The smart investing strategy a janitor used to build an $8 million portfolio

The smart investing strategy a janitor used to build an $8 million portfolio



This is a very good article on the value of long-term investing in quality stocks.  A Vermont janitor who died at 92 years of age had amassed an $8 million fortune through stocks by the time he died.  He owned at least 95 stocks when he passed away, and they were not all winners.  This shows the value of buying and holding for a long period of time, and it shows the great importance of diversification to protect your portfolio.  The fact that he succeeded by being greatly diversified with 95 stocks does away with the theory that you should only own a few stocks.



I recall when AMZN was selling for $9 per share and PLCN was selling for $5 per share in the early 2000s.  I made a major mistake by not buying both of them back then.  Amazon is now selling for $772 per share, and Priceline is selling for $1422 per share.  One thing that held me back from owning AMZN was that it always had a high PE, but that means nothing when the company is growing.  I did not buy PLCN because I did not understand the business well enough although I did buy Travelzoo which went nowhere compared to Priceline.



The bottom line is that I should have bought at least pilot investments in both stocks so that I could monitor their progress.  Then, when I saw that they were increasing their revenues virtually every year, that would have been the overwhelming clue that they were fabled multi-bagger stocks that should be held for many years.  I do own AMZN now, and I will probably buy PLCN on a large pullback.  We should always own world class stocks like these as soon as we realize they have the potential for capturing the whole world.