Wisdom on Parade

The Parade magazine (is it really a magazine?) that comes with the Sunday copy of the newspaper is colorful and easy to read but short on deep journalism or content. So, why not blog about it?

This past week, Mr. Warren Buffett is featured in a column on "10 Ways to Get Rich". And sure enough, they have simplified some words of wisdom from Mr. Buffett. Although simplified, getting back to basics can be of benefit and Mr. Buffett knows what works. The guy has been averaging over 20% returns in his investment portfolio in the early 1960s. And, he understand compound interest and how it works -- which has allowed him to amass over $60 billion in personal wealth.

So point #6 was no surprised -- 'Limit what you borrow'. If I might quote the Parade magazine, "Living on credit cards and loans won't make you rich." Yes, if we want to be a rich person, we need to live like one. If we want to be healthy, we need to live like one. Emulating success will not likely make most of us a $60 billion portfolio, but we can take tangible steps daily toward achieving things in life.

Finally comes the moment of truth -- the "A-ha!" moment when I look at people asking questions about creative financing tactics with their credit cards on public bulletin board/answers type services (I'm thinking Yahoo! Answers). Young and broke, they want to get the "best credit card" while at the same time, there are a dozen posts daily about people seeking relief from the problems they created with their credit cards. One even was questioning the laws of the UK so that perhaps the writer could leave the USA and not be pursued for their debts.

I'd certainly rather stress out about doubling my equity position on my Coke shares vs dodging the laws for my fiscal irresponsibility. I'm sure Mr. Buffett works on the first, whereas those who are broke consider the second.