One of my favorite things to read about are the stories of “hidden millionaires”, those who appear poor or middle-class to others, but actually manage million-dollar portfolios. It’s always encouraging to me to see stories like SeekingAlpha commenter “Buyandhold 2012“; whose mother, despite not having much to invest at any given time, still invested in quality companies. Over time, her portfolio grew from nothing to being worth over $10 million.
Stories like that impress the shit out of me, and are really encouraging, you know? Sometimes I look at my comparatively small portfolio and get discouraged. Right now, it’s not what I need to retire, and sometimes I wonder if I’m not doing enough to get to that point. That sometimes causes tensions in my personal life, which is a big no-no. Seeing those kinds of stories provide enough of a push over the humps that I don’t lose hope. All I need to do is keep at it, you know?
So today, I’m going to provide a quick overview of some of these fortunate people. Some were frugal, some made lucky bets in the stock market. No matter how they did it, they have something that we can learn from. Hopefully, they motivate and inspire you as much as they did me!
Olive Swindell
According to friends, Mrs. Swindell was a bit of a hoarder. She rarely invited friends over due to the massive clutter – newspapers from the 1920s, cans, boxes full of junk. But one thing she definitely took care of was her portfolio. After saving and living frugally, she began investing in a small basket of stocks, including H&R Block, Schlumberger, and Tyco International, which eventually grew exponentially in value. Upon her death, 80% of her $4.4 million fortune was willed to Gallaudet University in DC, and 20% was willed to the Daughters of the American Revolution. (source)
Stephanie Mucha
This is actually a story I brought up before, since I loved it. Heck, I actually got some decent investment ideas from her. She worked as a nurse, while her husband was a mechanic. Over time, by living frugally, they were able to start investing small amounts. Following Peter Lynch’s “invest in what you know’, well before Peter Lynch became prominent, they picked up shares in industrial companies like Precision Castparts, Illinois Toolworks, and Snap-On. Mrs. Mucha’s knowledge as a nurse caused them to also invest in companies like Medtronic; their initial purchase of $255.50 for 50 shares of MDT turned into over $450,000 40 years later. At the time of the interview, her portfolio was worth $2.5 million, and that’s after donating $3 million over the years! (source)
Grace Groner
Probably the most famous story on this list, Grace Groner worked as a secretary for most of her life. Back in 1935, while working for Abbot Labs, she took advantage of a special stock offering for employees and bought 3 shares of ABT for $180. As the years passed, the stock split several times; she also kept reinvesting the dividends and never sold a share. When she died, the position had grown to over $7 million, all of which was left to Lake Forest College. Hell, she even has her own Wikipedia article; she definitely made it! (source)
Earl Doren
Earl Doren is particularly interesting, as he accumulated his wealth without ever finishing the 8th grade. After a stint in the military, he set up a barbershop, which he ran for over 4 decades. Over the years, he cut the hair of many successful businessmen, who often gave him stock tips and knowledge. He was successfully able to parlay that knowledge into successful investments in ExxonMobil, Apple, and various utilities. Later in life, he also got involved in ranching. At the time of his death in 2010, his estate was worth $1.8 million, which was put into a charitable trust. (source)
Mary Guthrie Essame
Back in 2002, a retired nurse passed away at 77. Mary Essame was an exceptionally frugal woman, often wearing clothes with holes in them. Although she lived alone, she was known for being friendly and charitable, often giving money to charitable causes, or passing out produce from her garden. Her charitable streak continued after death, when it was discovered she had managed to accumulate about $10 million over her lifetime. She left most of this amount to various charitable and religious organizations in the UK. (source)
Of course, these are far from the only people who’ve done it; check here, here, here, and here for more stories. Let’s hope that someday, all of us can add our stories to these lists!
Have there been any interesting stories of wealth or charity you’ve come across?
