I’m a Retiree: Here’s How I Made $1 Million While in Retirement

If you think retirement marks the end of your earnings, you could be wrong. With proper knowledge, you may be able to exponentially increase your net worth way past the point of departing your steady job.

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To prove it, GOBankingRates spoke with 95-year-old retiree and former retail owner and operator Morton Caine, who said his investments in the stock market and in real estate earned him $1 million dollars in retirement .

Money mistakes the super wealthy never make - that you might be doing now.

Stock Market

Caine evenly divided his investments in the market into mutual funds and individual stocks. In terms of individual stocks, “the way to make money is to have a company that will declare dividends in stocks,” Caine said. “If the company does really well, they give you shares instead of cash. So you can let it grow or sell them.”

Thirty years ago, Caine bought one share of an up-and-coming stock called Apple for just $17 on the advice of his son, who worked in tech. Because Apple split and split, he now owns 616 shares of it.

Today, one share of Apple goes for approximately $229. That’s a gross profit of $141,064 for a mere $17 buy-in. But Caine was careful to emphasize the importance of time and patience.

“The stock market doesn’t always go up. Sometimes there’s a big loss because the markets crash. So you have to stick with it.

“Always consult with a financial advisor,” Caine said, “because when new stocks come out, you need brokers who can notify you it’s worth buying. Two of the three brokers I had were pure gold. Good brokers keep you informed of what’s happening and if a company is doing well.”

Though, he cautioned, always do your research to determine if a stock is actually doing well or if the broker just wants commission.

Drawing from his own retail background and keen business insights, however, Caine was also an early investor in Five Below.

“I’m always looking for opportunities. I walked into the store and said five dollars for everything is a good idea. I asked the manager if it’s a public company and they said no. So I said, if it ever goes public, let me know. So they did.”

He bought 100 shares at $6 per share. As the stock kept going up, he kept making money and buying more shares. In other words, the more he earned, the more he could invest. The more he could invest, the more profits compounded as the stock performed well.

Financial planner and founder of Scaled Finance , Kevin Estes, referenced Edgar Bronfman’s quote when he emphasized compounding as a driver of wealth: “To turn $100 into $110 is work. To turn $100 million into $110 million is inevitable.”

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Real Estate

Investing in residential real estate was another key tactic for Caine — specifically, apartment buildings and houses on the outskirts of Philadelphia.

Similar to the stock market, growth and reasonably accurate forecasts were the name of the game when it came to turning a profit.

“If you’re gonna buy a property, make sure it will grow and that the neighborhood will grow. If it’s a stagnant neighborhood, it’s not going to grow,” Caine said.

To gauge growth, he looked at if and where schools, shopping centers, banks and other industries were going to be built.

“Get in before the neighborhood grows and choose one with potential.”

Roughly 30 years ago, he and his business partners bought an apartment building for $600,000. They held onto it, refurbished it, and sold it six months ago for $4.4 million.

Ultimately, however, Caine considers his reputation as a kind and honest man to be the reason he was able to add wealth in retirement.

“I never stole from anyone or treated anyone poorly,” he said.

He was always someone with whom others wanted to work.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : I’m a Retiree: Here’s How I Made $1 Million While in Retirement