This story is from the New York Times Best Seller: MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom by Tony Robbins.

Theodore Johnson worked his way up the newly formed UPS company in 1924. He was no prodigy nor an executive. Theodore worked in the personnel department, and he never earned more than $14,000 a year. But he later ended up with a net worth of over $70 million.

The biggest advantage he had was that he understood the power of compound interest at an early age and took advantage of that.

Theodore had bills to pay, a family to support, and monthly expenses, however, he understood that there was no bill in his mailbox which was more important than his freedom fund.

He made sure that his financial priority was to set aside 20% of every paycheck he received (including Christmas bonuses) and he put it into his company’s stock. The value of the UPS stock he owned soared to over $70 million by the time he was 90 years old.

At the end of his life, Theodore was able to donate over $36 million to a variety of educational causes, including $3.6 million in grants to two schools for the deaf, because he’d been hard of hearing since the 1940s. He even set up a college scholarship fund for the children of employees at UPS.

We can all learn from Theodore. He was no genius or prodigy. He worked hard and stayed disciplined with his savings, and invested those savings into a passive fund.

Theodore’s generosity sparked a lot of press and praise for his philanthropic actions. If you would like to read more about him or see the original newspaper article about him posted on October 1991, click here.