Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
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I was really astounded to read an article recently about the death of a lady called Sylvia Bloom. A legal secretary in New York who, when she died, made the largest donation ever from an individual to a social service group in its history when she gave them $6,24 million. She was a legal secretary in Brooklyn who worked for the same law firm for 67 years until she retired at the age of 96 and died shortly thereafter in 2016.
She did not appear to tell anybody about her money, she left some money to relatives, but directed that the bulk of her fortune goes towards the scholarships of needy students. The executor of the estate and everybody else said they were absolutely blown away by how much money she had. They explained it this way, and please note that the total she was worth when she died was $8,2 million and I have based my heading on an average of R12,40 to the Dollar – obviously the Rand amount changes everyday. I think her loyalty to one firm and listening very carefully to everything paid off. She was a secretary, as they explained in numerous articles, in the day and age when secretaries often used to be responsible for conveying their bosses’ instructions to stockbrokers as to which shares to buy, which shares to sell, etc, and she obviously worked for a very bright man who handled his investments well. Whenever he bought a share she would buy the same share as well and she learnt from him. That, together with an approach of saving everything and not spending wildly, left her richer than most of us can ever imagine being.
Certainly, none of us would ever imagine that a legal secretary would end up so wealthy when most attorneys will not even come close to a quarter of that, no matter how successful they are. The other side of the story is of course a work ethic – when you hear somebody kept working until they were 96 years old, you are dealing with a special individual in the first place! It is uncanny that once she retired she died. The same thing happened to my Gran – perfectly healthy while she worked, but she died 6 months after retiring, so it feeds into some superstitions I have about early retirement. If you are having fun and making money there is no reason to sit at home and play golf 7 days a week.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Monday 25-Jun-18
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Comments
Sinead said:
on Wednesday 24-Oct-18 04:41 PM
Truly spectacular! At the end of it all, she did not reap any of the benefits of her endless saving and did a good thing instead. Her work ethic was impeccable which is something we can all learn from
Cornelie said:
on Thursday 05-Jul-18 09:23 AM
I would still work and make money extra no need to sit at home work keeps you going I also know of so many people who retire passes away a few months later as they can not sit and function my dad is 75 and still giving school and still farm he retired at 65 but nothing stopped him in still giving school and farm.
Liz said:
on Thursday 05-Jul-18 09:11 AM
This lady must have had a mind for investing and if not she knew whose advice to follow. The sad thing out of all this is that it seems she never really took the time to enjoy her wealth, by this I do not mean spending it recklessly but maybe just taking a long hard earned holiday to her favourite destination.
Tamaryn said:
on Wednesday 04-Jul-18 05:37 PM
This proves that you can make your money work for you. It boils down to financial discipline and making informed investment decisions. She was wise with her money, yet it seems she never took much time to enjoy it.
Lucretia said:
on Monday 02-Jul-18 08:54 AM
I find this blog sexist. There is an old saying, "behind every successful man is a successful woman". Woman are as capable of making good financial decisions as men are.
Henrietta said:
on Monday 02-Jul-18 08:44 AM
Amazing and the best is she kept it to herself. The fact that she did the investments for the boss and took a chance really paid off well in the end. And what a brilliant donation to the needs, and I'm sure this is appreciated and a miracle to them. To be working at that age really is impressive, I just think in South Africa, people are forced to retire at a certain age and it is extremely rare to see someone with at the age of 70 still working.
Joyce said:
on Friday 29-Jun-18 04:57 PM
I think Sylvia was an amazing human being, very smart and special woman
Natasha said:
on Wednesday 27-Jun-18 08:36 AM
Its amazing clearly she knew how to work with her money. But i think she learned alot and knew exactly where to invest money and where to buy shares we can learn a lot from her
Daniella said:
on Tuesday 26-Jun-18 12:24 PM
Amazing! I truly believe that if you retire early I feel as though you will age much faster- I think keeping your mind and body active at work plays a huge role, and even though if you stay at home and exercise daily, read or study there is only so many hours you can do that for the rest of the day you would relax. So working really does make a difference.
