Tomorrow would have been my grandfather's 111th birthday. He died 25 years ago and he was my hero.

His life was the quintessential American Dream. The son of immigrants, he was very poor as a child. He started working when he was six years old, selling newspapers on the corner (although the age always got younger every time he told the story). He went to high school, college and grad school at night so he could help support his family during the day.

My grandmother would tell us how he would come home from night school exhausted, eat a bowl of cornflakes for a late dinner and fall asleep at the table. And then do it again the next day. And the day after that…

He eventually got a good job, owned a couple of companies and lived a prosperous life – enough that both of his kids chose jobs (in education) that they were passionate about, rather than picking a career for the money.

Nothing was more important to him than family. He helped support his mother, mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

He was generous with his grandchildren too, but what I wanted most from him was his time.

You see, my grandfather owned a seat on the New York Stock Exchange through the brokerage firm that he ran with his brother and a third partner. Fortunately, before he died, I spoke with him about the markets and what he learned over the decades.

My grandfather was conservative. He didn't like to speculate. He saw too many of his customers go against his firm's guidance and get blown up.

Looking back on his advice, he reminds me a bit of Warren Buffett. The nuggets of wisdom that I remember most are these:

Buy good businesses – My grandfather was a certified public accountant and owned two companies in his life. One was a steel company that he bought; the other was the brokerage firm that he started. I asked him what he knew about steel or running a brokerage when he began. He replied, “Nothing. I knew how to run a business.” He hired steel and brokerage industry experts. But he was very talented when it came to taxes and finance.