How this 96-year-old Secretary grew a $9,000,000 Fortune

This is a great example of what can come when someone invests often and lives frugally, while only earning a modest salary working a 9-5 and how that can snowball into something massive, to the tune of over $9 million dollars over the course of a lifetime. Enjoy! Snap/Insta: GPStephan

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Original Article Here:

This story is about a woman named Sylvia Bloom, from Brooklyn, New York. She worked as a secretary for a Law Firm. She made a modest salary. She took the bus and subway to get around. She never flexed on them haters. She also accumulated a fortune of about $9,000,000. She grew up in Brooklyn New York during the Great Depression. In 1947 she began working at a Law Firm as one of its first employees, where she ended up working for 67 years until she retired at 96 years old. But how she lived day-to-day is an indication of how she became so wealthy.

They lived in a Rent controlled apartment. She took the Subway to work. She’d opt to take the bus over spending the money for a cab. She never talked money, never called attention to herself, and she lived extremely modestly. This allowed her to secretly invest her money, instead. She’d save her money, live modestly, and invest everything she could. In her lifetime, thanks to compound interest, this lead to over a $9,000,000 Fortune…$8.2 million of which was donated to charity for college scholarships.

This story isn’t unique, either - there are plenty like it that almost carry the exact same storyline.

Leonard Gigowski is another example:

The left $13,000,000 to charity upon his death. He worked as a Navy Cook during World War 2 and shortly after worked as a meat cutter. That company gave him company stock, which he held on to - and later opened up his own grocery store. He expanded to a night club and rental properties over his lifetime, but maintained a frugal lifestyle. When he passed away at the age of 90, his thrifty living and investing habits left him with $13,000,000 which he donated to charity.

Or Grace Groner, another secretary who amassed a $7,000,000 fortune for charity by the time she passed away:

Like our other two examples, she didn’t have a high income - but she lived modestly and invested her money. In 1931 she began working for Abbot Laboratories, and in 1935 she saved up enough money to buy three shares worth $180.00….and she never sold them. Despite the stock skyrocketing in price, she never increased her lifestyle. She never bought expensive things. She lived in a small apartment for most of her life. And during her retirement from the company, she’d spend some money on travel and would actively volunteer…but she never touched the principle of her investment. And that led a $7,000,000 donation for college scholarships when she passed away.

This is really the power of three things: One, it doesn’t matter how much you make, it matters how much you save. In all of our examples, they didn’t have an extremely high income - they just saved and invested consistently. Two, time in the market - not timing the market, is most important. These were people who didn’t think “the stock market is too high, I’m waiting for a crash” - they just bought and held. And three: the power of long term compound interest. Starting off with investing $100 per month isn’t much…but over decades, this can grow into something substantial.

So I’d hope that stories like this can give you hope that even though you might not be making a lot of money right now, the possibilities are limitless long term.

For business inquiries or one-on-one real estate investing/real estate agent consulting or coaching, you can reach me at GrahamStephanBusiness@gmail.com

Suggested reading:

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent

Your money or your life

The Millionaire Real Estate Investor

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Think and grow rich

Awaken the giant within

The Book on Rental Property Investing

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