When giving personal finance keynote speeches around the country, I love to ask audience members this question: “If you received $10 million (after-tax!) and immediately after were told you'd be dead in 10 years, what would you start… and what would you quit?” Over the years, I’ve heard thousands of answers. The most common responses by a wide margin are: “I would quit work or quit worrying.” And, “I would start to travel and volunteer more.” If my informal straw poll has any merit, it appears as if Thoreau was right: many men and women are leading lives of quiet desperation!
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