Herb Vogel never earned more than $23,000 a year. Born and raised in Harlem, Vogel worked for the post office in Manhattan. He spent nearly 50 years living in a 450-square-foot one-bedroom apartment with his wife, Dorothy, a reference librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library. They lived frugally. They didn’t travel. They ate TV dinners. Aside from a menagerie of pets, Herb and Dorothy had just one indulgence: art.
The Vogels made a pact: Her salary would go toward living expenses, his toward art.
Over the years they amassed one of the most important art collections of the 20th century. It has been donated to the National Gallery.
http://www.mentalfloss.com/article/4884 ... collection
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiyLAlWR95M
An example of what can be accomplished by a frugal couple.
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secretwealth
- Posts: 1948
- Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:31 am
Hate to sound so cynical (I am too cynical these days), but if he made $23k when he retired, that's $71k in today's dollars--well above the national and NYC median income (about twice the median family income in Harlem today, incidentally).
Two government workers with government pensions, health insurance, and job security are hardly what I'd call "working class". And 450 sq ft. is a decent apartment size for a couple in Manhattan.
Two government workers with government pensions, health insurance, and job security are hardly what I'd call "working class". And 450 sq ft. is a decent apartment size for a couple in Manhattan.
The person who convinced me I really could be wealthy was this crusty lady I worked with in one of my HS and college jobs in a hospital kitchen.
She never made more than about $11/hr. Her husband was a mechanic, whose shop eventually got up to a few guys. Since a dear friend of mine owns a transmission shop in the same town, I have a pretty good idea of what his income was, and it was most likely very average, if slightly above for a while.
They were frugal to making their own clothing, no debt and saved like crazy to buy property. She was living on a big almond orchard and had a net worth of at least a few million after they divorced. She used the medical insurance as an excuse, but I suspect she really just worked that part time job for fun. Most people there couldn't comprehend her reality and why someone would work if they didn't have to so she related it to that old saw about the ins golden handcuffs.
This lady was no intellectual, in fact she was pretty white trashy. They just came from poverty and decided they didn't want to stay there.
I did, and still do, have enormous respect and am humbled by her and her example.
She never made more than about $11/hr. Her husband was a mechanic, whose shop eventually got up to a few guys. Since a dear friend of mine owns a transmission shop in the same town, I have a pretty good idea of what his income was, and it was most likely very average, if slightly above for a while.
They were frugal to making their own clothing, no debt and saved like crazy to buy property. She was living on a big almond orchard and had a net worth of at least a few million after they divorced. She used the medical insurance as an excuse, but I suspect she really just worked that part time job for fun. Most people there couldn't comprehend her reality and why someone would work if they didn't have to so she related it to that old saw about the ins golden handcuffs.
This lady was no intellectual, in fact she was pretty white trashy. They just came from poverty and decided they didn't want to stay there.
I did, and still do, have enormous respect and am humbled by her and her example.
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skintstudent
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2013 12:52 am
Yes, you can find inspiriation in many places, whether positive or negative. I see so many fellow students on minimal incomes with their expensive phones and social activities. Yet I was impressed yesterday by a fellow student who had saved enough to buy a business outright. Good on him for getting himself in the position to do so.
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secretwealth
- Posts: 1948
- Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:31 am
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wheatstate
- Posts: 98
- Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2011 4:51 am
The "Herb and Dorthy" movie is great! It is on streaming Netflix. I love the shots of them at the gallery openings. They are in the most "basic" clothes, yet own the art on the walls. The others got the clothes, but can't afford the art.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1227929/
After donating their collection to the National Gallery, a second project was started to loan 50 pieces to the 50 states; 50x50. I got to see the collection in my state. It was neat to connect the collectors to the art.
http://vogel5050.org/
They have a neat form of ERE and have found great value in their lives.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1227929/
After donating their collection to the National Gallery, a second project was started to loan 50 pieces to the 50 states; 50x50. I got to see the collection in my state. It was neat to connect the collectors to the art.
http://vogel5050.org/
They have a neat form of ERE and have found great value in their lives.
I'm a huge art fan. In fact, it may become a 4th or 5th career one day (as an art consultant, currently I'm still on careers 1, 2 and 3: PR, writing, internet entrepreneur).
I bought a piece for $3.2k a year ago. I consider it to be an extremely important Canadian piece and it will only become more so in the future. It's a known artist and a very known subject matter/collaboration. So crazy it went for so little!
If you buy the right pieces (really, go to galleries, art shows, read blogs and art magazines to start to recognize names of emerging artists) art can become a investment. I haven't read the article about that couple yet, but here in Canada, when a museum or public gallery accepts your donations, the government reimburses you the market value of those pieces. I can only image how much Herb and Dorothy raked in!
A lot of wealthy people play this game: buy art, get bored of it after a few years, donate it, receive market value for it ($$$ profit), buy new art...
At the corporate level, it's even MORE financially advantageous (for corporations).
I bought a piece for $3.2k a year ago. I consider it to be an extremely important Canadian piece and it will only become more so in the future. It's a known artist and a very known subject matter/collaboration. So crazy it went for so little!
If you buy the right pieces (really, go to galleries, art shows, read blogs and art magazines to start to recognize names of emerging artists) art can become a investment. I haven't read the article about that couple yet, but here in Canada, when a museum or public gallery accepts your donations, the government reimburses you the market value of those pieces. I can only image how much Herb and Dorothy raked in!
A lot of wealthy people play this game: buy art, get bored of it after a few years, donate it, receive market value for it ($$$ profit), buy new art...
At the corporate level, it's even MORE financially advantageous (for corporations).
I watched the movie too on Netflix about the Vogels....Very good documentary. They basically were obsessed by art and spent all their free time going to art shows and meeting local NYC, up and coming artists...Whenever they liked a young artists' stuff, they would buy a piece....Over years and years some of the artists got very big so the Vogel's collection became worth millions.
They literally had thousands of pieces crammed into their little apartment. It took multiple trucks to haul away all the art when they decided to donate it all to the museum....
They literally had thousands of pieces crammed into their little apartment. It took multiple trucks to haul away all the art when they decided to donate it all to the museum....