Imagine you woke up one day to find out that you’re a multi-millionaire.
What’s the first thing you’d do?
Maybe buy your dream house?
Or a superfast car?
Oh, I know…possibly a yacht?
But you see, not everyone has the same impulses.
One janitor managed to prove everyone wrong with his intelligence and investments.
By the time he was 92 years old, he was worth 8 million, and he’d achieved it all by himself.
His story, however, is rather unusual.
We usually think that people with less money dream of the luxurious lifestyle that we see
on social media.
The big house, the massive pools, the multiple garages filled with race cars, and the endless
vacations.
But some people are satisfied with what they have, and manage to go through life with contentment.
Before I continue, I got a question for you.
If you were a millionaire, what would you do with the money you have?
Would you donate any?
Let me know down in the comments.
Now, back to the story.
Ronald Reads was born on October 23rd, 1921.
He grew up with his family in a tiny house in Vermont, where they ran a farm.
As a kid, Ronald loved school.
He used to walk approximately 4 miles every day to his high school in Brattleboro.
He made that same journey every day of the week until he graduated.
In fact, in 1940, he became the first person in his family to receive a high-school diploma,
which was huge back in the day.
After that, he joined the army for 5 years, but by 1945 he was back in Brattleboro, ready
to continue his life.
Upon his return to his home town, he got right to work as a gas station attendant at Haviland's
Service Station.
He worked at the same gas station for the next 34 years.
Around 1979, when he was about 58 years old, it was time to retire.
But he didn’t have it in him.
He was too eager to keep working and stay busy.
You know what they say, “Another day, another Dollar”.
So, when his time as a gas station attendant was over, he got a part-time job as a janitor
at the local department store.
There, he worked another 17 years.
But, you see, our friend Ronald had a secret.
Not only was he a quiet worker, he was a quiet investor.
So, at what point did Ronald became a secret millionaire?
How did he know where to invest without failing?
I’ll get into that in a gif.
First, let’s look into his life-style and work ethic.
Let’s face it folks, figuring out how to invest in the stock market requires a LOT
of research.
Ronald was a private guy.
He used to love chopping wood and driving his second-hand Toyota Yaris around town.
He also loved collecting stamps and coins.
He’s what you’d describe as a very modest individual.
In fact, most people who were interviewed from his town said that Mr. Read didn’t
strike anyone as a guy with a ton of money.
All the local residents were shocked when they found out his worth.
His lawyer, however, had some insight into his situation.
The reason why nobody believed this man was rich was because of the way he dressed and
handled money.
When Ronald approached his lawyer later on in his life, she assumed that he didn’t
have much money.
He was wearing a somewhat worn-out coat, a regular flannel shirt, and an old baseball
hat.
He was married to the love of his life, whom he’d met while working at the gas station.
Her and her two children moved in to a house Ronald bought for $12,000 dollars.
They never had any children of their own, but Ronald loved his step children as if they
were his own.
He helped them get through college and paid for their education, since it was something
he believed in strongly.
Ronald also had a great relationship with the people he worked with.
Because of his appearance, some of his colleagues assumed that he needed financial help.
However, when they tried to offer it to him, he politely declined.
Ronald was simply a frugal sort of person.
Even at an older age, around 90, he preferred to park far away from his destination and
walk, rather than pay for parking.
But three things earned him a lot of respect: He was easy to work with, he was down-to-earth,
and most importantly, he had a great sense of humor.
One of the things he loved doing on a daily basis was to visit the cafeteria of the local
Memorial Hospital.
He’d go in every single morning and order a cup of coffee and an English muffin with
peanut butter.
He’d always sit in the same spot, drink his coffee, pay for the meal, and then head
back to the road.
He wore an old winter coat that was held together with safety pins so that it could stay closed.
Unfortunately, the Hospital Cafeteria was shut down a few years later and Ronald sought
out a new coffee stop.
That’s when he discovered Friendly’s, and started having his breakfast there.
Coincidentally, the local hospital’s development director was a regular customer at that diner,
and he advised Ronald to pay a visit to the nearby Library.
When Ronald heard about it, his eyes sparkled.
He got his library card and started borrowing piles of books every week, studying them with
enthusiasm.
In fact, he fell in love with a very particular newspaper: The Wall Street Journal.
Ronald loved going to the library, so he’d always drive there, or ask one of his step-children
to take him.
He’d spend hours and hours studying about the stock market and investments, until he
was able to tell which companies were worth putting his money into.
But here’s how he secretly made his fortune.
He was a true wizard at picking stocks and studying the stock market.
He started small, until his safe deposit box was becoming an ever-growing mass of stock
certificates.
He divided his money into categories, and then he’d invest less money in multiple
companies, rather than more money in less companies.
This kept his money safe; if something went wrong, it wouldn’t be too devastating because
the amount he’d lose would be insignificant.
He began his investments a few years after he started working as a gas station assistant,
and he held on to several blue-chip companies for quite a while.
That’s what helped his money multiply.
He also invested in companies that paid substantial dividends, or bonuses, in layman’s terms.
Therefore, he could use that money to buy more stocks.
Ronald wasn’t a tech-savvy kind of guy.
So, his focusc remained on companies he read about in the library books he used to borrow.
When he passed away, he had more than 95 stocks spread around different industries, such as:
telecommunications, healthcare, consumer goods, railway transport and public utilities.
Nobody in his family knew how much money he had, or how much he was worth.
They assumed that the money he was making as a janitor was barely enough for him to
get by.
As he grew older, his health began to deteriorate, and he was hospitalized at the same hospital
where he used to have his daily breakfast.
That was when he hired the lawyer to help him with his estate.
He gave approximately $2 million dollars to his two stepchildren and some friends.
He donated $4.8 million dollars to the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, and he also donated $1.2
million dollars to the library he used to study at.
Roland wanted to remain in the shadows, but at the same time he wished to be known for
his work and deeds.
Once, he had a conversation with a buddy of his, and he told him “Wouldn’t it be nice
If I had my name up on a building?” but right after, he’d regretted it and said
“no,no,no” and shook his head.
One of the most important things he did was give back to the community and people he’d
spent his life with.
The hospital, where he had his breakfast.
The library, where his studied about the stock market, and his family, who he loved.
Bottom Line: Ronald was a rich man, in more ways than just money.
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