In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I would like to dedicate a post on why I am such a fangirl of Warren Buffett.
Don’t worry, my husband is aware of my infatuation with Warren Buffett and in fact, when we first met we talked about Warren Buffett. My husband is actually more of a fan of Warren Buffett than I am and has read all of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Reports. Get this– For fun, I actually read aloud quotes that are either stated by Warren Buffett or Charlie Munger and he guesses (correctly) who actually said it. So nerdy right?
We solidified our love for Warren Buffett by going to the Berkshire Hathaway Annual General Meeting in 2016. We had an absolute blast attending the meeting and also following him around like the true Warren Buffett stalkers that we are. We ate the steak that he likes to order at Gotham’s Steakhouse, we checked out his office on Farnam street, we checked out his house on Farnam street a few blocks down, and we watched him play ping pong with Bill Gates (this was very surreal since you think “these are two of the richest people in the world playing ping pong in this mall!”).
warren buffett is the Greatest investor of all time
There is no doubt about it. Warren Buffett is the greatest investor of all time. He bought his first stock at age 11 and has never looked back. He created the Buffett Partnership at age 25 and this transitioned into what we know as the multibillion-dollar holding company that Berkshire Hathaway is today.
Not only is Warren Buffett a great investor, he exhibits other traits that make him an amazing human being. In addition to him being the greatest investor of all time, here are four other reasons why I am a big fan of Warren Buffett.
warren buffett is modest, humble, and frugal
As many of you probably already know, he bought his house in the 1950’s for $31,500 and he still lives in it today. It is a corner lot (I know because I went to see his house and also saw him pulling into his driveway too!) and the actual house looks bigger than I thought it would but it is by no means a mansion. He didn’t feel the need to Keep Up with the Joneses or buy a bigger mansion as his net worth grew to be one of the top three richest people in the world.
Even though he owns $16.7 billion (in 2017) or 9.4% percent stake in Coca-Cola, his wife Astrid still stocks up his supply when Coca-Cola is on sale.
In the “Becoming Warren Buffett” documentary, the McDonald’s breakfast sandwich that he buys is dependent on how the market is performing that day. If the market is having a down day he feels like he doesn’t deserve the more expensive McDonald’s breakfast sandwich and will get the cheaper option. He is a multi-billionaire and he doesn’t feel like he deserves to get the more expensive breakfast sandwich option which is ‘more expensive’ by less than a dollar in absolute figures!
warren buffett learns every day
In addition to being humble, frugal, and modest, Warren Buffett spends most of his day reading and learning. He is open to learning, open to new ideas, and open to change. He takes the ego out of investing (which is something we all should strive for). For example, Warren Buffett has notoriously been known for saying that the airline business is a bad business to invest in and that the computer and technology sector is a bad business to invest in. However, recently in 2017 Berkshire Hathaway increased sizeable stakes in Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, and Apple.
Early in his career, he also learned that he wasn’t very good with people nor public speaking and sought to change that by taking a Dale Carnegie course on “How to Win Friends and Influence People”.
Warren Buffett aims to go to bed a little wiser than when he started the day by spending 80% of his day just thinking and reading. Reading facts and then thinking about them and formulating an opinion (his own) through critical thinking. His partner Charlie Munger says:
“Develop into a lifelong self-learner through voracious reading; cultivate curiosity and strive to become a little wiser every day.”
— Charlie Munger
warren buffett does his own thing, honey badger don’t care
Warren Buffett doesn’t really give a hoot what other people think and he doesn’t care to eat vegetables and never has.
Just like the honey badger, he doesn’t care and he’ll do his own thing.
Even if this involves “eating like a 6-year-old” and drinking 5 cans of Cherry Coke flavoured Coca-Cola a day and eating a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich every day. He doesn’t live life fearful of his mortality or fearful of ruining his health. You won’t see him drinking organic coconut water to replenish the collagen on his face (disclaimer: I’m not sure if that is a claim of coconut water, I just made that up) or to prevent cancer. No one can nag him to do anything that he doesn’t want to do, even his wife! Even if he is traveling to a different location, for example in Japan, he would rather just have his American style food of steak and potatoes instead of sushi (from what I recall when reading The Snowball biography).
