Have you ever heard about Ronald James Read, a janitor and gas station attendant who became the great philanthropist?

He worked as a gas station attendant and mechanic for about 25 years and after that he worked as part-time janitor for 17 years. After he died he left $1.2 million to Brooks Memorial Library and $4.8 million to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.

Read amassed a fortune of almost $8 million by investing in dividend-producing stocks, avoiding the stocks of companies he did not understand and most importantly living frugally.