Charlie Munger and How Not to Invest

I am still not sure how to feel about the passing of Charlie Munger late last year. It feels unfair to suggest we are missing out when he left behind so much. His ideas will live far into the future, and they are freely available to those who seek them. In fact, YouTube is a veritable Munger gold mine, and I highly recommend his book, Poor Charlie’s Almanack.

The book includes Munger’s famous 1986 Harvard School Commencement Speech. Instead of sharing a recipe for success in life during his speech, Munger instead provided graduates with advice for leading a life of misery. That advice included being unreliable, learning mostly from yourself, lacking resilience, and giving no thought as to what to avoid in life.

In a nod to Charlie Munger and that speech, here’s my prescription for financial misery—or, what not to do when investing:

Be impatient. Aim to get rich fast! Almost anyone can get rich slowly with hard work, disciplined investment, a balanced risk appetite, and the power of compounding. Einstein called the compounding “the eighth wonder of the world.” But in the words of Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, “I want it now.” Let that be your catch cry. Eschew patience for shortcuts, make concentrated bets, and lever up your investment. This will greatly raise your chances of future financial ruin, even if it works well for a while.

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