He has made it clear that he doesn’t care for nepotism and has declared he will donate most of his wealth to charity. He will leave enough for his children obviously but he’s not going to give them the lion’s share of his wealth so that they have nothing to strive for. His children are happy with his decision too and aren’t spoiled, demanding to gain billions of dollars when he passes.
warren buffett is an introvert (like me)
Warren Buffett is a famous introvert. He spends most of his day with the door closed in his Berkshire Hathaway office on Farnam Street reading and thinking.
His father taught him an important lesson of keeping an inner scorecard rather than an outer scorecard. Flashiness or “outer scorecard measures” such as a nice house, nice car, nice clothing… are not his thing.
He hates meetings (so do I, I really find them a waste of time) and according to Truity, leads by focusing on a decentralized workplace. He’s a doer and not a talker.
There are a plethora of other reasons why I’m a huge fan of Warren Buffett, and to be honest, a blog post won’t cut it, it will probably end up being a novel.
If you want to learn more about Warren Buffett the documentary “Becoming Warren Buffett” is so great to watch especially since he agreed to be interviewed in it. You can watch it for free on this Youtube link here. Also, the book The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Shroeder is a great read, and even though it is almost 1000 pages long, the book goes by quickly and his life is fascinating.
Readers, are you a fan of Warren Buffett too? Are there any other books or films that I should read about Warren Buffett?
GYM is a 30 something millennial interested in achieving financial freedom through disciplined saving, dividend and ETF investing, and living a minimalist lifestyle. Before you go, check out my recommendations page of financial tools I use to save and invest money. Don’t forget to subscribe for blog updates, a free dividend yield spreadsheet, and the free Young Money Bootcamp eCourse.
Hi GYM, That’s really cool that you went to the 2016 annual meeting. Sounds like quite an experience. Tom
@Tom- It was indeed, one of my best travel experiences ever!
Lots of facts I didn’t know about it! I did know about the house and love the fact that he still lives there.
@Caroline- Oh cool, glad you learned something new about Mr. Buffett 🙂
I’m a big Warren Buffet fan. I think what I find admirable is how much he enjoys what he does, and how much he gives back.
@Dave- Yes, he loves what he does and he’s so good at it!
I like Warren Buffett. He is living the life in his way, a low key lifestyle. I saw one picture of him with Bill Gates having lunch together. They were sitting at a corner of a regular restaurant, with no windows, just booths. That was very impressive.
Many Chinese love to brag about and show off their wealth. That is kind of obnoxious and noisy to me. I stay away from those people.
@Helen- I think there are people of all ethnicities who like to show off their wealth 😉 I was just driving around Beverly Hills and was awestruck by the perfectly manicured lawns and landscaping and the fancy cars.
Warren pretty much solidified my newly developed thirst for reading. My whole financial journey started with reading 1 investment book, and ever since then, I haven’t stopped reading. Then when I learned that the greatest investor of all time practically reads every second he is awake, I knew I would mirror his ways as much as I could. I don’t read anywhere close to him haha but I do make sure I get my 30 minutes – 1 hour in a day.
Great post!
@Sean- Thanks Sean! I am still trying to read 30 minutes a day (thanks to you!), but I finished my book while on vacation so need to pick up where I left off when I get back home.
First I see that you have written a love letter to Warren Buffet on Valentine’s Day and then I see on Twitter that Jeff Goldblum was your girlhood crush??? You know how to pick ’em – mind over body, ladies!!! I’m starting to think that budgets really ARE sexy, hahaha 🙂
@CashflowKat- Haha! My heart is fickle. Good thing my husband has mind AND body 😉
Very interesting things I did not know about him yet. There is no question the man is a legend!
@Mr. Robot- Agree!
Hey GYM!
That’s pretty cool how you guys “stalked” him haha… I would probably be jumping up and down sayin’ “omgosh… it’s him playing ping pong with Gates” and then get caught from afar, as I’m not a very good stalker and I always blow my covers haha.
I feel like I can relate to him because of the McDonald’s breakfast sandwich (so odd how I relate to him bc of a sandwich, lol)! When I first heard him buying the cheaper option because markets aren’t performing well, I literally cracked up! I just loved him even more because he’s so humble and doesn’t care what people think of him. All my friends and some of my co workers call him a cheap-a$$ but I don’t think so haha… I just think he’s awesome! Like what you said, we can write a lot about him and it will probably end up a novel.
