Claire Martin recently wrote an article about a millionaire hermit. The post was titled The Mystery of the Millionaire Hermit.

The story details a man from Corning, California who died with millions of dollars. Surely that’s not a big story in California, right. There are plenty of old guys that die in California with millions of dollars.

The only difference is that this guy died with millions of dollars and he had very little to show for it. He also kept to himself which is why he was labeled a hermit. The major theme of the story is about who his money would go to since he didn’t have a will. The man, Eugene Brown, had amassed a fortune of 2.7 million.

I found this story fascinating for many reasons. I cared less about the fact that he didn’t have a will than many other factors in the story.

Summary of the Millionaire Hermit

By all accounts the man kept to himself. He did have religious books and a document that showed that he likely wanted to donate money to his catholic church, so he did likely go to church. He didn’t keep in touch with family either which made it hard for them to determine who the money should go to when he died.

I find this interesting because most people say that you need good relationships to be successful and live a long life. This guy shows that you don’t need that. Some people are just introverts and can survive on limited interaction. He spoke to his stockbroker, and he likely interacted with people at his church. People don’t need that much interaction to sustain themselves.

The article stated that he had books and liked to watch birds in his backyard, so I think he probably did have a couple hobbies. Reading books and watching birds are at least two that seemed to help him pass the time. In order to live the minimalist life that he lived, he likely had to have a couple things to keep him busy. This doesn’t mean you have to adopt the hobbies of everyone else like taking selfies and doing yoga. You can create whatever simple hobbies that provide some joy and inner peace.

Eugene had limited possessions in his house. He had a folding chair to sit in and a bed mat to sleep on. This fascinates me as well because people think you have to fill a house up with junk in order to be satisfied. You have to replace your bed a certain number of times and get all the new tv’s. If there is a new form of cable, you have to buy that in order to stay up to date on shows. You begin to see how the stuff we buy can sometimes create infinite loops of purchasing future upgrades which results in holes in the bottom of our pockets.

This dude literally lived the quote “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” The quote is from Blaise Pascal. In the 21st century, Eugene was able to sit in a room alone. There should be a statue erected for that alone. He avoided all technology. Likely because he realized it wouldn’t bring him happiness.

How to live your best life

I think Eugene provided a map on how to live a great life.

Analyzing his belongings:

What he did have:

  • Foam bedroll
  • Folding chair to sit in
  • Books
  • Refrigerator with a couple slices of cheese

What didn’t he have:

  • TV
  • Cell Phone
  • Bed
  • Furniture
  • Stuff in his fridge

This guy lived and breathed minimalism. I think this is something we can all learn from his possessions and lack of possessions. The lesson is – we don’t have to live by society’s standard. We can create our own reality. That doesn’t mean you have to sleep on the ground everyday. You can sleep on the ground everyday if it makes you happy. What it means is that you can create your own life based on your own standards, even if they run in the face of what society says you should do. You don’t have to go to college, get married, buy a house, support a family, be the most productive person, have a 9 to 5. Create the life that you want that will bring you the most inner peace. Following other people’s dreams will wear you out.

How can you achieve this?

Follow Eugene’s example. Toss your phone, tv, newspaper and other worthless belongings aside. Most of those things either brainwash you or keep you tethered to a life you won’t enjoy.

Don’t live in the past

Another thing we can learn from Eugene is that you don’t have to live in the fear of the past. Eugene grew up during the great depression and was obviously shaped by it. His only true relationship that people know of was with his stock broker. He spoke to his stock broker every single day. This was likely due to his experience with the great depression. He was probably waiting every single day for the market to crash. Guess what? The market had its ups and downs during his lifetime, but all it did was make him a millionaire. He was tirelessly sifting through his brokerage statements looking for errors or looking for the time when the market would leave him with zero. It never did and his broker never cheated him.

The lesson that you can learn here is that you shouldn’t live through the experiences of your childhood. Most of our mental programming is built in our childhoods and many of us live with it for the rest of our lives. You can break free from it. For Eugene, once he crossed the million dollar mark, he probably could have spent more of his money on things he enjoyed. If he didn’t enjoy anything, then he could have also started giving away money to charities.

Don’t live in conflict with yourself

The reason this story is so fascinating is because of the obvious lifestyle conflict of Eugene. He was rich yet lived like he had no money.

This story can teach us that was all might be living with conflicting views in our minds and might not notice it in our lifetime. You need to analyze your mental constructs that are in conflict today. Don’t delay!

Eugene didn’t live on many resources. Based on his house he only lived off small amounts of food and no real furniture to speak of. It doesn’t make sense to save millions of dollars while also not spending any money. What’s the point of saving all that money if you have no intention of enjoying it. You can do other things with your life. It’s good to examine areas like this in our own lives. Are you creating a prison in your own mind? It’s good to reflect on your habits so that you can see whether they make sense. Unconsciously following your habits can get you in situations like Eugene. Eugene’s unconscious habits were saving money while also not spending it. This was a good habit in this case. It makes for a good story. Most people don’t have good habits like this though. They have bad habits like eating too much food or spending too much money. Stories about people that die as alcoholics yet have families don’t make the news because they happen all the time. How can you be addicted to alcohol or cigarettes and also claim to care about yourself or your family?

Just because Eugene ended up with a ton of money doesn’t mean he was successful. We’d have to know if it brought him joy or peace to know if he was successful. If he was just hunkered down in his house hoping for the day he would be able to spend all his money, then his life might have been wasted. We can’t really judge his life, but you can look at your life and see if your habits align with who you want to be.