Against the crowd ... Warren Buffet

Warren Buffet has made his mega-billions by not doing what the crowd does. How many people do you know who would:

Sit on a massive pile of cash rather than invest in anything that does not deliver the right kind of growth and value, as he did in 2001 – to the tune of 50 billion dollars?

Then, in a matter of months, spend the lot and buy companies because the time was right?

Which meant, everyone else thought the time was WRONG (i.e. post-September 11th)

Watch a single company for fifteen years before investing a cent ...content to wait until the economy, the government or the management made some change that brought a window of opportunity for fabulous value?

* It takes strength of character to resist the hysteria of a boom or the panic of a bust and go in the opposite direction to everyone else.

* It takes strength of character to ignore what the “experts” are saying and make decisions according to your own simple but powerful rules (for example, the Formula for Riches).

* It takes strength of character to resist being swept along while you sit tight and listen as everyone tells you you’re missing out.

But that’s how the second richest man in the world did it. And you can too.

In 1982 I bought my first property as an investment.

In 1987 I bought my second.

I waited five years for the climate to be right for me again. It so happened that in the intervening years the market wasn’t great.

Could you wait fifteen years for the right thing? Could you wait five?

And does it matter?

Yes, it does. Rushing a decision because you’re in a panic about being too slow, missing out, or being too close to retirement doesn’t make it okay.

Five properties with an IRR of 20% are not equal to one property with an IRR of 100%.

Two wrongs do not make a right and two mediocres do not make a brilliant.

Scoring 50% in two exams does not give you 100%.

We may laugh at the idea but we think property or other investments are different! They’re not.