US Homeowners Foreclosing at Record Rates & Austrian Millionaire Gives Personal Fortrune to Charity

It's such a strange contrast. According to a Zillow report, 21.4% of US homeowners owed more on their homes than they were worth. And the number of home foreclosures hit a high in December, with one out of every thousand homes going under--the biggest number since Zillow began recording data in 2000.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic is a story of a millionaire who is giving his entire estate to charity. Karl Rabeder amassed $4.7 million in his lifetime only to find himself completely unsatisfied with wealth.

"My idea is to have nothing left. Absolutely nothing," he told the UK Telegraph. "Money is counterproductive--it prevents happiness to come."

His plans? To sell his 3,455 square foot mountain retreat, his farmhouse in Provence, among other highly sought after possessions. After which he'll move into a small wooden hut or a modest home in Innsbruck.

So here we have two vastly different circumstances with nearly the same outcome. The fourth quarter Zillow report states that 1/5 of US homeowners are underwater. As a result, Americans are being forced to turn the keys to their homes into their banks. On the other hand, an Austrian millionaire is giving up all the wealth he acquired by choice.

Sources:
Zillow
UK Telegraph

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