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These comments are incredibly amusing. Please continue.
another point the free enterprize system, the American system has withstood the revolutionary war ,civil war wwi, ww2 etc. its withstood the communist, depression , and it will withstand this assault by Obama the supreme court. heck even that sharply dressed ad dapper colored gentleman al Sharpton cant bring her down. American even gives them ,as the business men they are the right toto amass fortunes trashing her and yet she still stands.
another point . the American
the ignorance on display here is typical of the current public school graduates. go back take a course on economics, and understand how free markets work. I suppose then when we all gamble when we invest in a house, stocks, old cars etc and they then go up over time, we all lose? no we loose when we quit believing in the American dream and concentrate on buying the stuff every tv commercial tries to sell us. you can choose to be a spendthrift or a investor. quit blaming others for your failures .
he didn't amass millions working hard as a janitor.
he made millions gambling on wall street.
he's an exception to the rule in the gambling house though. most gamblers lose.
well at least he returned the money to where it belongs in the first place: society.
He's not an exception to the rule. Anyone can achieve similar results with consistent disciplined saving, investing, and rebalancing given enough time. He was 92 after all, and with the market recently he likely made 4-6 million of that since 2009.
Gambling is a word for people who act without thought or consideration for when putting capital in certain places. This man was not such a person. Keep your money under the mattress I guess?
grow up people. remember any good habit you have, and how at first you didnt want to do it ? saving is the same thing. if your so indulgent and waseful dont blame someoe else . if you can only be a spend thrift to find your happiness dont be offended by a man who was the salt of the earth. the ignorant on here are enjoying the things they buy and the jobs they have because of the ronald reads who supplied their capital to create the machinery buildings etc to employ the people like some who write on here,
Dead and never used his money to enjoy life. He parked to safe a few cents. I know a lot of people like this, my aunt is one. She will die reaching for that last dollar not having spent the first one she got. Its a wasted life. You can live on the edge or way beyond your means and one snag will destroy you, or you can live like this, saving money out of fear, OCD and control not living. There is a middle ground where you live and do things and also save for the future. Most of these people who use the pilot light on the stove to cook a can of beans to save gas never learn that the end game is a pine box. There is no life to come where you get to use your saved money. In the end we all rot in a box. So if you forgo living now for some day, that day is a plot of dirt pushing up worms.
A lot of people who grew up during the great depression are fundamentally oriented to saving and not spending. They learned the right lesson for their time.
Hopefully you won't have to learn that same lesson the hard way.
That's nice and all but the fact of the matter is, most people's stress in life are money problems. Most people are unhappy regardless of their income because they do not live modestly. I would have to imagine this man was happy to live within his means. When you live modestly and significantly below your means, it's easy to be happy because a lack of stress about money. Also if things get tough or if you want to splurge a little, it's of little consequence.
The guy lived to 92 years old, I think he did exactly what he wanted to do. Just because he died with an estate, it doesn't mean he wasn't happy. Just because someone died broke, doesn't mean they did or didn't live life to the fullest just like a man with an 8M estate didn't live life according to how he wanted to.
Well said!
Just good common sense and consistency are what you need to be a successful investor. RIP Ronald Read. Was a typical, frugal, rural New Englander.
Most of the people that comment here are sooo ignorant and don't read the articles.... he was 92 years old, you just need to invest $300 every month during 65 years at an average return per year of 8.25% and you will make exactly $8,120,286.73 !!!! the key is to start early, compound interest "works" with time
In another article they said that he bought only dividend paying stocks.
No Magic in here... just consistency, frugality, etc, etc, virtues... values...
You are forgetting that $300 per month 65 years ago is like $2,000/month now, due to inflation.
How many people can save $2,000 month today?
That's true. He had a strong hand and believe in long-term returns. Wasn't jittered by market swings and volatility and stayed away from daytrading.
This just confirms that time IN the market beats timing the market
Thats the bomb. The greatest skill any investor will tell you is that you can't be worried about the movement of the stock, and he probably started investing right after WW2. Maybe he invested in MSFT in the 80's? :)
Actually he most likely didn't sell often at all. They found his certificates in a safe deposit box.
What a honest man, I proud of him! If our politicans can be only 1/100 of that fellow there would be absolutely another America. Consumering is nowadays trend, not charity.
Vermount hospital and library should put his name somewhere to encourage others.
Some say 'He/She who dies with the most debt wins the game".This fellow instead chose to be the richest man in the cemetery. Good for him!
Bull, if he saved everything he ever made and with high interest then he would not have 8 million. Probably not even a half million. He inherited money, land, bonds, or something valuable or he stole it!
You will die poor if you don't get a financial education.
We all die poor. Can't take it with you
No we are all poor when we are dead. The time leading up to death is another story. Most are poor in financial wealth, more are poor in the ways that matter.
USA should have said "you will live poor and with no choices" Mr. Read lived what many think of as poor but the difference is he had the choice to do so or to not do so. That is all the difference in the world.
