Posted on 04/25/2015 5:18:08 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
You may have read about the remarkable life and times of Ronald Read. He was the gas station attendant and lifelong resident of Windham County, Vt., who had quietly accumulated a portfolio worth a fortune. As the Brattleboro Reformer reported earlier this year, Read died last June at age 92. Despite his relatively modest wages, he left an estate with “stock holdings and property” valued at nearly $8 million. His bequest was to leave most of it to the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and Brooks Memorial Library.
His close friends and family were shocked when they learned the value of his estate.
There is wisdom to be learned from Read’s investing and life experiences. How a man of modest means accumulated so much wealth contains exemplary lessons for saving that apply to all of us. But there is also a cautionary tale about recognizing the value of your finite time here on earth. Perhaps learning to enjoy life while you can is part of that equation.
What do we know of Read? He served in World War II, seeing action in North Africa, Italy and the Pacific theater. The local paper reported that when the war ended, he returned to Brattleboro. For the next 25 years, he worked at Haviland’s service station, which the Wall Street Journal reported was owned by his brother. He apparently did not enjoy retirement much, choosing instead to “retire from retirement” to work as a janitor at a J.C. Penney store until 1997. He was extremely frugal, saving money, avoiding waste and eschewing even modest luxuries.
What follows are the lessons from the remarkable Read.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
BUMP for later.
Interesting read. Thanks!
Indeed ironic the lefty WP posts a glowing story about a man that chose to avoid participating in our consumerism-shifted economy and hoarded all those funds, avoiding estate taxation by donation to a 3rd-party...
I would be considerably richer if I had not had children.
They make it seem like making money is NOT a good thing. I try to make money as a hobby. I don’t care about where it goes after I do. I still have the accomplishment. Of course my grand kids don’t call me Grand Pop or whatever, usually First National.
Einstein said, “I never figured out the miracle of compound interest.”
But wait a minute. Should the Compost be pissed that he didn’t leave his wealth with those less fortunate or donated it to Planned Parenthood?
I’ve always said, “The surefire way of becoming wealthy is to spend less than you earn, and live a long time”. Here’s more proof. You have complete control over the first part, the second part is luck.
It’s an interesting story, but in the end, what did he gain? He’s still dead
Buy stocks with a good dividend history!
Reinvest all dividends!!..
Graham and Dodd would be proud!!
Yes. Did he store up treasures in Heaven? That’s the real question.
As a youngster, Read would have been investing not long after the Great Depression. I was told The Great Depression was an excellent time to have faith in the USA—and to buy stocks.
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