Ronald Read, the frugal veteran
Tman sends us a link to the story of Ronald Read, a World War II veteran, a janitor and gas station attendant in Brattleboro Vermont until he passed at the tender age of 92 recently. What was most notable about his passing is that he left behind $8 million;
Even Read’s family was “tremendously surprised” upon finding out about his hidden wealth. “He was a hard worker, but I don’t think anybody had an idea that he was a multimillionaire,” Read’s stepson Phillip Brown told the Brattleboro Reformer in 2015.
Read came from humble beginnings. He was the first in his family to graduate from high school and served in North Africa, Italy and the Pacific theater during World War II, according to Reuters. After the war, he came home to work at a gas station and as a janitor at JCPenney, and married a woman who had two children.
According to the story, he left most of his fortune to his local library and a hospital;
“It was the talk of the town,” Brooks Memorial Library director Starr LaTronica told CNBC of the generous $1.2 million library donation. “People still come in and ask about it and reference it.”
The library invested the bulk of the money. That way, “it will continue to pay dividends and support us down the road,” LaTronica said. The donation also allowed the library to extend its hours and do some much-needed renovations to the 50-year-old building.
Read bequeathed $4.8 million to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, where he was a regular — not for treatment, but for breakfast. “He always had a cup of coffee and an English muffin with peanut butter,” Ellen Smith said of her friend’s morning ritual at the hospital cafe. “That was it. And he always sat at the exact same stool at the counter.”
The hospital plans to use the money to support infrastructure improvements and general modernization projects.
It is said of Mr Read that if he earned $50 he would save $40 of that amount – a habit lost on our credit-based society that spends money before we have it.
Category: Veterans in the news
Thrift is a virtue that often comes from difficult experience. If we aren’t careful we are likely to have to learn that virtue for ourselves.
WORD!
One of the Greatest Generation proving, once again, why they were the Greatest.
Amen.
??????????
Incredible. I have met a few people that were worth millions. The only reason I knew it was because I was doing property Inspections,not because of what they wore or drove,
A family friend to my wife’s family is a multi-millionaire. I knew the man for years before I found out. He lives in a dry cabin, drives an old beater truck, and wears blue collar clothes.
If he enjoyed life that’s what counts.
Our local hospital has great food at low cost. They beat any fast food place and many other restaurants hands down. I go there fairly often. I don’t have 8 mil though.
God Bless him.
Wow. This is pretty dang impressive, IMO.
They’re going fast these days. Dad(Pacific and Korea vet) is going to be 89 this November. We’ve all been wondering how much longer we will have him.
I’m a VA Volunteer and help out at the CLC/Hospice. Our WWII and Korean War veterans are going fast. ?
Get everyone in your family together for at least one family reunion of ALL generations.
By the time I’m 120, my youngest relatives will be in their 90s. What if I’m the only one left in the entire clan?
We are. This Thanksgiving all four generations together for a feast and pics.
My Dad always told of a fella he knew in Anniston who would write down all his expenditures – if he left a penny tip on a nickel cup of coffee, he wrote it down. When he died he left his family something like $400,000. You may laugh – but this was in the late ’40s when a starter home there cost $1500. That was serious money.
Of course, the government is gonna make sure to get their share.
Kudos though Mr. Read for making sure those who could benefit most received an amazing gift.
The federal government may not get very much if anything. Once the charitable bequests are excluded, the value of Mr. Read’s estate is well below the federal estate tax threshold ($5,340,000 for those dying in 2014).
One caveat – Vermont is one of a minority of states that imposes an estate tax. It’s not clear to me whether Vermont may have taken a piece of the action.
Ol’ Poe hates to drop a turd in the punch bowl here, but the math doesn’t work. If the guy started working when he was twelve and worked until he was 90 that would be $8,000,000 divided by 78 which comes out to over a hundred grand per year which is a tad more than even the most senior and accomplished janitors and gas station attendants tend to make.
Anyone?
Compound interest.
Stocks and Bonds?
And Ol’ Poe hereby apologizes for shooting off his mouth before reading the news article that the fellow had been a lifelong investor which makes the figure entirely attainable.
Mea Culpa this old fart mutters as I fall on my sword. Well, my keyboard actually but you know what I mean…
My late father-in-law (who would be well over 110 now) never finished 3rd grade, worked in the oil fields all his life, working up to driller. (He had to learn to read and write to get that position.)
He pinched every penny until Lincoln’s grandmother screamed. He had the good fortune to start working for Humble Oil and retire from Exxon. Humble/Enco/Exxon gave their employees stock, the stock split several times, and he kept every bit of it. Plus he bought and maintained rent houses, CDs, and otherwise invested his money.
When they retired they built a nice 3-2 brick house on inherited land – cash on the barrelhead.
My beloved mother-in-law did not have to worry about anything financially for the 20 years she outlived him. And each of the five children received about $50k in stock.
That generation knew how to be frugal and wise with their money. I have no problem believing this guy saved $8M this way. But, Poe, you’re forgiven for your doubts…
The amazing thing is that some “investment bank” Assholes didn’t steal all his money.
I have over half my estate going to the Fisher House Foundation, helping families of our hospitalized veterans. The JAG officer told me he has never seen a Will like mine before.
I have no kids (that I know about) and my brother’s and sister are financially independent.
Good on ya, Jim, good on ya.
I just gave them my 2006 Buick.
I’m leaving everything to the Flat Earth Society.
Don’t do it, PH2 … they’ll just push it over the edge.
The only last request I have given my dear wife, is to have me creamated and to put my ashes in a duesch bag and run me thru one last time!!!
YOU WIN THE INTERNET!!!!!
I’m gonna put anclause in my will promising $200 for someone to show up at my funeral in a Grim Reaper costume and just stand there.
That’s fucking awesome!
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Awesome. I’m pleased.
The last words I want to hear while I’m in the coffin are, “Look, he’s moving!”
“Yeah, and he breathing, too!”
While I think this is amazingly generous, I’m also somewhat baffled.
Am I the only one thinking what a waste? Why sit on 8 million when you could travel the world and learn and see things you’ve never seen before?
I’m leaving money to my kids and grand kids, no doubt about it but I’m also pissing money away to actually live and have a life while I’m breathing. You work your whole life to build a business and pay for college while you save money and then you die so someone else can benefit and you don’t travel or experience life beyond your own four walls?
I’m sorry and I’m most likely in the minority, but I want to leave my kids and my grandkids with memories of living and sharing in my good fortune along with leaving them money. I have a really modest house because I prefer to spend money on our boat and our travel. My grandkids are learning to sail with me instead of watching me sit in my house waiting to die and leave them some money. If you have your health and can get out and experience the world you should.
Otherwise I question whether or not you’ve actually lived or if you’ve merely existed.
Meh-maybe the guy had a lot of simple interests and thought that playing the market and racking up wealth was fun, more than any other more avaricious interest.
Once your needs are met and you’ve piled up so much what do you do with it all? In Mr. Read’s case maybe he thought something like “my legacy will be a better hospital and library for my home town”.
Nothing wrong with that, everything right with that.
P.S. I inherited a considerable amount from my @$$hole dad when he died (money that he had manipulated out of others and squirreled away all of his life) but nothing from my grandfather, except the warm memories of our time together-guess who I think more highly of. We have no idea what Mr. Read left to his family in that regard.
Here’s hoping your assessment is the correct one.
The news up here in Vermont has nothing on this.