You Don’t Get Rich by Taking Profits
You get rich by owning valuable things
“Never sell.” That’s the motto Carter Thomas wishes he had adopted 20 years ago.
In 2003, Carter took all the money he’d ever made from his summer jobs as a lifeguard — a respectable $18,000 — and bought Apple stock. That was a smart decision.
It was not a smart decision to sell all of it two months later for “beer money.” After stock splits and price increases, Carter’s stock would be worth more than $10 million today.
Looking back on the experience, Carter has learned a simple but profound lesson most people — like him — initially gloss over as they try to build wealth:
“All the reasons why the huge, f-you money hasn’t come in is just because I’ve sold stuff. It’s never because I didn’t buy the right stuff. I’ve always bought the right stuff at the right time — I’ve just never held it long enough.”
While not at such scale, I’ve made the same mistake many times, and so, if only to myself, I’d like to issue a reminder:
You don’t get rich by taking profits. You get rich by owning valuable things.
Disclaimer: I’m not a financial advisor. This is not financial advice.
