Ever since I graduated from College, Warren Buffett has been my one of my financial heros (my first financial hero is Benjamin Franklin).  He is the equivalent of a rock star in the financial world (a lunch with Warren has gone for over 1 million dollars on ebay).

Warren Buffett (aka The Oracle of Omaha) was born in 1930, and was the second of three children, and the only son of Leila and Howard Buffett.  It’s interesting to note that Warren’s dad was in the investment business, so I’m sure Warren had exposure to the financial markets at a very young age at least in some way or another.

Warren was always an entrepreneur, even from a pre-teen age.  Some of the business activities in Warren’s youth included selling gum and pop, paper boy, and a pinball leasing business.  He filed his first income tax return around the age of 13, the reasons was to take a deduction for the use of his bike and a watch in his newspaper boy business.

Why should Warren Buffett be a hero to us, especially the frugal crowd?

The main reason is because Warren is one of the frugal crowd!  Believe it or not, the man that could be the world’s richest man (Gates is suppose to be #1, but if you add up all their earnings over time, I believe Buffett is really the richest, but he gives a lot to charity), is frugal like us!

I believe Buffett is a guy that realized a long time ago that living large wasn’t going to make him any happier.  Which is probably why his house looks like it might run $350,000 or less… which is nothing compared to Bill’s house valued at $174 million.

Why I like Warren:

• He doesn’t flaunt his wealth and shares it with charities
• He’s very witty and fun to listen to during interviews
• He’s like the ultimate warrior in the stock market, nobody comes close to his record.
• He’s made his investors rich.
• He’s frugal.

I also like the following quotes by him:

“If at first you succeed, quit trying.”

I take this to mean if you find something that works, let it run, don’t continually try to make it better, it’s very much like that old saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”

The first rule is not to lose. The second rule is not to forget the first rule.

Lol, this rule reminds me of “Fight Club”… The first rule of fight club is don’t talk about fight club… The 2nd rule of fight club is “DON”T TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB”

Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

This quote helps to reminds me that to help my kids financially, I have to start investing for them while they are young…

If you ever listen to Warren Buffett, right away you will notice his folksy charisma.  He’s a guy that you could meet at a McDonalds and strike up a conversation about the weather (or anything).  No wonder he is a superstar in America (and other countries too for that matter).

-MR