(MONEY Magazine) – This 56-year-old Huntington, Ind. teacher could host an infomercial for the Miracles of Long-Term Investing. She bought 100 shares of Squibb in 1980 and still owns stock in the company (now Bristol-Myers Squibb). She bought McDonald's and Fidelity Magellan in 1986. No plans to let go of either. Ditto for Pepsi (six years ago) and Disney (four years ago). Has she ever sold an investment? Twice, but only when she needed cash.

Powers' tenacity has paid off. Her stock portfolio is worth $950,000--an impressive sum for an English teacher who earned $52,800 this year and came out of her 1991 divorce with $88,000 (which, naturally, she left invested). While $250,000 of her assets are from a 2000 inheritance, Powers' stock loyalty and dogged savings habits deserve the bulk of the credit for her wealth.

Thriftiness is a family tradition for Powers. "I had a savings account even when I was a kid," she says. "I was following my parents. They were quite frugal." The mother of a recent college graduate, Powers began saving for her daughter Carrie's education the month she was born. After the divorce, Powers sold her house without a broker to save on the commission. When she bought her next home, she sold a fund so she could live mortgage-free. "I hate debt of any kind," she explains.

Even with as much as 12% of her pay going into her 403(b), this dedicated coupon clipper and rebate hoarder has managed to save some of her take-home. Every few months, she invests that money--in Amazon, say, or Compaq. "I was never interested in income-producing stocks," she explains. "I was looking for capital growth."

--Joan Caplin