Warren Buffett’s Cash Pile Tops Record with $149.2 Billion on Hand

One of my idolized investors of all time, Warren Buffett, has a pretty exciting portfolio position for his holding company Berkshire Hathaway. I'm always following his latest investment move, and to my surprise, I found out that one of his largest positions is cash on hand. According to the company's earnings announcement on Saturday, Berkshire Hathaway's cash hoard topped $149.2 billion in the third quarter, exceeding a previous high established in early 2020. 

The new high came despite Buffett pouring more money into stock repurchases, with $7.6 billion in repurchases in the quarter, the third-highest total since the board modified its buyback strategy in 2018. This is an exciting topic to point out. There must be a reason why Warren Buffett is piling up cash in his portfolio instead of buying new stocks. In this article, I will talk about my opinion on why Warren Buffett is just piling cash in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio. Moreover, I will talk about how this answers my father's large cash balances in his portfolio.

Why Professional Fund Managers Often Underperform the S&P 500 & the Best Alternative Solution

It's practically hard to anticipate the market's performance in any given year. Furthermore, putting together a portfolio that yields market-beating returns is extremely tough for an individual. In 2020, 60.3 percent of large-cap equity fund managers underperformed the S&P 500 (GSPC), according to new data from S&P Dow Jones Indices. This is the 11th year in a row that professionals have fallen short of the mark.

 
This is not exactly breaking news to many investors. Moreover, thanks to the likes of Warren Buffett and Jack Bogle promoting the benefits of investing in less expensive, passively managed index funds, S&P estimates that there are $11.2 trillion in S&P 500 index funds. To be fair, many active fund managers are not simply seeking to outperform the S&P 500; they're also trying to provide investors with risk exposures that aren't replicated by the benchmark index.
 
This is an exciting topic to talk about. I wondered if it's better to let a professional fund manager manage my portfolio or whether it's better to manage my own. When I came back from the United States to Jakarta, Indonesia, My father did give me some capital to start with. I invested some of the money into Mutual Funds managed by professionals. The result is not very exciting; the portfolio that fund managers manage did worse than the stock portfolio I built from scratch. In this article, I will explain whether it is better to invest on your own or pay a fund manager to do the job for you. Moreover, I will explain my experience as a stock investor and why you should just invest in a low-cost index fund such as S&P500 (Ticker: SPY) if you are still a beginner in the investing world.

The Power of Dividends

Many investors regard dividend-paying companies as uninteresting, low-return investments. Dividend-paying stocks are usually more mature and predictable than high-flying small-cap businesses, whose volatility may be pretty thrilling. Though some may find this uninteresting, the combination of a steady dividend and rising stock prices might provide earnings potential that is compelling enough to be enthusiastic about. 
 
My portfolio used to consist of dividend-paying stocks; however, I had decided to use concentrated play like investing the majority of my portfolio is in Alibaba Group (Ticker: BABA). In a way, I regretted making this investment adjustment to my portfolio since my previous version portfolio is doing much better than the current one. I like my previous portfolio much more because I could receive dividends from holding those stocks in my portfolio. With the dividends payout, I was able to buy more shares of companies that I like. Well, there is nothing I can do about it now since most of my capital is invested in only two stocks, Alibaba Group (Ticker: BABA) and Pfizer Inc. (Ticker: PFE). 
 
Due to my mistake, I learn something valuable, which is not to underestimate dividend-paying stocks. In this blog post, I am going to explain the power of dividends. Moreover, I will explain why holding a portfolio of dividend-paying stocks can be an excellent stock investment strategy. Lastly, I am going to give my opinion on investing in dividend-paying stocks.

Is Inflation Coming? How is it Going to Affect the Economy & What You Should Do!

Recently, the Federal Reserve kept printing new money into the economy. The government did this to stimulate the economy during the Covid pandemic crisis. However, all this money printing has its side effect. Inflation is here. As with the April report, the May CPI inflation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) highlighted that prices rose across the board by a lot. Overall, prices in May climbed 5% year over year, the biggest such gain in the headline CPI data since August 2008. Even when you strip out volatile food and energy prices—so-called core CPI inflation—prices rose by 3.8% year over year in May.
 
Investors are spooked because rising inflation, which threatens investment and consumer spending, would need to be tamed by a rise in currently rock-bottom interest rates – and that would be anathema to markets and a corporate sector that has grown used to cheap money. Due to all this money printing, the economy is in a bubble that might eventually burst. The S&P 500 Index has risen so much recently due to all this money printing. I believe the market is overvalued, and the upcoming collapse of the U.S. economy might occur. In this article, I'm going to emphasize how impending inflation is coming and how it will affect the economy. Moreover, I will explain what I did to my stock portfolio and what financial advice I recommend.

Why Buying a Home is usually a Bad Investment

A home can be a place that provides a permanent place for your family and kids, a great place to hang out with friends and family, and it may even provide you with confidence and pride of ownership. But don't be fooled by thinking your house is an excellent financial investment — because nothing could be further from the truth.
 
