At a simple salary, she made a fortune in the stock market
Story of **Anne Scheiber** is one of the most famous long-term compounding legends in modern finance. ### The Story of Anne Scheiber * **The Career:** Scheiber worked as an estate auditor for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) until her retirement in 1944 at age 51. Despite being an exemplary worker, she faced workplace discrimination and never earned a salary exceeding **$4,000 per year**. * **The Seed:** When she retired, she had managed to save **$5,000** (plus a modest annual pension of $3,100). * **The Insight:** During her decades auditing tax returns for wealthy individuals, she noticed a common pattern: **the richest Americans consistently owned stocks and held onto them for decades**. ### How She Built a $22 Million Fortune After retiring in 1944, Scheiber dedicated her full-time attention to investing her $5,000 savings. Over the next 50 years, her portfolio grew to **$22 million** by the time of her death in 1995 at age 101. 1. **Ultra-Stric...