Posted by Rachel on: 03.29.2007 /
Philadelphia Inquirer — Hal Taussig wears baggy jeans and fraying work shirts that Goodwill might reject. His shoes have been resoled three times. He bought his one suit from a thrift shop for $14. At age 81, he doesn’t own a car. He performs errands and commutes to the office by bicycle.
He lives on the outskirts of Media in a narrow wood-frame house that was built for mill and factory workers.
And he has given away millions.
Given the fortune that Taussig has made through Untours, his unique travel business, and has given away through the Untours Foundation, you could call him the Un-millionaire. If he so chose, he could be living in a Main Line mansion and driving a Mercedes. But he considers money and what he calls “stuff,” beyond what he needs to survive, a burden, an embarrassment.
Editor’s note: the inquirer story is no longer up. But you can see their photo gallery of the story here. Or you can read more recent news stories about Tal Haussig here.
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Comment by: Benjamin Ady
1 03/30/07 12:49 AM | Comment Link |Taussig is pretty kewl. I want to be more like that.
I find that one of the barriers to being like that, for me, aside from just the greed, is fear. Like given the opportunity to have a small fortune, I would want to take it because I would think it would help relieve my feelings of fear regarding economic insecurity.
Comment by: Helen
2 03/31/07 1:16 PM | Comment Link |Benjamin, I think I’d have the problem with fear too. I’m very impressed with Taussig. At first I was thinking “he’s old, maybe that helps him not be afraid” - but if I was old I’d probably be afraid I need to save money in case I get some complicated illness or need some kind of care as I get older which is expensive.