Consistency Compounds: How Decades of Discipline Built a $6 Million Legacy

As a financial advisor, I work with a lot of people who would be considered affluent. You know, people with $10, $15 million with a nice house and a nice car. The assumption is these people probably make huge salaries year over year.

Sometimes this is the case, but sometimes it’s not.

Case in point: I work with a retired couple. Let’s call them the Fosters. They’re in their 70s. They have nothing to worry about financially anymore. 

They spend less than they could, and their capital is compounding for future generations. One of their concerns is legacy; they want to leave $5 or $6 million to the next generation.

Here’s the thing: The Fosters didn’t come from wealth. 

They both started out in entry level positions at a company they stayed with for more than three decades. And although they rose through the ranks, neither one of them ever earned more than $75,000 a year throughout their entire careers.

So how did they do it? How did they get where they are today? How are they in a position where they can leave $5 or $6 million to their children and grandchildren?

The answer is similar to staying fit long-term: Staying fit doesn’t mean you need to train for four hours a day, six days a week. And it doesn’t mean you need to be able to string 15 muscle-ups together or back squat 400 pounds. And it certainly doesn’t mean you can train hard for a year and then take a year off.

Staying fit comes from consistent hard work month-after-month, year-after-year. It comes from being disciplined and from making sacrifices. And it comes from building habits that become second nature and that are sustainable long-term. Staying doesn't have to be flashy. It simply comes from showing up day after day for an hour, even when you don’t want to, as you know the pay-off is worth it.

The same is true of investing and building wealth. 

Everything the Foster have today is a result of their hard work, discipline and sacrifice, a result of the healthy financial habits they employed month-after-month for years.

When the Fosters first started at their job, their manager told them they were required to set aside a portion of their pay check each pay period. (It wasn’t required, but they believed the manager, and each month a portion of their pay check went to the company’s stock).

It was hard to do at first, they told me, as they weren’t making much and they really could have used more. But they hunkered down and found a way to spend less.

Ultimately, their sacrifice of consistently putting aside money month-after-month is what led to their wealth today; through the years, their company went through mergers, and their wealth compounded. Big time.

Thirty years later, they have $6 million put aside.

The Bottom Line: Most people aren’t willing to do what the Fosters did: string together decades of patience, hard work, sacrifice, all the while remaining faithful in a process.

Similarly, most people aren’t willing to do what the committed, high-achieving CrossFit enthusiast does: Wake up at 5 am to hit the gym four or five days a week. 

But you do it because you know if you continue to do this for the next 30, 40, 50 years, you’ll be stronger, healthier, fitter (aka wealthier) than what most 70 or 80-year-olds can dream of.  

Investing is no different: It’s less about how much money you make and more about the commitment to your goals, the discipline you practice, and the sacrifices you make along the way. 

I’ll leave you with this thought: Small acts, time after time, lead to long term, sustainable wealth, wealth that will retain and grow in value over time. And I believe it’s available to anyone who is willing to put in the work.