I had this story passed along to me and find stories like these to be very encouraging. A woman named Grace Groner recently passed away at age 100 and she willed her estate to Lake Forest College – which ended up being $7 million dollars.
She worked for Abbott Labs for 43 years and wasn’t the president of the company as one might expect from her estate, but rather the president’s secretary. According to the article…
“In the 1930s, the young woman bought three shares in Abbott costing $60 each. She was thinking ahead. She never sold the shares, which split many times over the years and paid dividends that she reinvested. At her death, that $180 was worth $7 million, and it became the largest gift in her alma mater’s history.”
The Takeaway
Like I said, I get inspired by people like this. The woman was a Christian and from other mentions in the article was very generous. Giving away $7 million was just her grand finale.
A couple things that stand out to me…
You don’t need to have a huge salary to be a big giver. We could estimate that she probably never made more than $50K/yr. Probably far less earlier in her career. It would be foolish to assume that anyone can just go pick a stock and do that well. But those (small and large salaries) who invest wisely really can make a big splash.
Patient investing wins. Warren Buffett often takes this investing approach. He will buy a stock (or company) and hold on to it for decades – he and she both have fared pretty well from this approach. Obviously, the key is to pick the winners, but patience seems to be an underestimated virtue.
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such an inspiration!
Awesome story! I can only hope to be able to leave half that much.
I remember reading this the other day. It encourages my spirit when I read articles like this. It shows that there are still people who are willing to GIVE to those who may not have. It shows that there are still people who are willing to use their wealth to be a blessing to those in need.
A sterling example.
Encouraging Story! Obviously Grace had a heart that God could trust with wealth. God has no problem blessing our attempts at saving and investing if we are faithful in stewarding what He has already blessed us with. He knows the end from the beginning, which makes Him the ultimate “insider trader”!
Great post, thank you for sharing. One lingering question I have and don’t believe it is addressed in the articles or news clips is, Did she leave part of her estate to her church?. I wonder if she even considered it. When it comes to planned gifts/giving of the estate I think the church often “loses” out to the university. What do you think?
Amazing. She was probably frugal and had little if any debt in her lifetime.
Good question about the church.
Sure, she was investing for the future, but this is a rare case of winning the stock market lottery.
How much did she actually save and invest in the secades after she bought the stock?
I would love to be able to leave this earth someday for my true home in such a generous fashion! I’m sure that when she was young she never imagined how much those invested funds would mature and what a blessing she would be able to provide.
Money is only money, it won’t make you happy unless you share it..
Lack of money can make one very UNhappy.
This is another practical example of what Warren Buffet has been doing.
I have also been doing this. I will be happy to leave 7 million to my alma mater…..if another Enron does not happen before then.