Megan said:
on Monday 25-Jun-18 04:34 PM
What a remarkable woman! I do wonder how she was able to work all that time though, I know that in South Africa we forced to retire at a certain age? None the less she did acquire a lot of money and it was so generous of her to donate that much!
Michelle said:
on Monday 25-Jun-18 03:13 PM
If you are a hard and happy worker, I think the big secret to a longer life span for you is to keep working. I also think we get older much faster if you retire as your body slowly is starting to shut down then. If you keep the body busy on a more regular basis it will keep going.
Mathilda Du Preez said:
on Monday 25-Jun-18 02:32 PM
What an incredible and touching story sounds like an Allan Gray advert.
Still shocked that she worked until she was 96 years old
courtney said:
on Monday 25-Jun-18 11:41 AM
very interesting story. I am sure she made a lot of mistakes and refused to ever give up or let someone bring her down. More people should have the self carriage that she has. This world would then be a more successful place. There are no shortcuts. Work hard, be patient, consistent and never give up!
Jadine Richards said:
on Monday 25-Jun-18 10:51 AM
She must have been a really remarkable woman as not many have that combination of smarts and dedication. However, I think that it is sad that she worked all of her life and was never able to enjoy that fortune or didn't have people in her life who meant more to her than a charity.
Alexis said:
on Monday 25-Jun-18 10:18 AM
That is quite something. I am not surprised however about the passing away shortly after retiring - I suppose to be doing what you do, gives you purpose and when you do not have that to do anymore - which was your life for so may years - you feel a bit lost. Well considering, she did listen to her boss and was able to make her fortune, as you state that most attorneys would not even come close to that
Fikile said:
on Monday 25-Jun-18 10:15 AM
She was a very bright woman to have thought of buying shares and even investing some of her money of which most people don't think off.
Thabitha said:
on Monday 25-Jun-18 09:46 AM
Wow I run out of words amazing I wonder what kept her going on , all I can say she was smart and loyal.
Angelique Jurgens said:
on Monday 25-Jun-18 08:55 AM
"Work hard in silence, let you success make a noise". In her case, her fortune that she donated definitely made a noise. That is absolutely inspiring. I wonder if there are people that still work until that age. I do hope that after working for so many years that she at least had some time to spoil herself and spend some of her hard earned money. If you scared (like me) with investing then at least save. Every little bit helps. It may seem hard to make room in an already-tight budge but if you save just a little bit in years to come it may just make a difference.
Bianca N said:
on Monday 25-Jun-18 08:18 AM
This is incredible. Her loyalty as well as the willingness to learn about investing her money etc. really paid off. Although I also cannot help but wonder if she got to enjoy her money before she passed.
Michelle D said:
on Monday 25-Jun-18 08:09 AM
For some people working becomes their life and they need it to carry on. Sylvia obviously loved her work, with all of her money she could have retired ages ago! I think it's very noble of her to donate such a huge sum to charity. I just hope she wasn't saving onto all of it to do something extravagant when she finally retired but never got the chance.
Jessica said:
on Monday 25-Jun-18 07:50 AM
Truly astounding! Apart from a tremendous work ethic that we can all learn from, but how remarkable for her to have remained so lucid and able to work until the age of 96.
This is a prime example of how loyality can go a long way within life, not only the working realm!
Sure the donation to a worthy charity after her passing is amazing, but I wonder if she compromised her quality of life simply to save? What good is all that money once you have died? Simply means that you heirs will be well looked after when you did not reap the full benefits of your hard work and life-long committment.
Of course, we should all save for the future and nurture our investments, but I am scepticle of clenching onto every cent until the day that you die....
Brumilde said:
on Monday 25-Jun-18 07:32 AM
And she was still humble/loyal to work at her firm. Even though she could have retired a long time ago. she must have loved her job and the people. And as the blog mentions must have saved and worked well with her money. Very interesting story i must say
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
