How A Janitor Retired With $10,000,000 And How You Can Too
Channel: Savvy Invests
Date: 2022-06-01

How A Janitor Retired With $10,000,000 (And How You Can Too)

It might seem impossible that someone with the income of a gas station attendant or a janitor could amass a fortune worth almost $8,000,000 but that’s exactly what Ronald Read did. This wasn’t the result of a huge lottery win or a massive inheritance from his rich relatives, either. He built his fortune by utilizing tools that are readily available and strategies that are easy for just about anyone to implement. 

Money is not everything, but money is something very important. Beyond the basic needs, money helps us achieve our life's goals and supports — the things we care about most deeply — family, education, health care, charity, adventure, and fun. It helps us get some of life's intangibles — freedom or independence, the opportunity to make the most of our skills and talents, the ability to choose our own course in life, and financial security. With money, much good can be done and much unnecessary suffering avoided or eliminated.

But, money has its own limitations too. It can give us the time to appreciate the simple things in life more fully, but not the spirit of innocence and wonder necessary to do so. Money can give us the time to develop our gifts and talents, but not the courage and discipline to do so.

Money can give us the power to make a difference in the lives of others, but not the desire to do so. It can give us the time to develop and nurture our relationships, but not the love and caring necessary to do so. It can just as easily make us jaded, escapist, selfish, and lonely. How much do you need? What is it going to cost you to get it? It is keeping these two questions in mind that gives us a true sense of money's relationship to happiness. If we have less than what we need, or if what we have is costing us too much, we can never be happy. We need money to eat, sleep, dress, work, play, relate, heal, move about, and enjoy comforts. We should remember in choosing our style that it comes with a price tag.