THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN. There�s an interesting piece in The Wall Street Journal on the trend of millionaires giving their money away when they're young rather than when they're old. The piece focuses on medical charity -- grants to cancer foundations and disease research -- as do, I assume, the actual donations as well. That's because these gifts aren't charity in the traditional sense. They're investments, and their ultimate beneficiary is often the millionaire themselves. Cancer, for instance, is largely indiscriminate in its victims, as pleased to attack the rich as the poor. And while current medical technology can occasionally put up a good fight, just as often, it's useless before the assault. So pumping cash into research that could cure, detect, or mitigate certain forms of the disease, particularly those you're vulnerable to, is a deeply logical spending decision, one that may save or extend your life. That it'll do the same for many others is a wonderful, though possibly unnecessary, benefit.
--Ezra Klein
