Earlier quoted context omitted.
Avoiding scaling your lifestyle with tour current wealth seems like an extremely important lesson people could learn here. Very few people know what "enough" means to them. Its probably worth noting that I mean "enough" in the context of consumption and physical goods. "Enough" wealth doesn't really matter, its only a number in a database or a piece of paper until you spend it.
To a certain extent this is true. You shouldn’t be going into debt just because your income level allows you to get more loans etc. But once you reach a certain income threshold it doesn’t really matter. So what was the point of him living a frugal, simple lifestyle? I would argue that its just something he was used to and found joy in, and thats ok. Some people like that. Others might want to use their money to unlo…
Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades
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Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades
#382Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree, however I don’t think the last two of your bullets are necessarily something to learn from on the surface.
Disagree. The last one is important. You can buy a bigger and bigger house car tv stereo whatever, but it will not make you happy.
Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades
#383Earlier quoted context omitted.
>>Here are some things Buffet has done that I admire (notice that phrasing): Perhaps the best thing Buffet has managed to do is to live long. Most of compounding magic begins at ages 60-65, a time where most investors start to die out. Second best thing he did was to start/acquire a insurance firm. The 'float' helps them to run a kind of in house index fund on other peoples money, without having to pay TERs/Fees. Tha…
> Most of compounding magic begins at ages 60-65, a time where most investors start to die out. Percentage-wise, few wealthy investors are dying out at ages of 60-65. In the US, males that make it to age 60 have a life expectancy of 81-82. But that's across all men - life expectancy is strongly correlated with wealth in the US, so a man in the top 1% could very reasonably expect to live to very late 80s/90s. Nevermin…
Compounding is a function of time. More time you are alive, more you see in that time. This follows from definition of compounding itself.
Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades
#384Earlier quoted context omitted.
That happy feeling only lasts about six weeks. Happiness is unsustainable. However, contentment is an attainable goal.
I bought a bigger nicer TV (the biggest I ever bought) about 4 years ago and it still brings me joy to this day every time I use it So no, not only 6 weeks
You are now unable to get joy from a TV smaller than the largest one you've ever bought. Many people are unable to get joy from a car costing under 10k, let alone 2k.
The things you own end up owning you.
Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades
#385Earlier quoted context omitted.
> - He still lives in the same home he bought when he was 28 years old. Really makes me wonder what drives him. For many people it's the money, but with him it doesn't seem that way. But I haven't read too much about him, so if anyone has insight I'd love to hear about it.
For some people, money is not for buying things, but just for keeping score. That can make it rewarding and addictive to accumulate money, even if you don't buy anything (like a giant house) with it. The score keeping aspect makes it interesting, just like playing tennis while keeping score is more interesting than just hitting a ball back and forth across the net without counting.
You can see this behaviour in online multiplayer games that have a currency aspect --- some people will spend almost as quickly as they earn, while others will save some and buy items as they can afford, and then there are those who will just keep saving and saving, rarely buying.
Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades
#386We should never idolize a person (in my opinion). Here are some things Buffet has done that I admire (notice that phrasing): - He consistently communicated with shareholders of Berkshire in a straight-forward and transparent way in his letters and annual reports. If you read these documents, I believe that you will have a solid understanding of how he built Berkshire. - He maintained a disciplined approach to investi…
Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades
#387Earlier quoted context omitted.
Disagree. The last one is important. You can buy a bigger and bigger house car tv stereo whatever, but it will not make you happy.
That’s because you haven’t tried buying better bicycles. I assure you that every new bike I buy makes me happier.
Happiness is binary. You're either happy with where you are or where you're heading or you're not.
Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades
#388Driving 7 minutes to work and stopping at a drive-thru to pick up McDonalds breakfast every day. The man is a true American hero.
I refuse to believe that his lifestyle was what was on display.
He lived in the same house for 60 years, sure, but his private jets kept getting upgraded. Good for him, but I find the frugality theater very off putting.
Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades
#389Earlier quoted context omitted.
This. The work/retirement dichotomy is such a weird and peculiar artifact of the 1950s US middle-class nuclear-family milieu. That's gone. For the rest of us, it's just...live your life, until you don't. (viz. Below the fold: "Buffett remains as chair...")
Peculiar artifact? Are you forgetting all the people who retired from mining coal, building cars, or running plumbing? It's not weird that seventy year olds would prefer to stop doing those things. I don't know that many people who would claim blasting ore underground is their enjoyment.