The Surprise Millionaires

We occasionally hear about them in the news.  People who live unassuming ordinary lives yet have accumulated vast amounts of wealth; often with little means of doing so.  These folks are often described as “old misers” or “quite odd” by the news media.  However, every once in a while someone bothers to look below the surface to discover the interesting and often times amazing people who we will call the Surprise Millionaires.

Even when the media does a decent job of reporting on these individuals, the stories can still be confusing and just a little bit bewildering.  Their actions seem to conflict with our traditional American values.  After all, conspicuous consumption and being upwardly mobile is the “American way”.

So we scratch our heads wondering, “If they had all that money, why didn’t they spend some of it?  If they could have improved their station in life, why didn’t they?”