A Parking Lot Attendant Who Never Earned More Than $20,000 a Year Built a $500,000 Dividend Portfolio
3 min read · RealCase summary
Earl Crawley worked as a parking lot attendant at a Baltimore bank for 44 years, never earning more than $20,000 a year. He'd spent nearly three years in an orphanage as a child after his mother contracted tuberculosis, and dyslexia limited the jobs available to him as an adult.
He started by buying savings stamps and bonds, then moved into mutual funds, investing $25 a month for 15 years. A co-worker's advice stuck with him: "You have a limited education. You better get some money because you won't go far here." By the late 1970s his net worth had reached $25,000, and starting in 1981 he began buying blue-chip dividend stocks directly -- Coca-Cola, IBM, Caterpillar, Bank of America, Colgate-Palmolive, Lockheed Martin, Verizon, AT&T, and Exxon-Mobil -- reinvesting every dividend along the way.
By 2007, at age 69, his portfolio had grown to $500,000, his home was fully paid off, and he carried no debt. The dividends alone were generating an estimated $15,000-$20,000 a year, spread across a 401(k), an IRA, and taxable accounts.
Key takeaways
- ›Grew up in an orphanage and never earned more than $20,000 a year across a 44-year career
- ›Started with $25 a month in a mutual fund for 15 years before shifting into individual blue-chip dividend stocks like IBM and Coca-Cola in the early 1980s
- ›Reinvested every dividend and reached a $500,000 portfolio by 2007, alongside a fully paid-off house and no debt
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