5 Financial Lessons We Can All Learn from Warren Buffett

 

 

 

 


There are many forms of investing. Most people, when they think of investing, I’m sure will think of the “Wolf of Wallstreet”, or something similar; high aggression, testosterone-driven, swearing, sweaty, money-fueled madness.

 

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Investing Genius

But this is embellished reality – a story made all the more obscene to make a good film. Real investing is not like this. In fact, the kind of investing that is safe, secure and sustainable is decidedly unexciting. It involves due-dilligence, honest, emotionless appraisal, and playing the long-game. This is everything that the famous Warren Buffett stands for, and he is an excellent investing role-model for the rest of us. In fact, he also disliked the testosterone-fueled craziness that was going on in wall-street, and chose not to be part of it.

If you don’t know who this genius man is, he is the CEO of a major American share-holding company called Berkshire-Hathaway, and is known as the “Oracle of Omaha”. He is one of the richest men in America, building his wealth slowly over his lifetime. This is what he partially blames his amazing success on – his good genes and time spent actually investing.

“My wealth has come from a combination of living in America, some lucky genes, and compound interest.” – Warren Buffett

He is also an absolute investing genius with a very high IQ, and has a mind that thinks like no other, but this doesn’t mean the rest of us are doomed! This post discusses 5 investing principles that Warren Buffett swears by, and which we can apply to our own personal finance and investing to be more successful and sustainable in the future.

Spend Sensibly

Although Warren Buffett is one seriously rich man, he still lives in the same five-bedroom apartment that he has lived in for over half a century. Most people with an estimated net worth of $84.3 billion would be living much less frugally than that, but what Mr. Buffett knows is that the less money you spend, the more you can save and the more you have to invest and increase your wealth. As long as you have the basics you need to live a good life; there is no need to be frivolous with your cash and do more to help others.

“If you buy things you do not need, soon you will have to sell things you need.” – Warren Buffett

You Will Always Care More About Your Money Than Anyone Else

Warren Buffett is famed for making all his investments by himself for his own interests. By cutting out the financial advisers and stock brokers, not only does he not have to give them a cut of his fortune, but he can be sure that he isn’t being given bad advice for ulterior motives. Of course, he knows exactly what he’s doing, which means that if you want to be like him, you really need to know your stuff.

Take the time to learn the stock market inside out, and you can successfully look after your own cash. Now it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek advice if you need it – in fact, once you’ve learned the basics of investing, you can then ask great questions to any adviser you decide to work with in the future!

“There is nothing wrong with a ‘know nothing’ investor who realises it. The problem is when you are a ‘know nothing’ investor but you think you know something.” – Warren Buffett

Investing Success Requires an Education First

Warren Buffett works hard on learning about his investments inside and out. You likely don’t have the time (or inclination) to do similar, but you should take away the fact that being successful in the world of investment requires education and dedication. Warren Buffett applies a “buy and hold” principle which involves needing to know a lot about what you’re buying first.

But he DOES NOT advocate trading.

Trading is when stocks are bought and sold to try and make big profits, but isn’t for the faint-hearted. If you’re going to go down this route, you NEED to know what you are doing, so take the time to learn from good people and don’t be tempted by “get rich quick” schemes. There is NOT one stock that will make you millions overnight.

There isn’t anything necessarily wrong with trading, but when the “Oracle of Omaha” says that when he dies he’ll ask his family to put most of his assets into Index Trackers in order to protect them, you know that there aren’t many (if any) people who can do what he does to the same level of intensity, and he knows it.

“Calling someone who trades actively in the market an investor is like calling someone who repeatedly engages in one-night stands a romantic.” – Warren Buffett

Risk Comes with Reward

Although it is always worth saying that there is no such thing as a guaranteed profit in the world of stock investments – you could in theory lose it all – it is also worth mentioning what Warren Buffett knows namely that stocks outperform banks, bonds and even commodities like gold, so if you are willing to take the risk, the chances of reward are much higher than they are via other means!

Not all “risks” are the same though, and index trackers are a relatively-safer way to invest your money in the long term than it would be to invest in just one or two companies. Warren Buffett certainly wouldn’t risk his money on “fads and hype”.

“When forced to choose, I will not trade even a night’s sleep for the chance of extra profits.” – Warren Buffett

Start Small End Big

Mr. Buffett has always said that the sooner you start investing, the better off you’ll be, because you can take advantage of COMPOUNDING. Leave it too late, and you’ll need to invest more later for fewer rewards. So, if you aren’t investing yet, start now.

“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” – Warren Buffett

You might not end up a multi-billionaire, but if you take Mr. Buffett’s advice, there is every chance you could invest your way to greater financial freedom!

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed that. He is a very interesting man, so if you ever get a chance to read more about him, you’ll learn a lot!

If you are interested in learning more about getting started with investing, then why not join my private Facebook group of like-minded women to learn about it?

Plus, in October 2021 I’m holding a 3-day event inside my facebook group: The 3 day Investing Ignition Event. I will be teaching you about investing and how you can get started as a beginner.

To sign up for the workbook and alerts to the live training, visit: https://thefemalemoneydoctor.com/3-day-investing-ignition/

See you there!

 

 

 

 

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2 thoughts on “5 Financial Lessons We Can All Learn from Warren Buffett”

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