Adopting Ben Franklin’s advice has been helpful, but applying Warren Buffett’s investment policies 25+ years ago has been even more rewarding.
But it took Warren a long time before he invested in tech…
Can you say, “Microsoft” when it was still DOS; Cisco, when folks still thought “Cisco Kid” when they heard it…; “Macintosh” and the it must be the apples in Granny Smith’s Pies.; Oracle, as the “Great Wisdom”…; Hewlett-Packard (HP) and most thought of a vintage car…; and a few I do not want to say but I will Zeos Computers, The Roman god, but he “died…”; Compaq Computers, folks thought they were calculators, but luckily HP bought them out… and a few other dogs too…
Luckily, being so deeply involved with all sorts of computers as a programmer for the Air Force, I got a lot of my choices right…
One of Warren’s tenets is “don’t invest in anything that you don’t understand”, and he has been humble enough over the years to admit that he didn’t understand a whole lot about computers and related technology.
However, he did–finally–become interested in Apple because of their i-phone, and Apple stock now represents a very large portion of Berkshire Hathway’s portfolio.
Buffett says Apple is Berkshire portfolio's best business | Reuters.
From my dna analysis, warren is a distant relative, however I have a problem with his reluctance to buy a new car. Franklin wrote back when a Penney was worth something though. No relation that I know off.
Warren still drives a 2014 Cadillac XTS, and he still lives in his first home, which was purchased for $35k. Clearly, he is frugal, but that frugality has allowed him to already give most of his money away–to charity. As Andrew Cargnegie said, “A man who dies wealthy dies in disgrace”. Warren’s adult children are already very well provided for.
Heh heh. I remember eons ago looking at the xerox office automation system. Windows and coax distribution system. I don’t remember what the guys called it anymore but developed in their Palo Alto research facility. This was before micro soft copied/stole/ or developed it. I don’t remember the story anymore. The xerox system was too expensive but even back then I thought gates was a slime ball.
I took the dale carneige course but we talked more about making friends than making money. I hear warren though cut his relatives out of his will, except his housekeeper, expecting them all to make their own way. In the final days, one might ask ones self, what was the purpose of it all?
Somehow, I think that his son–Howard–will be able to “make his own way”, since Howard’s net worth is already $400 million, and he will reportedly be left another $2 billion when Warren dies. The surviving daughter–Doris–has to struggle along with her current net worth of only $50 million, but the same $2 billion figure applies to her bequest in Warren’s will.
Dale Carnegie wasn’t related to Andrew Carnegie, and–in fact–Dale’s last name wasn’t originally Carnegie.
I’m sure it was Andrew then that built all the libraries.
A lot of people didn’t invest in tech. Most didn’t understand it. Compaq started in a garage and before HP bought them out they bought out Digital Equipment Co. When I worked for them in the 80’s and early 90’s they were the second largest computer company in the world. There are many tech companies that have come and gone. Back in the 60’s GE was one of the largest computer companies in the world…along with Burroughs and Univac. NCR was also very big. Even higher ups at the tech companies didn’t know tech. Steve Wozniak had to get permission of HP to continue with the computer he designed and built for Steve Jobs. They thought it was a toy. IBM allowed Microsoft to license DOS because they thought the money was in the hardware…NOT software. How they thought that is mind boggling. Price of software was going up and hardware was going down for over 2 decades.
Yes, libraries were Andrew Carnegie’s pet projects, and the town in which I spent my formative years has one of his libraries. It is a beautful structure.
Back in the early 20th Century, Princeton University was notified that Andrew was on his way, and would announce large bequest to the college upon his arrival. Back in those days, the school didn’t have a huge endowment, and they were assuming that they would get a nice fat check from Andrew. Instead, he declared, “You really need a nice lake for crew racing”. This was not what they wanted, but they couldn’t look a wealthy gift horse in the mouth, so they “gladly” accepted his construction project and they soon added that sport to their roster.
Lake Carnegie turned out to be a beautiful addition to the area’s landscape, and I frequently hike around its perimeter.
Never been to Princeton, but the lake sounds great. I think Paul Krugman works at Princeton Univ. In the early days of the internet I’d occasionally engage in chit chat with PK and William Safire, not at the same time of course … lol … Before 911 I’d fly to NYC half-dozen times a year for long-weekend vacations, and would always take my running shoes so I could jog around the reservoir in Central Park a couple of times. I found this a very fun & relaxing weekend getaway, and Central Park is sort of like a weird & beautiful forest, seems out of place among the throngs of people and the tall buildings. The Free Shakespeare in the Park was one of my favorite NYC events. Alas, no more of that for me.
I guess I was a senior in high school but back when it was safe to walk around dc at night, I took in a play at the Washington monument. Don’t remember what it was any more but I enjoyed it.
If this was recent, Michigan brought back its dark blue Water-Winter Wonderland plate: https://www.michigan.gov/sos/vehicle/license-plates/standard-plate-options (see third one from the top)
It could very well have been that winter water wonderland plate. Thinking back I think it was on a rural Minnesota or South Dakota highway. Heh heh, that mackinaw plate made shiver a little. That was one long bridge. Then I heard later that cars have been blown off of it. Maybe just a story but I don’t think I’d like to drive over it with a semi in a high wind.
Or or or you want the new (but will never ever be able to afford one) Noonan Blown Hemi 4.9 (up to 612ci) cause the old worn out Hemi 4.8 just isn’t fast enough anymore… BTW that is the cylinder bore center spacing not the size, the older 4.8 has 4.8 spacing and the new bore center allows for a (4.9) 4.600 bore diameter over the smaller (4.8) 4.500 bore diameter… And over 4,000 ProCharged HP with back to back runs with out damage… IIRC they have gone 3.7’s in the 1/8 mile (maybe faster)…
Like it or not it’s automotive related…