What I Learned from Warren Buffett (2024)

FAQs

What lessons can you learn from Warren Buffett? ›

Buffett's most commonly cited financial advice is as follows, “Rule №1: Never lose money. Rule №2: Never forget rule №1.” So, before investing, determine whether you can lose the money you're investing in.

″[I] remember Warren showing me his calendar ... he [still] has days that there's nothing on it,” Gates said, adding that Buffett's sparser schedule taught him an important lesson. “You control your time ... It's not a proxy of your seriousness that you fill every minute in your schedule.”

It highlights the limitations of GAAP accounting in investment analysis. It also describes Buffett's concept of Owner Earnings – that is, the amount of money a full owner of a business could expect to pocket from that business over time – as the relevant item to estimate when making investment decisions.

Key Takeaways. Warren Buffett started investing at a young age, buying his first stock at age 11 and his first real estate investment at age 14. Buffett studied under the legendary value investor Benjamin Graham while pursuing a business degree at Columbia University (Harvard had rejected him).

While Buffett's annual letter was shorter than usual, it still had plenty of timeless lessons for investors. This piece will focus on five lessons: learn and adapt, focus on what's important, risk management, the value of stock repurchases, and let your winners run.

What is Warren Buffett known for? Warren Buffett, known as the "Oracle of Omaha," is an American businessman and philanthropist, widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century. He has amassed a personal fortune of more than $60 billion by defying prevailing investment trends.

“Price is what you pay, value is what you get.” This famous Buffett quote strikes at the heart of the “value investor” approach and reveals the secret of how Buffett made his fortune. After Buffett was rejected by Harvard, he enrolled in an undergraduate degree at Columbia Business School.

A: Five rules drawn from Warren Buffett's wisdom for potentially building wealth include investing for the long term, staying informed, maintaining a competitive advantage, focusing on quality, and managing risk.

So Buffett says he reads around 5-6 hours daily, including newspapers, magazines, 10Ks, annual reports, and biographies. For Buffett, reading is priority number one. While most executives focus on networking or analyzing financials, Buffett dedicates the majority of his workday to reading.

What religion is Warren Buffett? ›

Buffett worked with Christopher Webber on an animated series called "Secret Millionaires Club" with chief Andy Heyward of DiC Entertainment. The series features Buffett and Munger and teaches children healthy financial habits. Buffett was raised as a Presbyterian, but has since described himself as agnostic.

Learn how Buffett took $100 and turned it into a multi-billion dollar fortune without ever starting his own business, taking a lucrative salary, or issuing management stock options. Gain insights into his unique and uncommon management style. Understand how Buffett created a world-class board of directors.

A staunch believer in the value-based investing model, investment guru Warren Buffett has long held the belief that people should only buy stocks in companies that exhibit solid fundamentals, strong earnings power, and the potential for continued growth.

The impact of Warren Buffett on the investment world is apparent. His theory of value investing and long-term perspective has inspired countless investors as one of the most recognized and successful investors in history.

At its core, Warren Buffett's investing strategy is not all that complicated: Buy businesses, not stocks. In other words, think like a business owner, not someone who owns a piece of paper (or these days, a digital trade confirmation).

Regardless of what tribulations you go through, keeping in mind how you'd like to eventually be remembered is the best way to help you achieve it, Buffett said. “Expect some difficulties along the way, but if you're thinking that way, you're more likely to get there.”

So, why does Buffett only recommend index funds? Because it's the best possible choice, "on an expectancy basis," as he put it. In other words, buying an index fund has a higher expected return than buying any single individual stock or actively managed mutual fund.

Buffett follows the Benjamin Graham school of value investing. Value investors look for securities with prices that are unjustifiably low based on their intrinsic worth. There isn't a universally-accepted method to determine intrinsic worth but it's most often estimated by analyzing a company's fundamentals.

Warren Buffett Quote: “What we learn from history is that people don't learn from history.”

Buffett created the grantmaker in 1964 to manage the family's charitable giving, and it remains a family affair. Two of his three children serve on its board, and it is led by his former son-in-law. The foundation primarily backs women's reproductive health.