Investment Advice from an Old Bastard

I know a lot on here are interested in investment, inflation and interest rates, I was reading this today and the observations that Charlie Munger makes is something that many ....lets say older people feel with todays generation's and the ultimate advice they are given.

Take from it what you will but it is a good read regardless.

At 98-years-old, Charlie Munger still delivers the one-liners

Charlie Munger has been investing with Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway since 1978. While Warren hosts the company’s Annual Shareholder Meetings, answering questions for hours, it is Charlie who delivers the acerbic wit. Given his wealth and age, nobody and nothing is off limits, sometimes to Warren’s chagrin. It makes for fine entertainment when he is prepared to speak the truth that others avoid.

Charlie was born on 1 January 1924, and to mark his 98th birthday, some of his one-liners are collected on this video. As the introduction says:

“Charlie Munger isn't just one of the greatest investors who has ever lived, he is also one of the few brilliant minds who basically has no filter. When he sees something which he thinks is wrongdoing or stupid, he just can't help but being opinionated and speak up about it.”

Let ‘er rip, Charlie

“Those of you who are about to enter business school or are there, I recommend you learn to do it our way but at least until you're out of school, you have to pretend to do it their way.”

“Warren, if people weren't so often wrong, we wouldn't be so rich.”

“I think you would understand any presentation using the word EBITDA, if every time you saw that word, you just substituted the phrase ‘bullshit earnings’.”

“I'm optimistic about life. I can be optimistic when I’m nearly dead. Surely the rest of you can handle a little inflation.”

“The best way to get what you want in life is to deserve what you want. How could it be otherwise? It's not crazy enough so that the world is looking for a lot of undeserving people to reward.”

“Everybody wants fiscal virtue but not quite yet. They're like that guy who felt that way about sex. He’s willing to give it up but not quite yet.”

“Well, you don't want to be like the motion picture executive in California. They said the funeral was so large because everybody wanted to make sure he was dead.”

“It was investment banker-aided fraud. Not exactly novel.”

“Sure, there are a lot of things in life way more important than wealth. All that said, some people do get confused. I play golf with a man he says, ‘What good is health, you can't buy money with it.’"

“Well, there are a lot of things I don't think about and one of them is companies that are losing $2-3 billion a year and going public.”

“In accounting, you can do things like they do in Italy when they have trouble with the mail. It piles up and irritates the postal employees. They just throw away a few cartloads and everything flows smoothly.”

“The general system for money management requires people to pretend that they can do something that they can't do, and to pretend to like it when they really don't. I think that's a terrible way to spend your life, but it's very well paid.”

“I can't give you a formulaic approach because I don't use one. If you want a formula, you should go back to graduate school. They'll give you lots of formulas that won't work.”

“As Samuel Johnson said famously, ‘I can give you an argument, but I can't give you an understanding.’"

“It's perfectly obvious, at least to me, that to say that derivative accounting in America is a sewer is an insult to sewage.”

“Competency is a relative concept. And what a lot of us need, including the one speaking when I needed to get ahead, was to compete against idiots. And luckily, there's a large supply."

“I don't like multi-tasking. I see these people doing three things at once and I think, what a terrible way that is to think.”

“I like cryptocurrency currencies a lot less than you do. And I think that professional traders who go into trading cryptocurrencies, it's just disgusting. It's like somebody else is trading turds and you decide ‘I can't be left out.'"

“Once I asked a man who just left a large investment bank and I said, ‘How's your firm make its money?’ He said, 'Off the top, off the bottom, off both sides and in the middle.'"

“Well, I would rather throw a viper down my shirt front than hire a compensation consultant.”

“I think I'm offended enough.”

 

You need to be a member of 1Eyed Eel to add comments!

Join 1Eyed Eel

Votes: 0
Email me when people reply –

Replies

                  • You guys seen the old Fryers Club Roasts?

                  • She features in the roast that Krupty put up....legend comedian that everyone wanted to take the piss out of.

            • We know what drum you hold the beat to when you go to bed at night Seth.LOL

              I always remember Ava Gardner being interviewed after the film made in Mellbourne, "On the Beach" in 1959.....I was quiet young then so I must have read in a later book.....but her quote always stuck in my mind when she said if the end of the world was going to happen it would be most appropriately Melbourne, implying it was the arsehole of the world!

          • Thanks Pops I will put them on my watch list.I like historical war  films. This one is interesting Munich The Edge of War. The politics of war  and deception

             

        • Thought you would enjoy it Tad,

          I also stuffed the rest of the post trying to correct the date from 1983 to 1883 an old style western prequell to Kevin Costner's Yellowstone. Stars Sam Elliott.

          Also recommend Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos (Kidman) is brilliant in it.

          Finally another show I really enjoyed was "Finch" a Tom hanks film about a guy dying and building a robot to look after his dog.....I cried unashamably at the end............. I read a review that said it lacked originality LOL

  • Charlie and Warren are legends, No doubt. From 1964 to 2020, Berkshire's stock delivered a compound annual growth rate of 20%. In comparison, the S&P 500 Index generated an annualized gain of 10.2% -- including dividends.

     Things are changing rapidly. If someone bragged they made 20% pa to the average Defi Degen they would be pretty unimpressed. That represents an OK week for the competent.

This reply was deleted.

