Sermon Cloud

Before Andrew Carnegie earned his millions in steel, he made his first fortune through investments—and never used a penny of his own money. Twelve-year-old Andrew took a factory job for $1.20 a week shortly after his poverty-stricken family arrived in America from Scotland in 1848. Four years later, he went to work for Tom Scott of the Pennsylvania Railroad who taught young Andrew the art of investing. Carnegie learned how to use dividends from stock to make payments against loans. When the loans were paid off, the dividends were his. He would use this system repeatedly to build his assets and income without having to invest his own capital. Though Carnegie would go on to amass a staggering fortune in the steel business, he would always remember his very first monthly dividend of $10. Carnegie gave away much of his vast fortune, funding libraries and museums.