Author Topic: Looking for stories of ORDINARY people successfully investing in stocks  (Read 2689 times)

happyuk

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I am looking for online stories of ordinary people who by a combination of thrift, staying out of debt and patient and persistent investment in the stock market have achieved success.  Mr Money Mustache excepted.

I am not interested rags-to-riches examples showing some flash so-and-so next to an expensive car. Or the Silicon Valley success stories.  Neither am I interested in the Warren Buffetts and Richard Bransons given that their lives are adequately documented already.  There is a seeming dearth of anecdotes of real people that have 'made it'.  I am particularly interested what their situation was when they first started out on this path, what they did for living, what they invested in, how they responded to setbacks such as unemployment, ill-health and market corrections.  I am also interested in how long it took them and how much if any their value/belief system changed on reaching financial success.  I'm pretty sure I'd read somewhere of an African-American lady who had once sold her shop, sank the whole lot into Coca-Cola stock and years later was comfortably living off the dividends which I thought was just wonderful.

Any links or pointers to online examples that readers can provide would be much appreciated.  Or feel free to post your own story. 
« Last Edit: November 24, 2019, 01:28:55 PM by happyuk »

Hirondelle

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Re: Looking for stories of ORDINARY people successfully investing in stocks
« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2019, 12:45:28 PM »
Are you looking for people who already FIREd or people still in the process?

To be honest, just look through the journal section and you'll find tons of ordinary people who are either amassing wealth at high speeds and a group of people who's been FIREd any amount of time. For people who recently made it look in the 'class of 2019' or 'class of 2018' threads and look  back at these people's posts to see their journeys.

happyuk

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Re: Looking for stories of ORDINARY people successfully investing in stocks
« Reply #2 on: November 24, 2019, 12:53:13 PM »
Nice one, I'll check out those threads, they are probably a mine of information.  I'd once read 'The Millionaire Next Door' and it's fair to say it changed my life.  Since then I've always been hooked on reading stories of people that prove you don't need to be born into wealth or hold a super-high-flying position at some mega-corp in order to do well.

NotJen

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Re: Looking for stories of ORDINARY people successfully investing in stocks
« Reply #3 on: November 24, 2019, 12:57:37 PM »
Mr Money Mustache excepted.
Why?

What do you consider "successfully investing"?  I think many people here are successful investors.

You can see some details in my journal.  I'm pretty ordinary.  I invest in index funds.  Buy and hold.  I did get fancy and tax-loss-harvest last year to save my marginal tax rate on $2800 of income.

- Graduated college in 2003 with zero/negative net worth (I wasn't tracking it then - I had some savings but only $8k in student loans).
- Got a good job with a salary of $47k plus bonus and 10% contribution per year to retirement accounts.
- Started contributing in Roth, eventually contributed to a 401k when my company added one, and finally started a taxable account as my savings rate grew. 
- No unemployment or health setbacks.  Market corrections, I guess?  The market goes up and down, but mostly up, and that's all I'm counting on.
- 16 years later, salary is $110k (+ bonus and 10% retirement), and net worth is now just over $900k. 

terran

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Re: Looking for stories of ORDINARY people successfully investing in stocks
« Reply #4 on: November 24, 2019, 01:00:17 PM »
There are some good stories here and here. Both remind be very much of the book The Millionaire Next Door.

YoungInvestor

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Re: Looking for stories of ORDINARY people successfully investing in stocks
« Reply #5 on: November 24, 2019, 01:11:55 PM »
Oe of my favorite, a Vermont janitor who accumulated 8M$ by living frugally and regularly investing:
https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/29/janitor-secretly-amassed-an-8-million-fortune.html

A lawyer who amased 188M$ by living (extremely) frugally and living a(very) long time:

https://www.joshuakennon.com/add-jack-macdonald-list-secret-millionaires-just-died-left-188-million-built-investing-stocks-charity/

The later article includes some other stories that are just as great.

happyuk

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Re: Looking for stories of ORDINARY people successfully investing in stocks
« Reply #6 on: November 24, 2019, 01:12:37 PM »
Mr Money Mustache excepted.
Why?

What do you consider "successfully investing"?  I think many people here are successful investors.

You can see some details in my journal.  I'm pretty ordinary.  I invest in index funds.  Buy and hold.  I did get fancy and tax-loss-harvest last year to save my marginal tax rate on $2800 of income.

- Graduated college in 2003 with zero/negative net worth (I wasn't tracking it then - I had some savings but only $8k in student loans).
- Got a good job with a salary of $47k plus bonus and 10% contribution per year to retirement accounts.
- Started contributing in Roth, eventually contributed to a 401k when my company added one, and finally started a taxable account as my savings rate grew. 
- No unemployment or health setbacks.  Market corrections, I guess?  The market goes up and down, but mostly up, and that's all I'm counting on.
- 16 years later, salary is $110k (+ bonus and 10% retirement), and net worth is now just over $900k.

Apologies, by excepting Mr Money Mustache what I meant I'd read a lot of his blog postings and articles already and am actively seeking yet more examples.  Thank you for your input.

NotJen

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Re: Looking for stories of ORDINARY people successfully investing in stocks
« Reply #7 on: November 24, 2019, 01:14:36 PM »
Apologies, by excepting Mr Money Mustache what I meant I'd read a lot of his blog postings and articles already and am actively seeking yet more examples.  Thank you for your input.

Yes, you added a little more detail after I read and posted that makes it a little clearer.

happyuk

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Re: Looking for stories of ORDINARY people successfully investing in stocks
« Reply #8 on: November 24, 2019, 01:26:46 PM »

reeshau

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Re: Looking for stories of ORDINARY people successfully investing in stocks
« Reply #9 on: November 25, 2019, 02:52:55 AM »
The NY Times article from 2015 profiles a number of members of BetterInvesting, a nonprofit organized around individual stock investing, and investing clubs.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/your-money/the-risks-and-rewards-of-self-managing-investment-portfolios.html?searchResultPosition=1

I know Ken Kavula personally, and I can say he speaks about investing as authoritatively as anyone I have ever heard.  The BetterInvesting audience is generally older than FI, but I have been a member since 2004 and I find the method (a rigorous flavor of GARP) to be very effective.  Any BetterInvesting event will be filled with ordinary people talking about investments:  some for the first time, asking questions without fear of ridicule.  Others, geeking out about a quarterly earnings call or new business deal.

chevy1956

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Re: Looking for stories of ORDINARY people successfully investing in stocks
« Reply #10 on: November 25, 2019, 04:26:05 AM »
I think most people on this forum would fit that category. I think I fit that category. I've earned a little bit above an average wage and saved regularly and hopefully I'll be able to retire before 50. I only invest in index funds.

talltexan

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Re: Looking for stories of ORDINARY people successfully investing in stocks
« Reply #11 on: November 25, 2019, 01:54:35 PM »
Dave Ramsey's company put out a book called something like Every Day Millionaires, which is basically about this.

Author is Ramsey Disciple named Chris Hogan.