Latest comments

Prof. Daz replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"Captain, if I applied the same logic to MON as you aplied to Gould, I would start out talking about what MON did right when the Eels were in the finals 2019-2022, and then I would proceed to the period when the Eels have not been in the finals…"
2 minutes ago
Joel K replied to jamie's discussion Ryles the Super Coach
"Tuivaiti would be the best from that 2023 side
I don't really get the hype on Guymer, he gets folded in the backrow"
39 minutes ago
Joel K replied to Aracom's discussion Parra 2027 2028 2029
"Winning starts in the front office
And our front office is 🗑️. "
51 minutes ago
EA replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"Yea long term I rate the other three. But it's also because I rate the other 3 very highly. Visconti has really impressed me. We shall see how they go as it's still early in the season for them "
53 minutes ago
EA replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill's 🪓's discussion Do Parramatta sign him - Luai to become a free agent 27 , then Chiefs 2028
"Yep they need cup time. Hopefully very soon"
56 minutes ago
LB replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill's 🪓's discussion Do Parramatta sign him - Luai to become a free agent 27 , then Chiefs 2028
"Surely playing either off the bench for 20mins or so would only help their development."
1 hour ago
LB replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"I more so meant in the future. This year yeah it makes sense as he is 21, he is older than those three mentioned so therefore he would be pushing FG more than the three mentioned. But long term they would jump Visconti i guess."
1 hour ago
EA replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill's 🪓's discussion Do Parramatta sign him - Luai to become a free agent 27 , then Chiefs 2028
"Not sure what they are waiting for. Coinakis is a big body and strong defender. Luke and Smitz are RM players. Coinkis and Hudson don't deserve to be sharing minutes in JF either. They are better than that. They compliment each other well to.…"
1 hour ago
EA replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"Definitely. As it currently stands, Visconti deserves to be in front of those 3 in the pecking order in NSW Cup. Popo has only played rd 1 this year. No idea what injury he has and when he is returning. The other 3 probably have more upside than…"
2 hours ago
EA replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill's 🪓's discussion Do Parramatta sign him - Luai to become a free agent 27 , then Chiefs 2028
"Yep your right. The club need to ensure they retain the right players because we cannot keep everyone. I felt they made the right decisons last year in which 21 years old they let go since they are not JF eligble anymore. In the list I put below,…"
2 hours ago
LB replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill's 🪓's discussion Do Parramatta sign him - Luai to become a free agent 27 , then Chiefs 2028
"That is actually a decent Cup team. With depth with the SG ball boys moving up. I do hope Coinakis get NSW Cup time as he would be an ideal #3 Hooker for us next year."
2 hours ago
LB replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"Do you see him as one that could challenge the likes of Talagi, Koina, Popo and the rest for minutes in the future? From past team lists at the Roosters he seemed to always be a bench player, perhaps could be a late bloomer of a player and that…"
2 hours ago
Yehez replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill's 🪓's discussion Do Parramatta sign him - Luai to become a free agent 27 , then Chiefs 2028
"That's really quite stong indeed. We have to be losing a couple of those youngsters, especially the ones at 21-22 years old range in the off-season. Which is a shame. 
Latu just confirmed ACL no? Heard it somehwere. 
Also where do you see Richie…"
2 hours ago
The Captain replied to Hell On Eels's discussion Thirteeen Minutes
"Gus was literally fired from the Panthers. So yes, he was deemed not successful. Didn't mean he did nothing right, didn't mean he didn't play a big part in the success that followed. It did mean that he was deemed surplus requirements and he was…"
2 hours ago
EA replied to Cʜɪᴇғy Mclovin🐐 - Mark O'neill's 🪓's discussion Do Parramatta sign him - Luai to become a free agent 27 , then Chiefs 2028
"Like Lokeni goes onto the bench after running 200m and making 38 tackles with 0 mised on the weekend. Look at the talent in those JF players."
2 hours ago
Parraboy replied to Snottie Pimpin's discussion Centres
"Need a big name signing , Staggs or farnworth I'd settle for Xerri tho  "
2 hours ago
More…

Keaon done deal

As of Thursday, December 11, 2025, South Sydney Rabbitohs forwardKeaon Koloamatangi has reportedly agreed to a deal with the Parramatta Eels, but it is not yet officially announced by the clubs.  Soon to be announced.

Read more…
14 Replies · Reply by Poppa Jan 9
Views: 2375

 

Parra 2027 2028 2029

Our ceiling is prtty limited for these yearsWhat can we really do next year?Not muchEven with a full squad sideEven with Seal Russell leaving (a big big up)Even with One signing8th would be over performing for 2027.Ryles will be either signed or…

Read more…
2 Replies · Reply by Joel K 51 minutes ago
Views: 137

Thirteeen Minutes

Trauma snowballing syndrome and the urge to blow things up isn’t just something buried in human DNA. It's now rebranded as “high standards". Forty Years can do that. Sometimes, all it takes is a few minutes. But let’s park the emotion for a minute.…

Read more…
67 Replies · Reply by Prof. Daz 2 minutes ago
Views: 1043

Centres

We without a doubt have the worst centre pairing in the comp . You can look through every other side - neither of our centres would get a start in any of them . It's an area we have neglected in both recruitment and development. We have a rep level…

Read more…
37 Replies · Reply by Parraboy 2 hours ago
Views: 1026

<script src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- Sidebar -->
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<script>// <![CDATA[
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
// ]]></script>