With the Warren Buffett strategy of $1,000 to $2 million

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• Russ Gremel held Walgreens stock for 75 years – and became a millionaire

• Warren Buffett recommends holding stocks for the long term

• A broadly diversified ETF can bring high returns thanks to the compound interest effect

Around 75 years ago, Russ Gremel from Chicago bought several shares in the pharmacy and drugstore chain Walgreens with a total value of 1,000 US dollars, adjusted for inflation that would be around 12,370 US dollars today. According to The Chicago Tribune, his brother gave him the tip to buy shares in the US pharmacy chain. Because: “People will always need medication, as well as make-up and household items,” says his brother. And he was right: In fact, Walgreens was able to defy all economic crises and the stock continued to rise overall. From the outset, Gremel intended to hold its shares for the long term. His patience paid off – and how: By the time Gremel died in April 2018, the value of the 28,000 shares purchased had climbed to more than two million US dollars.

fortune donated

Nobody in the environment of the former lawyer had any idea of ​​his fortune. Since Gremel had neither a wife nor children, he retired in 1963 – at the age of 45 – and lived very modestly afterwards. He used the savings from his professional life, meanwhile stoically clinging to his Walgreens investment despite so many downturns in the meantime. Gremel needed little money for his lifestyle: For example, he drove the same car for 25 years or ate oatmeal rather than going to a restaurant. “I’m a very simple man,” The Chicago Tribune quoted him as saying. Nobody from his circle of acquaintances knew that he is a multi-millionaire – until his generous donation.

Gremel and his successful investment only became known in 2017, when he donated the entire amount of around two million US dollars – the money he had never touched – to the Illinois Audubon Society, which is using it to finance a 1,600 square kilometer wildlife sanctuary. Because for Russ Gremel, money should mainly be used to make the world a better place. In April 2018, the generous donor passed away shortly before his 100th birthday.

Warren Buffett’s recipe for success

The investment legend Warren Buffett also relies on rather boring investments. His depot therefore contains shares in the beverage giant Coca-Cola and the ketchup manufacturer Kraft Heinz. The thought behind this is that these companies make money continuously and are not endangered even by economic crises. As the “Oracle of Omaha” likes to emphasize, these traditional companies have a considerable “moat” due to their strong brand, which guarantees them stable income even in times of crisis. Another advantage is their enormous pricing power, which pays off especially in times of high inflation. For several years, Buffett has also included the largest company in the world by market capitalization in this group, which now represents the largest position in the portfolio of Buffett’s investment vehicle Berkshire Hathaway: Apple.

Buffett recommends this strategy for retail investors

Buffett also advises investors to hold their stocks for the long term. You shouldn’t be discouraged by intermittent price fluctuations – the long-term trend on the stock markets is upwards. The star investor regularly recommends private investors to invest in a broadly diversified ETF. These exchange-traded index funds tend to track the performance of a major index, such as the S&P 500, as closely as possible. Here, an investment by patient investors who can withstand a fairly high fluctuation in their portfolio can actually turn out to be extremely profitable in the long run: since it was first published in 1957, the S&P 500 has generated an average inflation-adjusted return of 8.5 percent. If an investor had invested $1,000 in the S&P 500 back then, in 2022, i.e. 65 years later, he would have a whopping sum of $200,878.28 on the high edge thanks to the compound interest effect.

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