You are correct. I have no money and no choices. Not for lack of trying just unfortunate circumstances and bad luck. Ahh well
I do not know how old you are but if you have 15 to 20 years still in your working life you can make your situation much better. If you can save 5 bucks a week you can start on a short term goal of having an emergency fund. That is a start.
Thanks all good advice. I'm 36 unemployed with a master's degree in teaching and a mountain of student loan debt over 70k. Pretty bleak scenario
Well you still have a long time, that is the good part. If you cannot find employment in your field in your area you may either have to move or change the profession you are willing to work at. I worked in a refinery with several Ex teachers and one I knew who also had a masters degree but she drove an oil truck because it paid more than her teaching job. 70k in debt is a huge load to carry. That is true. maybe they will come up with some kind of refinancing. But you don't have to do nothing and just wait. Even when I was working full time shift work I had a side business and attended more college classes. It is a matter of time management. It is not easy but the first step starts today. There are many things you can do to make money. Even after you find paid employment. Just think about it. I am sure you can come up with some kind of solution, You just have to have some energy.
Don't give up. Time has a way of changing lots of things. Many people make and lose fortunes more than once in their lives. All you need to do is identify your goals, short term, medium term, and long term, make a plan and stick with the plan as best you can. Make it something achievable and don't get discouraged. You don't have to be a rocket scientist. All you have to be is determined and tenacious. You may not be able to achieve ALL of your dreams but you can achieve some of them. This I know!
It is called Capital appreciation plus dividend reinvesting. Many companies raise the dividend every year. So if you buy a stock for 20 dollars a share that pays 3% (.60) and the company raises the dividend a nickel every year at the end of 20 years that original 20 bucks you spent is paying a hell of a lot more than 3%. It will be paying 8% ($1.60) now if you wait another 20 years and they raise the dividend a nickel a year again your yield becomes 13% and that does NOT include any capital appreciation. It could very easily become 8 million. You just do not understand investing. Especially if you reinvested the dividends and accumulated more shares.
One example is ExxonMobil. It has raised its dividend every year for the past 31 years.
Yes that is true. I worked for them for over 33 years and have bought their stock since 1980. I can attest that that original share I bought in 1980 is paying a HUGE yield on the original price I paid for that share. It would take me forever to try to figure what that yield is now especially after reinvesting dividends and a few stock splits. But I can tell you that buy and hold and dividend reinvesting has been berry berry good to me.
"Bull, if he saved everything he ever made and with high interest then he would not have 8 million . . .."
I think he'd be the first one to say you are correct. Reread the article, "Jay Daniels." The guy was investing his money, not saving it in interest-bearing products. If he hit just a handful of eight-to-10 baggers in his time, he could quite easily have amassed the estate cited in the article. Doing so may not be common, but it can be done without benefit of a silver spoon or theft.
This is simple "dollar cost averaging" the infallible way to invest. Look up the oldest 4 mutual fund family and look at their oldest equity funds. several have produced over 10% for the last 6 to 8 decades And the good new is you can start an account with as little at $50 a month. Dividends do make a difference in the "magic of compounding. An the last 60 years had major depressions and it was no different than the future. Only now we have massive govt debt to worry about which could produce a collapse of the Dollar. But that can be fixed if we elect financially savvy people. Divide you investments for short an long term so you can enjoy it withdrawing with reverse DCA strategy. It works.
The dollar is hitting new highs against all other currencies. Don't let your prejudices get in the way of reality. That (emotional investing) is what causes most people to lose their money.
This simply tells me that any McDonald's worker can amass an $8 million dollar fortune too.
If that McDonalds worker doesn't have to pay rent and utilities and has at least 150 bucks a month to save and not touch it for 40 years. Yes they can. I bought my first investment (5 acres of land) when I was 19 and making minimum wage.
I'm very sure that the Janitor was earning 'roughly' about the same as McDonald's worker. He had to pay rent and utilities too. He made it happen. I bought my first home, a townhouse, when I was earning $18,000 per year part-time. It cost me $34,000 and is now worth $110k. I had $8k saved which is why I got the loan.
Yes, in the sense that any McDonald's worker can go to Vegas on the overnight and return home tomorrow morning a multimillionaire. It has been done, it can be done, and it will be done. But not easily, and not by many.
Never said it was easy. I'm sure it wasn't easy for the Janitor either.
bet those kids are p.o.'ed...they had to live with the kook as children and he left them nothing.
Article says he left $8mil total, $6mil to the library and hospital. So maybe his step-sons did get something.
He owed them nothing.
he didn't make millions by cleaning the building. he did so by
"investing in wall street". now everyone knows what wall street has done to humanity. mr. read only gave it back to where it belonged in the first place, that is, the society's communal institutions.
I only wish that a few million more people would understand this very simple concept that you articulated. These people would finally elect politicians to manage the country, not create new programs of social engineering using our money.
Can't judge a book!!!