Warren Buffett
Just a quick sharing on an interesting forwarded slide show which I received from my aunt in Singapore about Warren Buffet:
There was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity. The following are some very interesting aspects of his life:
- He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!
- He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.
- He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha , that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.
- He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.
- He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world’s largest private jet company.
- His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis.
- He has given his CEO’s only two rules. Rule number 1: Do not lose any of your share holder’s money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.
- He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch television.
- Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk. (!!!!!!!)
- Bill Gates, the world’s richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.
- His advice to young people: “Stay away from credit cards (bank loans) and invest in yourself and Remember:
o Money doesn’t create man but it is the man who created money.
o Live your life as simple as you are.
o Don’t do what others say, just listen them, but do what you feel good.
o Don’t go on brand name; just wear those things in which you feel comfortable.
o Don’t waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on them who really in need rather.
o After all it’s your life then why give chance to others to rule our life.”
“The HAPPIEST people DO NOT necessarily have the BEST of all.
They simply APPRECIATE what they find on their way”
Well I am sure we all know many many many people, including ourselves, who live super or over-luxurious lives but are not even a thousandth fraction as rich as Warren Buffet. Perhaps we can all learn a thing or two from arguably the world’s most financially responsible man himself. Being able to buy and own anything in the world that he sees, but living as normal as normal can be. If I were God, I would even want to give him loads of money because I know that he will not squander it. He would take it and invest for greater gains! (Remember the Parable of the Talent?)
Are you the type who can be as financially responsible as Warren Buffet? I think I will have to do lots of catching up myself. I’m already 19 and haven’t bought a single property or share in my life. =S
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LOL
ps : he graduated from wharton for undergrad and columbia for grad. the only few billionaires who actually completed some form of higher education…
haha wonderful… he’s the other side of the argument now, if you know what I mean =)and you are at the doorstep of where he did his undergrad!
I started saving up when I was 16… man I knew that I was way to late… I spent my parents’ money like crazy the year before, and regretted it… I got myself to discipline my finances the hard way.
And ever since I became a Christian, the promise that God will always provide is allowing me to loosen my worry over money as time goes by. Believers’ privilege I tell you!
I hope I could say that I am financially responsible, but I still don’t know where I stand.
Yes, in fact, that is why God is giving Warren Buffet so much money, and why there are many businessmen in this world who walk close to God today, all of them sponsoring God’s work in one way or another.
well i have a problem of tending to want to belanja (malay word for treat, meals, items etc) people and also lavish on books, cds haha
so it takes discipline to build up the habit of saving and investing in order to be a good steward of God’s financial blessings
yeah i am certain that God is indeed in the finances as well, not just our spiritual well being. and same goes here ome, neither do i know where I stand now in terms of being financially responsible. but maybe it’s because we are not really working yet, and have yet to unlock potential to earn. even then many may work but are not yet financially responsible
of course, we can always start wherever we are with what we already have. everyone starts somewhere, so even if we are not working i’m sure we can already display financial responsibility, such as in our tithes, offerings, and prudence in spending
i am also sure that even if no one sees us, we can be assured that God knows what we are doing with our finances and increase us according as He so wishes, or even otherwise
Heh, I do treat people too, and saving up means I can use God-given resources to bless others. =) I do spend on books too! Maybe not that often because I no longer read that often (and hence don’t finish books that fast.)
Yes, what you are saying is right. After all, we are called to seek Him first, then all these things (material resources, job and whatnot) He will provide. The fact that we are not working yet but are already thinking of this gives us a good start. Agreed, training in financial discipline allows us to become a good steward of God’s entrusted resources. He knows what we are deep down even when others stumble over trying to figure us out, so God knows how how life should go financially.