Category: Lessons From Warren Buffett

When it comes to investing, Warren Buffett doesn’t believe in guesswork—especially when it comes to financial statements. At the 1995 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting, Buffett cautioned investors against putting money into companies with confusing or unclear accounting.

“I would say that when the accounting confuses you, I would just tend to forget about it as a company,” he said. “We have never had any great investment results from companies whose accounting we regarded as suspect. I can’t think of a one. It’s a very bad sign.”

Buffett’s message is simple: if a company’s financials aren’t transparent, it’s not worth the risk.

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© 2025 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

At the 1999 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting, Warren Buffett offered a simple yet powerful definition of investing—and a clear distinction from gambling.

“Investment is the process of putting out money today to get more money back at some point in the future,” he explained. “And the question is, how far in the future, how much money, and what is the appropriate discount rate to take it back to the present day and determine how much you pay?”

Unlike gambling, which relies on chance and short-term outcomes, investing involves evaluating the value of future returns and making informed decisions based on long-term expectations. For Buffett, successful investing means thinking carefully about time, value, and risk—never simply making a bet.

Hear Buffett’s full explanation

See the complete Lessons From Warren Buffett series
At the 1999 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting, Warren Buffett offered a simple yet powerful definition of investing—and a clear distinction from gambling.

“Investment is the process of putting out money today to get more money back at some point in the future,” he explained. “And the question is, how far in the future, how much money, and what is the appropriate discount rate to take it back to the present day and determine how much you pay?”

Unlike gambling, which relies on chance and short-term outcomes, investing involves evaluating the value of future returns and making informed decisions based on long-term expectations. For Buffett, successful investing means thinking carefully about time, value, and risk—never simply making a bet.
© 2025 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Warren Buffett has long emphasized that investing is more than just trading shares—it’s about owning a piece of a real business. At the 2013 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting, Buffett reiterated this core philosophy, saying, “It’s very important to have that mindset that we are buying businesses, whether we’re buying 100 shares of something or whether we’re buying the entire company. We always think of them as businesses.”

For Buffett, every investment is an opportunity to partner in a company’s long-term success, not just a bet on short-term price movements. This disciplined, business-first approach has guided his investing decisions for decades.

Hear Buffett’s full explanation

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© 2025 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Warren Buffett has long stressed the importance of independent research in investing. While markets are filled with opinions, forecasts, and hype, Buffett warns that relying too heavily on others can be costly.

“The key to investing is not how much you know,” Buffett has noted, “but how realistically you define what you don’t know.” His approach underscores the value of careful research, analysis, discipline, and sticking to businesses you understand.

That same discipline guided him into major investments in Japan. At the 2025 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting, Buffett recalled starting with a handbook—filled with listing companies two to a page. “It’s amazing what you can find when you just turn the page,” he said. “Turning every page is one important ingredient to bring to the investment field. Very few people do it—and those who do aren’t going to tell you what they’re finding.”

By doing your own research, Buffett argues, you avoid being swept up in speculation and gain the confidence to hold investments through volatility. In his view, sound decisions come not from chasing trends but from clear-eyed judgment about a company’s ability to generate long-term value.

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© 2025 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

While plagiarism is a surefire way to land in trouble in creative fields like songwriting, Warren Buffett believes copying can be a smart strategy in the world of investing—provided you understand what you’re borrowing.

Speaking at the 1995 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting, Buffett emphasized the value of learning from others: “If you learn reasonably well from other people, you don’t have to get any new ideas or do much on your own. You can just apply the best of what you see.”

Buffett himself credits much of his investment philosophy to the insights of Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor and Philip Fisher’s Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits. For Buffett, success isn’t about reinventing the wheel—it’s about recognizing wisdom and applying it effectively.

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© 2025 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

One of the most formative books Warren Buffett read as a young investor was The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. Buffett has praised it as “by far the best book on investing ever written.”