Anyway, this was such a kick-ass post! Thanks so much for the shout too! He’s truly inspirational in every way. I hope everyone will be inspired to become rich from him and his life lessons!
@fin$avvypanda- A lot of uber-wealthy individuals are very frugal- like Ikea’s Ingvar Kamprad! I really admire them for sticking to their modest lifestyle despite crazy wealth and success. I didn’t know about the McDonald’s breakfast sandwich strategy until I watched “Becoming Warren Buffett”, it was awesome!
I forgot to mention… your husband must be jelly that you wrote about Buffett on Valentine’s Day and not about him. haha JK… I’m sure you two will play the “guess who said this quote game” tonight for V day. That’s such a cute thing to do! 😀
@fin$avvyapanda- We spent Valentine’s Day idolizing Charlie Munger at the $DJCO annual meeting, so he’s not so jealous haha.
Hi GYM
That’s awesome you saw him at his annual meeting, what a great experience. He’s truly inspirational with investing and his life lessons. The man is a legend!
@Steve- He is irreplaceable!
Nice, really cool that you attended the annual stockholders meeting for Berkshire.
I vagueing heard about Buffett until I started reading finance books and blogs. He definitely is someone you should look up to when it comes to investing. And he really seems down to earth too, isn’t into the fancy stuff and does his own thing. I watched that documentary about him and plan to read that book sometime this year that you recommended.
@Kris- It’s a great book, very honest. For example, he had an interesting relationship with his wife Susie, and he grew up worried about his mom’s mood.
The quote thing is the most adorably nerdy thing I’ve ever heard. My dad has read all of the investor letters for fun as well, so while I haven’t read them all myself yet, I’ve heard plenty of fantastic nuggets from him.
@Angela- So your dad sounds so cool, seriously! You and your dad should go to the BRK AGM that would be a cute family trip!
Not to mention his philanthropy.
“Were we to use more than 1% of my claim checks (Berkshire Hathaway stock certificates) on ourselves, neither our happiness nor our well-being would be enhanced. In contrast, that remaining 99% can have a huge effect on the health and welfare of others.”
He is an awesome guy!
@dividendgeek- Thank you for sharing that beautiful quote!
So cute. Sometimes my boss and I can talk about Warren buffet for hours and quotingnhis famous quotes.
@Financial Orchid- You sound like you have a really cool boss!
I’m glad I am not alone in my admiration for Warren Buffet. I purchased my first shares of BRKB last year after watching the annual shareholders meeting on Yahoo live. He is truely one of a kind. Great article.
@TheSmartFI- Nice! I only have one share of BRK-B as I wanted to go to the AGM. It has done well (up 30%) despite being one share lol. Hopefully you will have a chance to go to the BRK AGM- it is very memorable and very fun, lots of things to do and see.
You might be an uber financial geek if…you donate an entire love post to Warren Buffett on Valentine’s Day! Haha! I loved it! And since he reads so much, maybe he will stumble across this! I also love the fact that you and your hubby quiz each other on quotes…couples who invest together stay together! And you threw in a honey badger reference…yasss!
Don’t forget DQ! Back in the day when we went out to eat, we would go there for their $5 lunches…grillburger, fries, soda and a sundae all for $5! It’s the best deal ever!! Fav kind of Sundae is the black cherry one…I’m not sure no Warren’s but I think he might like cherry syrup too if I remember correctly!
@Mrs. Defined Sight- Haha, I doubt he would stumble across this. He reads quality stuff, not a lowly PF blog website. Hah, does throwing in a honey badger reference identify myself as an older millennial?
BLACK CHERRY SUNDAE? I have never heard of this, I am intrigued an would like to have a look to see if DQ has this in Canada. Yes, DQ is so popular and I remember I really coveted the DQ icecream cake as a teen.
I am a big fan of Warren Buffet. It is nice to know there are many of us out there.
I would love to go to the AGM, I bet it is amazing.
I do hold some shares in Berkshire Hathaway, unfortunately they are class B, which Warren reluctantly released.
I am halfway through reading the Snowball, it is long but very fascinating…
@Leon McLean- I have a class B share too, we would be very wealthy if we had Class A shares haha 🙂 The Snowball is a great read and one of my favourite books, hope you enjoy it!