The billionaire investor and partner to Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger, lived in a relatively modest house for 70 of his 99 years. It was no accident; it was an intentional choice: He chose happiness.
He noted that he and Buffet (who also lives in a modest house) “. . . watched our friends who got rich build these really fancy houses, and I would say in practically every case, they made the person less happy, not happier.”
Munger had nine children across two marriages, so he could have easily justified a bigger house. “And I still decided not to live a life where I look like the Duke of Westchester or something . . . I did it on purpose . . . I didn’t think it would be good for the children.”
Munger often preached the merits of living modestly: “Don’t have a lot of envy;” “Don’t overspend your income;” “Avoid crazy at all costs. Crazy is way more common than you think. It’s easy to slip into crazy. Just avoid it, avoid it, avoid it.”
The pursuit of bigger and grander is one form of empty “crazy.” Living in a modest house has a ton of benefits for people, communities, and, not least of all, for the environment.
As Charlie Munger knew, modest houses cultivate a sense of intimacy that is virtually not possible with grand and spacious interiors. People can lose touch with one another; they can miss out on a vital catalyst for growth and happiness — relationships. Smaller houses engender a sense of closeness among family members; they promote the love that more personal connections engender.
Modest houses are often found in more tightly-knit communities; they are often part of neighborhoods where people know each other as friends. They foster life-sustaining relationships in community.
Consciously choosing a modest home often accords with the finding deeper and more enduring values. Rather than choosing to live to inflate one’s sense of pride, modest living cultivates one’s sense of soul. And the ancient adage holds as true today as it did two thousand years ago: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
As billionaire Munger knew, they engender greater happiness. Relationships, personal growth, community, living as responsible environmental citizens — they all contribute to one’s sense of well-being and happiness.
And not the least benefit: Modest houses also contribute to a more sustainable world. With a smaller physical footprint, modest homes consume fewer resources during construction and require less energy for heating and cooling. Smaller houses cost less to maintain, reducing their “carbon footprint” — a vital contribution to healing our common existential threat: global warming.
J. G. Johnston is co-founder of Life Atlas