IT can feel discouraging to keep sacrificing as you wait for the miracle of compounding to work its magic and accumulate enough to buy a house, pay for college or fund your retirement nest egg. But ordinary people who have attained such goals-and more-are everywhere. Call them the successful investors next door. They succeed in a variety of ways, but all employ some key strategies for staying motivated and investing wisely.

If you're saving for a specific goal (in other words, something more concrete than just a bigger portfolio), you've already taken a crucial step toward success, says Daniel Crosby, author of several books on behavioral finance, including the forthcoming The Soul of Wealth. Research shows that "investors who tie their financial lives to a why-to a purpose other than just investment performance save more and are dramatically less likely to sell in bear markets," he says. "They report greater life satisfaction. They have more fun."

Crosby is serious about the fun part. Successful investors must be disciplined and patient, he says. One way to motivate yourself to stay on your longterm track is to "take a moment to really celebrate your investing victories" along the way.

To help you make it to your own celebrations, we asked investors who recently achieved one of their investing goals to share their stories. As you'll see, they used different investing strategies, and they made some mistakes. But with learning, perseverance and sometimes a little luck, they are now enjoying their investing wins.

WELCOME HOME When

she was in her early forties, Patricia Savu decided to start saving up so that she could eventually help her daughters buy homes. That was a challenge for Savu, who worked as a chemist for 3M. She had a PhD in chemistry but didn't know much about finance. "My father didn't think that was the kind of thing girls should know about," explains the 71-year-old retiree.