Giving Away Your Dreams

Here is a bit from a Globe & Mail article about a Canadian couple who won big in the lottery and gave it all away:

After decades of living modestly, Allen and Violet Large suddenly had the money to fulfill their dreams.

But with $11.25-million in lottery winnings, the retired couple who live near Halifax knew that their dreams were a little different. No sports car, cruise or mansion for them. Instead, they worked quickly to give it away.

After decades of living modestly, Allen and Violet Large suddenly had the money to fulfill their dreams.

But with $11.25-million in lottery winnings, the retired couple who live near Halifax knew that their dreams were a little different. No sports car, cruise or mansion for them. Instead, they worked quickly to give it away.

The couple kept about two per cent for themselves, in case of emergency, and split the rest between immediate family and charities. They are unclear about the tax implications, but say they will deal with that next year.

They won’t get into exact figures but say that recipients range from animal-protection agencies to churches to health-care services. Ms. Large was recently undergoing chemotherapy and facilities where she received her treatment got an extra chunk, her husband says.

That is a wonderful story of civic-mindedness.

By the way... for those Americans who read this post and who are anti-health care. This demonstrates that a proper functioning health care system means you don't have to hoard money to protect yourself in old age. Violet Large is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, but they still gave all the money away. Why? Because in Canada, healthcare is covered by the government (through the normal tax system). You don't have to hoard money to protect yourself against a "worst case scenario".

The point of insurance is to provide this protection. But for essentials like healthcars and old age security, it is best not to leave it up to individual decisions. There will always be a percentage of the population too weak-willed to do the right thing. So government needs to step in and ensure that all citizens are protected. The American system of dog-eat-dog is insane for a developed economy, for a rich country. But Americans seem to relish being assbackwards. They are one of only 3 countries not on the metric system. There were the only developed country with no public healthcare (and even now, the US has a rather anemic version under Obama).