In case you hadn't heard the news, Warren Buffet plans on stepping down as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (B/H) sometime before the end of this year.
Now many will be writing about Buffet and the record he made with his (and his late partner, Charley Munger)'s stock picking. It's important to note that in terms of what he's bought, how he's bought it and for how long he's held it (forever is his favorite holding period) we can't duplicate. As I've written previously, he buys things we can't (entire companies including privately held ones) and he gets offered deals that you and I nor even some of the most sophisticated investors never see -- simply because of who he and B/H are and the credibility they bring to the table.
I've also written that he has, on many occasions both written and opined on what the average investor should be doing with their investments and it is essentially what we do with our investors' portfolios. He also possesses the characteristics that I've found as a common denominator of the success of virtually all the great, historical investors: intelligence, common sense, optimism and critically, the discipline to do the things that most investors are incapable of doing.
An excellent financial writer, Joe Nocera had this observation about Buffet and I think it is something that most can and should be able to take away from this occasion of Buffet's pending retirement:
"What’s always struck me about American investors is how few of us follow that sensible advice Buffett doles out, even though it has made him a billionaire many times over. Are we patient? No. Disciplined? No. Do we focus on the long term? Hell no—we’re always chasing hot stocks. Buffett, bless him, has been telling us how to do it right for 60 years. Maybe it’s time we finally listen."
—Joe Nocera
We've been telling this to investors for a few decades. It can actually be fun to be a boringly successful investor.
As one of my old investment coaches, the late Dan Wheeler always used to say: successful investing doesn't have to be sexy and it doesn't have to be exciting -- it only has to work! Try it -- you'll like it!!