Photo by JC Rodriguez/For The Washington Post
This article is from “Let’s Talk Numbers” by JC Rodriguez, a personal finance coach. Rodriguez is one of The Washington Post’s Featured Voices, a co-production with independent creators.
Social media is full of young investors sharing advice on which stocks to buy and how to build wealth. But how do those strategies actually hold up over decades?
In the latest episode of “Let’s Talk Numbers,” I set out to find millionaires and ask them a simple question: How did you invest your money?
What I discovered was that building wealth doesn't necessarily require a high-paying career, complicated investment strategies or picking the next big stock. For many of the people I spoke with, financial success came down to consistency, patience and living within their means.
Take Todd Gottlieb, who accumulated more than $1 million in his 401(k) alone. Rather than trying to time the market, Todd automated his contributions and, at his most aggressive, invested 25 percent of his income. His approach highlights a principle I often emphasize: How much you consistently invest can matter more than finding the perfect investment.
Then there's Terry Binando, who retired at just 50 years old.
Before achieving financial independence, Terry paid off more than $40,000 in debt using the debt snowball method, which prioritizes paying off the smallest balances first to build momentum. She later embraced the FIRE movement, short for Financial Independence, Retire Early, and built her investment strategy around low-cost index funds.
Other investors shared similar approaches. Mark Agres, a 401(k) millionaire, keeps roughly 70 percent of his portfolio in stocks and 30 percent in bonds, primarily through the S&P 500 and international index funds. Charlie McQuillan, who has invested for more than 40 years, also relies on index funds as the foundation of his portfolio, despite having more complex investments in private equity.
These conversations reinforce an important lesson: Becoming a successful investor doesn't necessarily mean your investments need to become more complicated.
For beginners, even getting started can feel intimidating. But many brokerages offer fractional shares, allowing investors to purchase small portions of exchange-traded funds rather than buying an entire share. That means you may be able to begin investing with just a few dollars.
Ultimately, the biggest takeaway from these conversations isn't about which stock or fund performed best. It's that building wealth often comes down to habits you can maintain over decades.
You don't have to become a financial expert or earn a six-figure salary to start making progress. What matters is developing a strategy that works for your circumstances, investing consistently and giving your money time to grow.
This story is part of Verified, a newsletter that is published by Washington Post Creator, a team outside The Washington Post’s newsroom that is focused on the creator economy and content partnerships with independent creators. Learn more about Washington Post Creator.
