My Friend's Contractor
So I’m at a friend’s house the other day. He’s got a regular, boring office job. Makes $125,000 a year. He’s got a snazzy apartment. Fancy Clothes. Nice shoes. A Rolex. And in his garage (he pays $250 a month for parking), he’s got a brand new Mercedes GLE.
I don’t know what the monthly payment is, but … let’s say it’s a LOT.
He tells me in a few minutes, his contractor is coming over to install a new dishwasher and that we can go get some coffee if it’s too noisy.
Contractor shows up and gets to work removing the old dishwasher and we decide to get out of the contractor’s way and leave. Before we do, I say, “Lemme just check the market and see how my stocks are doing.”
The contractor perks up. I can tell he is intrigued, but he’s trying to be respectful and not eavesdrop. I want to engage this guy in a conversation. I just need to figure out how to loop him into the conversation. I check my portfolio. Markets are flying. All is good.
“Maybe I should invest in Home Depot,” I say, kicking the cardboard box sitting in the living room floor containing the new dishwasher.
“That’d be a good one,” the contractor says.
“You invest in Home Depot?” I ask.
BAM. Got him.
“Oh yeah,” he says. “If I use it, I invest in it.” He walks over to the window and points downstairs. “See that? 2003 Toyota Tacoma. That’s my truck. 189,000 miles. When I bought the truck, I bought some Toyota stock. I figured if I love the truck and they’re built to last, why not invest, right? I’m up almost 200% on that stock.”
“No way,” I said with a laugh. Suddenly, I wished I owned Toyota stock. “Alright. I’m taking notes. What else do you invest in?”
“Ohh,” he said. “Let me see. Well, I’ve got Home Depot. I bought it around $40.”
“PER SHARE?” I said. “It’s over 300 now!”
“Oh yeah. And you know what DRIP is?”
He didn’t know I was a full time, self employed stock trader. I nodded.
“Dividend Reinvestment,” I said.
“You know your stuff,” he said.
“He’s a trader,” my friend said. “And an investor!”
“No shit!” The contractor said. “I should be asking YOU for tips.”
I laughed and kept prying.
Turns out this dude had an incredibly diverse portfolio. He was a practical buy and hold investor. Quality companies. High dividends. Minimal risk in the portfolio. Modest, too. Business was booming. He was so busy, he had to hire a few extra guys to help out. And yet, he drove a 2003 Toyota Tacoma. Why upgrade to something snazzy?
His portfolio was STACKED. Honestly, from the way he talked, I imagined he could have retired a few years ago. But he was the sort of guy who liked what he did and liked to keep busy.
I was super impressed. We shook hands. I took his card. And my friend and I left. I was curious about my friend, with his Ivy League degree, $60,000 GLE in the garage, and a snazzy apartment in downtown DC.
“Did you hear that guy?” I said. “Really impressive portfolio.”
“Yeah? I donno about any of that stuff. No offense. I don’t even watch your TikToks.”
We laughed.
“But you’ve got a portfolio, right?”
“I mean. I guess. I have a 401k. But I don’t really contribute too much.”
“Why?” I asked, lowkey horrified.
“I mean,” he said. “Costs a lot to look this good.”
I rolled my eyes.
So interesting, right? We always think the guy with the Ivy League degree, Rolex watch and Mercedes in the garage is the one with the stacked portfolio. But from the look of things, my friend was spending everything he was making. There probably wasn’t much left over at the end of every paycheck. And then we’ve got this guy. A contractor. He installs ovens. Puts in new kitchens. Makes house calls to fix leaky toilets. His hands are always black and greasy. His jeans have holes in them and paint stains. And he’s got a beat up 20 year old pick up truck with a bunch of crap in the bed. And I would bet every dollar in my wallet that he’s got more money invested and saved up than my friend. I bet you he could quit working tomorrow and never worry about money.
But my friend? With his $60k GLE and snazzy watch? He’ll be sitting at his desk until he dies. Not because he wants to. But because he HAS to.