A key concept from the book is the character of “Mr. Market,” Graham’s metaphor for the stock market’s often irrational behavior. Sometimes, Mr. Market offers fair prices for stocks—but other times, his emotions swing wildly, quoting values that are “a little short of silly.”

Buffett echoed this idea at Berkshire Hathaway’s 2012 Annual Meeting, saying, “It’s a marvelous game. The rules are stacked in your favor, if you don’t turn those rules upside down and start behaving like the drunken psychotic instead of the guy that’s there to take advantage of it.”

For Buffett, the lesson is clear: success in investing often comes down to staying rational while others are ruled by fear or greed.

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© 2025 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Warren Buffett is a firm believer that successful investing doesn’t require predicting the stock market’s next move. In fact, he openly admits he has no idea what the market will do in the short term. “We haven’t the faintest idea what the stock market is going to do when it opens on Monday,” he once said.

Speaking at Berkshire Hathaway’s 2022 Annual Meeting, Buffett reflected on how he missed opportunities during the COVID-19 market crash in March 2020. “We have not been good at timing,” he acknowledged. “We’ve been reasonably good at figuring out when we were getting enough for our money.”

For Buffett, the key isn’t timing—it’s value. He focuses on buying stocks when they’re undervalued and holding them for the long term. “That’s stuff you can learn in fourth grade,” he said. “But it’s not what’s taught in school.”

His approach is simple but powerful: don’t try to guess the market. Instead, look for businesses you understand, assess their true worth, and buy when the price is right.

Hear Buffett’s full explanation

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© 2025 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

With thousands of public companies each producing dense annual reports, it can be overwhelming for investors to know where to begin. Warren Buffett offers a timeless, straightforward approach: start with companies you understand—and ignore the rest.

Speaking at Berkshire Hathaway’s 1998 Annual Meeting, Buffett emphasized that annual reports can provide all the information you need to make an investment decision. “We start by looking at the reports of companies that we think we can understand,” he said. Buffett explained that a well-written report should tell readers what they’d want to know if they owned the whole business.

He pointed to Coca-Cola as a prime example. “The Coca-Cola annual report over the last good many years is an enormously informative document,” Buffett noted. “We bought that stock based on an annual report. We did not buy it based on any conversation of any kind with the top management of Coca-Cola before we bought our interest.”

For Buffett, the clarity and transparency of an annual report—combined with a solid understanding of the business—can be all it takes to make a multi-billion-dollar investment.

Hear Buffett’s full explanation

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© 2025 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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When it comes to building wealth, timing matters — and according to Warren Buffett, the best time to start saving is as early as possible.

At the 1998 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting, Buffett emphasized the power of saving before life’s bigger financial responsibilities kick in. “Any money you save before you get out and start having a family … any dollar is probably worth $10 later on simply because you can save it,” he said.

Buffett’s point is simple but powerful: saving when you’re young — especially before starting a family — gives your money more time to grow through compound interest. Once family life begins, expenses inevitably rise, making it harder to set money aside.

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© 2025 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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At Berkshire Hathaway’s 2025 annual meeting, Warren Buffett shared a rare insight into his investment approach, highlighting the importance he places on balance sheets over income statements.

Buffett revealed that he spends more time analyzing a company’s balance sheet than its income statement, noting that Wall Street tends to overlook this financial document. He explained that studying balance sheets over an 8 to 10-year period provides a clearer picture of a company’s financial health and stability. According to Buffett, it’s harder to hide or manipulate figures on a balance sheet compared to an income statement.

While acknowledging that neither financial statement offers the full picture, Buffett emphasized the value in understanding not only what the numbers reveal, but also what they omit, and how they may be influenced by management or auditors. He believes that balance sheets offer deeper insights than most investors realize, making them a critical tool for long-term analysis and informed decision-making.

Hear Buffett’s full explanation

See the complete Lessons From Warren Buffett series

© 2025 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.