Started with stocks at the age of 10, when my father purchased 10 shares for each of his five children. It was a ritual for each of us to sign our dividend checks and give them to Mom to deposit in our savings accounts. I never saw the money. But I knew I had stock. After I married and had children, I kept reinvesting the dividends, hoping to pay college expenses. The stock split 5 for 1. I had 50 shares. Also 11 children. Even though money was exceedingly tight, I kept the shares. They split 2 for 1. They split 5 for 1. They split 2 for 1 again, and once more. My 10 shares had become 2000, each of them paying more than $17.50 a quarter. We helped our children go to college. By the time we were assisting multiple ...More children simultaneously, we were saving over 30% of our income for that purpose. I thought there would be no money for retirement, even though I was investing in good dividend-paying companies. Before my last three children had entered college I was widowed. I paid off my mortgage and tightened the screws. They all went to college. Then I forgot about my remaining stocks. Since I was a stay-at-home mother, I had never earned more than $12,000 in any year. I wondered how I was going to make expenses on $360 Social Security. I retired and was having a tough go of it. Then I looked at my portfolio. When I stopped my heavy college withdrawals, it rose by 50% in two years!
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