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22 Comments
I find these kind of stories a mix of encouraging/discouraging at the same time…
Encouraging in the sense that they showcase the awesomeness of buying and holding blue chip stocks reinvesting dividends etc. But discouraging for someone chasing early retirement because its a reminder you aren’t taking real advantage of the secret ingredient in all these stories – TIME. Planning to ER within 2-3 years means I’ve got to make it happen with new investments where if I could just convince myself to be patient and let time/compounding do the work I could never invest another penny and I’d still have it made.
I agree completely. While it is awesome to see what can happen over years of investing, time is also one of the hardest things to deal with. Whether it’s because your timeframe for FIRE is close, or because the time is farther out but you just want to get there as soon as possible, it’s a struggle to deal with no matter what. If you ever find out how to deal with it satisfactorily, let me know
If you manage to sustain your lifetime with the returns for a while (combined with other passive income I guess), then you can still benefit from the compounding effect of time. But yes, that still means a lot of money invested in a short period of time…
DivGuy recently posted…My 2014 Year in Review and Portfolio Asset Allocation
I find these stories very inspiring! Thank you for the motivation!
DivGuy recently posted…My 2014 Year in Review and Portfolio Asset Allocation
No prob!
Interesting stories! I think the underlying theme here seems to be a “buy and hold forever” strategy. No matter your income or background, one can accumulating wealth through time. The key is simply to start, and the early the better!!
Thanks for sharing these inspirational stories. AFFJ
A Frugal Family’s Journey recently posted…Mortgage Balance (Update) – January 2015
Yep, getting started, staying patient, and never selling seems to be the way to create serious wealth. So simple to do, yet so difficult at the same time!
Great selection of stories. It shows that it’s not necessarily only about how much someone earns – if they have the know-how, any amount of money can grow hugely with enough time.
Very inspiring!
DL
Dividend Legion recently posted…My Goals for 2015
Indeed. Even small amounts, if placed under careful stewardship, can grow exponentially. Thanks for stopping by!
I like these stories as they are a constant reminder of how great this investing style is. Buy earlier, buy often and let time be on your side. Hopefully one day people will be blogging about how we made it… the stories above will start – “DividendDeveloper became a millionaire by…” Or “American Dividend dream retired early by…”
We can only hope to be as fortunate as the ones above.
American Dividend Dream recently posted…Goals for 2015
For sure. Heh, I eagerly await the interviews for the articles about us!
I find it very interesting that most of these people probably did not earn a degree in finance, business, or statistics. It goes to show you that you don’t need to be professionally trained in investing in order to become a successful investor.
F2R30
Definitely true, and definitely encouraging!
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DD,
Thanks for sharing these stories! I too love reading this kind of stuff.
What’s impressive though, is the number of women on your list. Could that be an indicator for a natural inclination towards FI for women?
Cheers,
NMW
No More Waffles recently posted…Why Only Cavemen Resist Financial Independence and What Can Be Done about It
That certainly is an interesting question, and I don’t know why it is, honestly. Maybe women tend to be more frugal and careful with budgeting? Or have less desire for massive status symbols like boats and sports cars? Who knows?
Great post. Thanks for sharing these stories. It is great to have validation that our journey is the correct path to be on.
Dividend Dreams recently posted…My 2014 Actuals
No prob!
These stories are the best. They are the best counter-examples against people who say the system is rigged, that you can’t get rich by saving, and that the average person can’t win the race.
There are common themes among all of them. Hard work, frugality, typically a buy and hold mind-set. Things we should all emulate.
One of my favorite bloggers, Joshua Kennon talks about this frequently in posts like this.
Stealth Wealth and Hidden Millionaires/>
Adam @ AdamChudy.com recently posted…Cash Flow is King
Definitely, and thanks for the new link! A lot of good stories were profiled there.
These are all awesome stories. Thanks for sharing. I only heard of Grace Groner but not the others. These stories just add fuel to our dividend growth/investing fire and shows where we can all be in 20 or 30 years from now. Very inspiring.
Exactly, thanks for reading!