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83-Year-Old Gives Away Millions, Lives On Social Security
Man Offers Low-Interest Loans For Underprivileged To Start Businesses
POSTED: 6:32 pm EST November 27,
2007
UPDATED: 1:32 pm EST November 28,
2007
MEDIA, Pa. -- He could be a multi-millionaire. Instead, a Delaware County man has been giving all of his money away, as he lives a life of charity.Ask anyone what they'd do if they had a million dollars and you'll get a lot of answers but not many would say they'd give it all back. That's exactly what Hal Taussig did and he said it's the best investment he's ever made.
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In Media, at his century-old farmhouse, 83-year-old Taussig is resolved to live the simple life."It's kind of a spiritual time for me to be out on the porch," Taussig said.But he doesn't have to live the simple life: The company he began in 1975, Untours Travel, does very well."I made more money than I needed," Taussig said.In fact, he would be a millionaire if he hadn't decided to give all the money away."I don't think it's sustainable to have a growing gap between the rich and the poor," he said.So Taussig puts any profit into a foundation that he still runs from his office in Media, offering underprivileged people low-interest loans to start their own businesses, something he said is a hand-up not a hand-out."If capitalism is a good thing, why isn't capitalism for the poor a good thing?" Taussig said.It's a way of life he decided on when he bought his first house with his wife, Norma, of 61 years who recently suffered a stroke."When I wrote that check it was kind of an epiphany," Taussig said. "I'm broke. I have nothing but I have all I need."Since 1995 he's given away 100 percent of the company's profits -- about $5 million. His salary of $6,000 a year gets donated to various charities.He said he is content living on Social Security and the small savings his wife Norma had from teaching years ago.As for the inheritance for his three children, Taussig's daughter said she's already received it."I've had a father who takes tremendous joy in everything he does, that's a pretty good inheritance," Marilee Taussig said.But when NBC 10 told Taussig we'd like to do a story on him about how he's given away his millions to help people, he was quick to correct us."The story is really about treating all people with dignity and honor and making them feel like they are worthwhile," Taussig said.Taussig said he has lived a modest lifestyle since he was a child so it isn't a sacrifice to him and said standard of living is not the same as quality of life. As for retiring, he laughed and said it's a dirty word and is never going to happen.
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