiritual dimension to their lives and the kind of perspective that affords.

[Iowa]

21. Not necessarily...

It depends what you mean by "price". There are plenty of people who work productive jobs, perhaps raise a family, contribute to society, and generally live very happy & fulfilling lives... yet they still manage to accumulate enough assets to achieve a sense of financial freedom. The only "price" they pay is living below their means (often significantly below their means) to achieve their financial goals. People who live in relatively low cost-of-living areas are able to do this on the types of salaries earned by teachers, social workers, nurses, etc. Most don't choose to go this route, but there are a lot more of these folks than people realize.

The guy in this article strikes me as an outlier. He is certainly interesting, but he's probably not the best example upon which to draw any broad conclusions about happiness as it relates to money.

[Joe Chi Minh]

25. I'm not talking about the kind of people you mention. Very wealthy,

not just pretty comfortable.

[Iowa]

26. Yes, it all depends on your definition of wealthy.

I'm referring to people who have enough assets to retire early and cover their expenses for the rest of their lives, without ever working again (barring apocalyptic systemic changes).

[No Elephants]

8. Nice. Smart, too. Microloans do a lot of good per dollar and almost all are repaid with interest.

"All the money will go into his microcredit charity, which offers small loans to Latin America and builds development aid strategies to self-employed people in El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Chile."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/austria/7190750/Millionaire-gives-away-fortune-which-made-him-miserable.html

[Edweird]

10. I think people that state "money can't buy happiness" don't know where to shop.

[bitchkitty]

16. Good one! n/t

[carla]

27. For many

with no interest in higher ideals, money can buy gadgets (of distraction) and then they think they are `happy'. Happiness is much deeper and harder to achieve than wealth. Shop away, but your happiness isn't found in the bag or the receipt.

[Fly by night]

11. I think I got an email from him. Is he Nigerian?

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. I wonder about the 'every penny' bit

And a search finds that 'every penny' is a bit of an exageration. Sorry for the Daily Mail link, but they've put in the extra detail:

Rabeder claims he is happy living in a small flat and surviving on the equivalent of £800 a month.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1249414/Austrian-millionaire-gives-away-2-7m-fortune-personal-possessions-happy.html

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

14. Hey even better. I found my link through yahoo news. It's incomplete

as was pointed out above.

[provis99]

20. penniless? the bugger still has more money than me.

Money can't buy me happiness, but it can buy me lots of stuff that makes me happy!

[madokie]

13. A man who has seen the light no doubt

The best thing I bring with me into older age is a lack of a love of money. Theres a difference between a love of money and a need of money to survive. I fit that last part.

[Dinger]

17. K & R

[wroberts189]

18. Nothing in the article explains how he will survive..ya know like eat?

That is a fine thing to do if you do not want it but it is stupid to make yourself a burden of the state when you could at least secure a low cost retirement plan.

[Xenotime]

29. Maybe we should all send him a donation.

[Thor_MN]

19. And this is why I'm happy when I hear someone died pennyless...

They managed to get rid of their last penny, the almost worthless pieces of copper that clog up your desk or nightstand...

[pitohui]

22. unhappy people tend to remain unhappy people...but he sounds like a good guy

he's walking the walk and i wish him well in his search

unfortunately those i've known personally who voluntarily downsized their income 1) terribly regretted it after awhile when a personal disaster struck and 2) they were unable to ever get back their former financial security

i think his story will be happier since being austrian he doesn't have the worries about buying health care/old age pension that an american would have

an american doing this would eventually just be a burden on his family unless he was already rather old with a limited life expectancy

more than once i've thought about living in a hut or cabin in a hidden mountain somewhere but my health issues make it impossible, i have to have a way to get $/care

[truthisfreedom]

23. Dude seriously, someone should have told you that happiness is what happens along the way.

It's not a destination, and it doesn't "come" to you. It's what happens when you're busy on the path to your destination. It's best to pick a destination that has lots of potential happiness along the way... like taking the path through the flower garden instead of by the garbage dump.

[Xenotime]

28. This is a good start. Now if we could get all the millionaires to follow his example.

[lib_n_proud7650]

30. what a great man he is

[Blue_Tires]

31. kick