{"id":31761,"date":"2020-04-24T15:58:28","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T12:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bondora.com\/blog\/?p=31761"},"modified":"2020-04-24T15:58:28","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T12:58:28","slug":"top-9-pieces-of-investment-and-life-advice-from-warren-buffett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/blog\/top-9-pieces-of-investment-and-life-advice-from-warren-buffett\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 9 pieces of investment (and life) advice from Warren Buffett"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

To Warren Buffett, investing is similar to\nlife. It\u2019s a game filled with risk\/reward prospects that require insight,\ndetermination, and the ability to distinguish between good and bad. Buffett has\nbeen so good at this game that he is the most prolific investor of our time,\nand has helped millions of people invest successfully on their own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Warren Buffett, these pieces of\nadvice won\u2019t just get you far in investing, they will help you get ahead in\nlife as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Invest in what you know<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What seems to be an obvious piece of advice is\nsomething that many people often forget. If you don\u2019t understand something, you\nshould never invest in it. Stick to, as Buffett calls it<\/a>, your \u201ccircle of\ncompetence\u201d when it comes to your investment portfolio. Buffett himself has\nstuck to this rule, often forgoing investments in the high tech sector,\nexplaining that he doesn\u2019t have enough knowledge to invest in this area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not just that you need to understand how\na business works, you also need to know its value compared to the price you are\nwilling to pay. \u201cYou have to learn how to value businesses and know the ones\nthat are within your circle of competence and the ones that are outside,\u201d says Buffett<\/a>. No, you don\u2019t have to be an\nexpert in the area of investment, but you do have to know enough to evaluate\nyour investment properly if you don\u2019t want to lose your shirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Most news is noise, so avoid\nthe hype<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One hallmark of Warren Buffet\u2019s investing\nsuccess is his ability to distinguish between what is important and what is\njust noise. With the advent of social media and a 24\/7 news cycle, there is so\nmuch information to digest it can be dizzying. Buffet knows this, and advocates\nfor taking in only select amounts of news and information that is helpful,\ninstead of being inundated with too much useless information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his 1989 letter to shareholders<\/a>, Buffett made a\nstatement about avoiding hype that would go on in infamy: \u201cIt\u2019s far better to\nbuy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful\nprice.\u201d By avoiding the hype not just in your investments, but in life as well,\nyou will make more informed, better decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Investing isn\u2019t rocket\nscience, but there is no \u201cEasy Button\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Warren Buffett has always believed that anyone\ncan be a successful investor. But that doesn\u2019t mean investing is easy. It still\nrequires research and due diligence to generate better returns than the market.\nBut the same holds true for many things in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Buffett, the key is setting\nrealistic expectations, ones that you can see right in front of you and will be\nable to accomplish in a realistic timeline. “The interesting thing about\nbusiness, it’s not like the Olympics,” Buffett\nsaid in a 2010 interview<\/a>. “You don’t get any extra points for\nthe fact that something’s very hard to do. So you might as well just step over\none-foot bars, instead of trying to jump over seven-foot bars.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) Expect the unexpected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Even an investing savant like Buffet can\u2019t\npredict the future. He knows that in order to be successful in both life and\ninvesting, you need to stay on your toes and be ready for the good and bad that\nmight come your way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while it seems like nothing bad has ever\nhappened to Warren Buffett, he did once get turned down by Harvard, something\nhe said was one of the best things that ever happened to him. In regards to\nsetbacks, Buffett notes<\/a>, \u201cDon\u2019t worry about it. And\ndon\u2019t let it eat at you by looking back. Just keep going, because you\u2019re going\nto have some things and forget them. Go forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a 2016 letter to shareholders<\/a>, Buffett likened\ninvesting to marriage. \u201cAs is the case in marriage, business acquisitions often\ndeliver surprises after the \u201cI do\u2019s,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of marriage…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5) Marry the right person<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Forget about your career or investment plan,\nmarriage, according to Buffett, is the single most important decision of your life<\/a>.\nFor all of his success, Buffett acknowledges none of it would have been\npossible without his wife. If you marry the right person, Buffett believes<\/a>, \u201cIt will make more difference\nin your life. It will change your aspirations, all kinds of things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, Buffett didn\u2019t have a traditional\nmarriage by any means. He actually began dating his second wife, Astrid Menks, while still married<\/a> to his first wife, Susan\nBuffett. Yet, this was a situation that worked out for all parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, according to Buffett<\/a>, life is just more fun\nwhen you have a partner to share it with. “It’s much more fun achieving\nthings in life with a partner, there’s no question about it,” Buffett told\nForbes. “It’s really a huge advantage from a personal standpoint to have a\nwonderful partner.