Step 1: have $70k several decades ago, when it would have been the equivalent of about $250k today taking into account inflation. Taking into account the time value of money, that $250k would be worth several million in current purchasing power. (For comparison, most Hollywood stars made about this much back then and lived like kings; nice houses could be purchased for <$100k that today would cost >$10 million.)<p>Step 2: Be an investment banker and have access to lots of capital that lets you make repeated risky bets.<p>Step 3: Benefit from bailouts when many of those risky bets fail.<p>So, his story is not in any way replicable by normal people and isn't even replicable by most of his peers or new entrants into his own industry today.
Principles:<p>1) Asset allocation: Basically, how much you want in stocks, how much in bonds. Those are the two major asset classes. Go way heavier on stocks early in life and maybe trend toward 50-50 later in life when you have less time to ride out dips.<p>2) Diversification: What specific entities you invest in. Suggestion: Total US stock market index, total world non-US stock market index, total US bond market index. This way you don't have to pick winners. You just buy everything. Let the bad stuff drop off along the way, and let the good stuff do its thing.<p>3) Rebalancing: Like once a year, or every time your chosen asset allocation gets at least 5% off. Whatever feels good, but keep your asset allocation under your own conscious control.<p>As a note, Ric Edelman, when he had a radio show, went over the IRA to Roth conversion. Several times. According to him, it's a wash. Pay tax before you invest or when you withdraw, but either way the net effect is almost identical.<p>I like silexia's comment. There is a lot of information not included in the story, and, if you think about it, this whole story is one data point. One guy did some things/had some things happen at a particular time in history. Don't expect to cut and paste into your own life and get rich by next week.<p>Important points:<p>1) Start as early as you can.<p>2) Be religious about regular investing without fail.<p>3) Never break into the piggy bank to buy a house or a fancy car, or for any other reason short of a dire medical emergency.<p>4) Take advantage of every break you can find, and any employer matches.<p>5) Wait.<p>There is a huge amount of information at Bogleheads Investing Advice and Info ( <a href="https://www.bogleheads.org/" rel="nofollow">https://www.bogleheads.org/</a> )
I still don't get how he multiplied $70k to $264m... And this reporter seems to just take all of Weschler's claims at face value... BUT Warren Buffett is famous for great due diligence and high levels of ethics... So I guess it probably is legit?
> Weschler says that he used to buy beaten-down bonds of companies that were in less dire straits than they seemed to be<p>Anyone knows how to see and buy publicly traded bonds?
If you like stories like this about outsized successes of investors, checkout the Market Wizards books. They are a series of interviews with successful and often famous investors.
The more I read about the stock market the more I start to think about the negatives of EFTs and index funds. They’re like taking an antidepressant, the lows aren’t as low but the highs aren’t nearly as high. The market was more volatile when more “retail” investors purchased individual stocks.<p>Lots of people lose big, personally my biggest loss was $WISH wow I got hammered there. Had it been an index fund that incorporated WISH I would have been more protected… then again my direct purchase of NVDA more than paid that back<p>Obviously 70k into 264M is insane and either is like one in a billion luck or the result of insider information
Everyone is moaning about people not paying taxes.<p>I pay a metric shit ton of taxes to fund the exotic lifestyles of federally elected officials and to fund wars overseas. And before you go “oh who is paying for the fire department” that is less than .02% of my taxes, a reasonable amount.<p>I applaud people that found a way around the utter bullshit. I’m working for free, under threat of arrest, for 3-4 months every year. Unbelievable.