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Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

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381–390 of 612 posts

Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#381
post #365

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…

Sure, and of course the elephant in the room is overconsumption and planetary overload, which get unlocked too on a bigger scale as a result of similar thinking. Which ends does unlocking potentially endless ”experiences” serve? Our personal disconnect from nature is not separate from our collective disconnect from nature.

Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#382

Earlier 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.

Kinda depends on the size of your current one.

Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#383
post #286

Earlier 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…

>>none of your logic makes any sense to me.

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

#384

Earlier 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

My 14" portable CRT I had when I was a teenager gave me joy every time I used it. My first car cost me less than 2k and gave me joy for 5 years.

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

#385

Earlier 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.

For some people, money is not for buying things, but just for keeping score.

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

#386
post #205

We 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…

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Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#387

Earlier 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.

It doesn't make you happier, it's just that you became unhappy and the new bike was necessary to temporarily make you happy again.

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

#388

Driving 7 minutes to work and stopping at a drive-thru to pick up McDonalds breakfast every day. The man is a true American hero.

He shamelessly advertised companies in his portfolio, whether it was always having a can of coke or candies on the table or stopping at a McDonald's in a documentary.

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

#389
post #312

Earlier 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.

Why are you arguing a strawman? No one brought up coal miners, not sure what that has to do with the 1950s anyway in specific.

Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tell me more about the surplus value that Warren produced

Look at a stock chart of Berkshire Hathaway over time.

I believe the point is that price is not value.
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