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Friday, April 2, 2010

Curt Degerman - the richest rubbish collector in the world??


Mr Curt Degerman - the Swedish wonder man!!!

This is truly a classic.

To the outside world, Curt Degerman was a poor can collector.

The aged Swede, spent about 30 years roaming the streets of Skelleftea in northern Sweden, cycling around in his blue jacket and ragged pants almost daily, collecting tin cans and bottle for cash.

Thus, earning the nickname Burk-Curt or “Tin Can Curt,” among the locals.

He was, in the eyes of most people, an ordinary street bum.

Instead, when Curt Degerman died at the age of 60, he left more than US$1.4 million or 12 million Swedish Kronor to his cousin.

How did he do it? Thrift and smart investing.

It turns out that in between collecting cans, Mr. Degerman spent a lot of time in the local library reading business newspapers such as Dagen Industry, a Swedish business daily, and studying the stock market.

“He knew stocks inside and out,” said his cousin.

He used his tin-can earnings to buy mutual funds. He also bought 124 gold bars and also grew his cash with a savings account.

Mr Degerman rode a bicycle and didn’t have a mortgage on his house, which also made savings easier.

Mr. Degerman died of a heart attack in 2008. His will left his entire estate to a cousin who visited him regularly late in his life.

Yet soon after the fortune was revealed, an uncle claimed the cash under Sweden’s inheritance law. Lawyers got involved, and the two recently settled for undisclosed shares.

All of which goes to show that no matter how careful someone is in making and saving money in their lifetime, they can’t control what happens afterward.

Do you think Mr. Degerman should have enjoyed his money more while he was alive? Or is he the perfect model of wealth creation?

Well, good old Mr Degerman carried his secret wealth into his grave, but i think he should enjoy his money - like pinching a girl's ass, drinking wine and mud wrestling!!

So folks, morales of the story here :

1. Make friends with rubbish or metal scavengers around your town - who knows they are secret millionaires???
2. invest in mutual fund
3. buy gold bars
4. be thrifty
5. don't mess around with pretty girls who are only after your money
6. visit your local library often, hey it's worth it as proven by Mr Degerman
7. learn business by reading business dailies
8. don't mess with Curt Degerman
9. read Kennysia.com or Xia Xue's blog or Kenwooi.com!!!

2 comments:

  1. i was reading so intriguingly but ended up shocked at the end.. so random la the morale 9! lol..

    ReplyDelete
  2. yes kenwooi... some people only befriends us if we have money..... false friends are like stones - they are found everywhere, true friends are like diamonds - its precious and rare!!!

    ReplyDelete