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You don't need to earn a massive paycheck to become a millionaire.
Unbeknown to everyone around him until he died at age 92 in June 2014, Read had quietly amassed an $8 million fortune, thanks to smart spending and investing habits.
Even Read's family was "tremendously surprised" upon finding out about his hidden wealth. "He was a hard worker, but I don't think anybody had an idea that he was a multimillionaire," Read's stepson Phillip Brown told the Brattleboro Reformer in 2015.
Funny that he left most of it to organizations other than his family. That doesn't say a whole lot about them. I'll bet he's chuckling in the great beyond.
I had an uncle that lived to be about 90, and didn't work most of his life. He lived with my grandmother and his only income was his Social Security check. He was also an alcoholic. It was odd, though, that he only drank for two weeks out of the month and then he would dry out until the next check came.
After he died my grandmother and my mom were going through his stuff and found a shoe box containing $7,000 in small bills. Considering old Uncle Joe's lifestyle, that was about the last thing they expected to find.
Funny that he left most of it to organizations other than his family. That doesn't say a whole lot about them. I'll bet he's chuckling in the great beyond.
Yeah, I wondering if there was more to the story. Did the family not know about his millions because he was secretive, or were they just not very close. Since he gave most of his money to charity, it would seem like the family probably didn't come around enough to know the guy wasn't some poor janitor.
Funny that he left most of it to organizations other than his family. That doesn't say a whole lot about them. I'll bet he's chuckling in the great beyond.
I had an uncle that lived to be about 90, and didn't work most of his life. He lived with my grandmother and his only income was his Social Security check. He was also an alcoholic. It was odd, though, that he only drank for two weeks out of the month and then he would dry out until the next check came.
After he died my grandmother and my mom were going through his stuff and found a shoe box containing $7,000 in small bills. Considering old Uncle Joe's lifestyle, that was about the last thing they expected to find.
Not a alcoholic if he was able to stop for 2 weeks
It was the investments that generated the 8 millions.
"I'm sure if he earned $50 in a week, he probably invested $40 of it," said friend and neighbor Mark Richards.
He was also a good stock picker and had the control to hold onto stocks for the long haul, a strategy billionaire investor Warren Buffett recommends.
"Mr. Read owned at least 95 stocks at the time of his death, many of which he had held for years, if not decades,"The Wall Street Journal reported in 2015.
"Among his longtime holdings were blue-chip stalwarts such as Procter & Gamble (PG), J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM), General Electric (GE) and Dow Chemical (DOW). When he died, he also had large stakes in J.M. Smucker (SJM), CVS Health (CVS) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)," the publication reported.
It was the investments that generated the 8 millions.
"I'm sure if he earned $50 in a week, he probably invested $40 of it," said friend and neighbor Mark Richards.
He was also a good stock picker and had the control to hold onto stocks for the long haul, a strategy billionaire investor Warren Buffett recommends.
"Mr. Read owned at least 95 stocks at the time of his death, many of which he had held for years, if not decades,"The Wall Street Journal reported in 2015.
"Among his longtime holdings were blue-chip stalwarts such as Procter & Gamble (PG), J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM), General Electric (GE) and Dow Chemical (DOW). When he died, he also had large stakes in J.M. Smucker (SJM), CVS Health (CVS) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)," the publication reported.
He probably got some inheritance along the way but basically, if you live REALLY cheap for a loooooong time like he did, then the assets can pile up.
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