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6) Invest in yourself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Buffett doesn\u2019t just believe that investing\nyour money is a key to success, but rather, it also takes investing in\nyourself. In fact, this might be Buffett’s top piece of life advice to many<\/a>. \u201cOne easy\nway to become worth 50 percent more than you are now at least is to hone your\ncommunication skills \u2014 both written and verbal,\u201d says Buffett. By unlocking\nyour full potential as both an employee and a human being, you can reach\nheights you may never have dreamed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t just an edict, Buffett learned this\npiece of advice in his own life. As a young adult, Buffett took a class with\nDale Carnegie to master his fear of public speaking, and the work quickly paid\noff. \u201cI proposed to my wife actually during the middle of the course, I got so\nconfident about my abilities,\u201d Buffett tells Forbes<\/a>. \u201cIt also helped me sell\nstocks in Omaha, despite being 21 and looking even younger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7) Associate yourself with\n\u2018high-grade people\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you surround yourself with high-grade\npeople, you will find your motivations moving in the right direction. It\u2019s\nsomething Buffett experienced<\/a> after becoming friends\nwith then-Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. \u201cYou want to associate with people who are\nthe kind of person you\u2019d like to be,\u201d Buffett noted in regards to his\nfriendships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buffett describes the things he looks for in people to surround yourself with<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re\nlooking for three things, generally, in a person,\u201d says Buffett. \u201cIntelligence,\nenergy, and integrity. And if they don\u2019t have the last one, don\u2019t even bother\nwith the first two. I tell them, \u2018Everyone here has the intelligence and\nenergy\u2014you wouldn\u2019t be here otherwise. But the integrity is up to you. You\nweren\u2019t born with it, you can\u2019t learn it in school.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a similar vein, Buffet says to surround\nyourself with people who are better than you<\/a>, which will cause you to\nstrive for greatness. But in the end, what\u2019s even more important is that you like their company<\/a>. \u201cI only work with people I\nlike. If I could make $100 million with a guy who causes my stomach to churn, I\nwould say no,\u201d Buffett says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8) Look up to the right people<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Buffett constantly talks about his mentor, the\nfather of value investing, Benjamin Graham. Graham helped a young Buffett\nsharpen his skills and become a great worker. \u201cBen was this incredible teacher.\nHe was a natural, and he drew us all in. It was like learning baseball from a\nfellow who was batting.400. It shaped my professional life,\u201d Buffett recalls<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This point is highlighted by Buffett\u2019s\nadmission that it was his propensity to choose the right people to look up to\nthat built his success. \u201cThe best thing I did was to choose the right heroes,\u201d\nsays Buffett. \u201cIt all comes from [Benjamin] Graham.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9) Stay humble and admit your\nmistakes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For as much wealth Warren Buffet has amassed\nin his decades of investing, he is still a humble man. When others speak of\nBuffett, it is with a great sense of awe for what he has accomplished, but an\nequal sense of humility he has built along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike other billionaires like Jeff Bezos who\nare looked down upon by the general public, Warren Buffett is still well liked,\nregardless of his massive wealth<\/a>. \u201cHe is such\na down-to-earth person. He\u2019s a hero who\u2019s generally popular with the public,\u201d\nsays University of Maryland finance professor David Kass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His humble nature has carried over into his\nwork, where Buffett isn\u2019t afraid of admitting his mistakes<\/a>, some\nof which lost his company hundreds of millions of dollars. In fact, Buffett\nprefers to highlight everything that has gone wrong when an investment goes\nsouth so he can learn for next time. Buffett is a strong advocate for the use\nof post-mortems (a process of evaluating a project\u2019s success or failure after\nit\u2019s completed) for his investments. \u201cPost-mortems prove useful for hospitals\nand football teams; why not for businesses and investors?\u201d Buffett argues<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sticking to your guns<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Warren Buffett is just a simple man from\nOmaha, Nebraska who stuck to his principles and became the most infamous\ninvestor of his generation. While Buffett\u2019s investing prowess may not be\nattainable, his mindset is. If you follow his advice, you are likely to improve\nin many areas of your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He isn\u2019t flashy, nor is he outspoken. Instead, Warren Buffett has shown the world that with hard work and dedication, anyone can improve not just their financial well being, but their life too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*As with any investment, your capital is at risk. Investments made through Bondora are not guaranteed; therefore any assets allocated to the Go & Grow account are not guaranteed by any state fund or otherwise secured and it may not be possible to liquidate assets or withdraw money immediately. The yield is up to 6.75% p.a., but please note that the yield achieved in past periods does not guarantee the rate of return in the future. Before deciding to invest, please review our risk statement<\/a> or consult with a financial advisor if necessary <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To Warren Buffett, investing is similar to life. It\u2019s a game filled with risk\/reward prospects that require insight, determination, and the ability to distinguish between good and bad. Buffett has been so good at this game that he is the most prolific investor of our time, and has helped millions of people invest successfully on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-financial-well-being"],"acf":[],"featured_image":null,"categories_names":["Financial Well-being"],"category_name":"Financial Well-being","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31761\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goandgrow.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}