Many people buy a house because they believe it's an excellent investment. When I was young, I also thought a house is a good investment because housing prices always go up. But did you know that your house is actually a liability? Owning a home requires you to pay taxes, maintenances, insurance, and many more. All of these other things happen with your home that you've got to pay for. This is why I am not leaving my parents' house yet, and decide to keep living with them until I am financially ready.
 
You shouldn't treat your home as an investment; however, if you are buying it for personal use, then it's okay. In this article, I will explain why you shouldn't treat your home purchase as an investment. In addition, a home is a lousy investment, and don't fool yourself into buying a home as an investment. You should only treat purchasing a home if you want a place to settle down.
 

New Year 2021 Resolution (My Personal Plan & Goal for the Year)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Everyone!! It is now the year 2021, and I hope this year will be better than the previous one. I hope this year will be great for all of us. I am glad that I was able to go through 2020 without any significant problems. I had stuck with my financial plan, such as saving and investing every month. Even though 2020 was not a great year since we faced Covid-19 Pandemic, and the problem is not yet solved, my portfolio has performed pretty decent. 

 
2021 is a new year for all of us, which is the time to start something new. I realized that I am getting older every year, and I want every beginning of the year to begin with a New Year resolution. I want to have a goal that I want to achieve something for this new beginning. In this article, I would like to share my goal and plan for this fresh start to the year. I will also explain my career and business plan to increase my income and what I'm going to do with my stock portfolio investment. 
 

Why You Should Ignore Market Noise When Investing in the Stock Market

The stock market is always reacting to recent market news. The price of stocks can go up and down every single day from current news that’s happening. Warren Buffett famously said that like dieting, successful investing is far easier to understand than to accomplish. This is because it requires discipline. However, many investors did not realize that they are always affected by market news from various outlets. They are impacted by the market noises that are happening in the stock market. Market noise has become appreciably louder for most consumers since the internet has become widely available. 

If you are still new to the stock investing world, you need to read this article. Many amateur investors fall into this market noise trap. In this blog content, I will explain what market noise is and what causes the market noise to occur? Lastly, investors should ignore it and use this market fluctuation to their advantage when investing in the stock market.  

 

Why Did Warren Buffett Invest Heavily in Coca-Cola in the Late 1980s?

I have been a fan of Warren Buffett since the beginning of my investment journey. I knew about Warren Buffett from my older brother, Peter Bun. My brother was the one that introduces Warren Buffett to me. Warren Buffett was someone I idolized. I was amazed by his investment skills that led him to become the world's legendary stock investor. He was not only one of the wealthiest people in the world but also a great teacher. Warren Buffett wasn't stingy about his investment techniques and liked to share how he did it to the public.

 
His success made me interested in following his teachings and the advice he tells the public. I like how Warren Buffett picks his investment. He always chooses companies that are very easy to understand but has a great business. One of the most significant investments that led him to become wealthy was Coca-Cola Inc. (Ticker: KO). This purchase was made back in the 1980s and was one of his top holding in Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio. He bought more than $1 billion of Coca-Cola Inc. shares in 1988, equivalent to 6.2% of the company. This turned out to be one of Berkshire's most lucrative investments.
 
Even today, Warren Buffett still holds Coca-Cola Inc. stocks in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio. He didn't sell it and planned to hold it for a long time. Coca-Cola Inc.'s stock price has increased in value since his purchase in the 1980s. Warren Buffett had become wealthy because of making this smart investment pick. Because of this success, it made me curious about why he decided to invest in Coca-Cola Inc. in 1987. I decided to research as to why he did it and how I can use this as an example for my next investment purchase. I will explain why Warren Buffett decided to invest most of Berkshire Hathaway's cash balance in Coca-Cola Inc in this post. This post content will demonstrate and teach you guys how we can replicate Warren Buffett's investment ideology. 
 

Want to Learn about Stock Investing & Build Wealth: 9 Reasons Why You Should Buy My Book that I'm Soon Going to Release

I have been a dividend growth investor for quite some time already. It has been a few years since I have started the portfolio and this blog. If you readers have been following my blog, you probably know that I have done pretty well in stock investing. Through discipline saving and investing, I became a millionaire on my own (not dad's wealth) at the age of thirty. I do not acquire any debt in my life and have built my personal wealth just from living below my mean and religiously investing most of my income. Moreover, I didn't reach millionaire status because I have a high-income paying job, but from managing my personal finance really well and always investing my money in the stock market.

Because I felt I made a tremendous financial achievement at the age of thirty, I felt that I wanted to share the knowledge and information with the world. I felt that many people out there are not managing their personal finance wisely and have no plan at all for their retirement. During my free time, I wrote my own book about building wealth through dividend growth investing & creating new income streams. The book's title is called "Snowball from Zero," but this is still a prototype, and changes might be applied.

I have not finished writing the book yet, but I am currently halfway through writing. So far, I have written approximately close to fifty pages, and believe I still have many things I want to write. I have designed the book front and back cover, but I might still want to edit it. My goal is to have the book finish written by the end of 2021. Hopefully, I can finish writing and have it published at that time.

The book I'm currently working on is intended for the people out there to learn basic building wealth through dividend growth investing. Moreover, it also teaches people new ways of creating a new stream of income. I really believe that the book I plan to have published is excellent for anyone curious about building wealth and stock investing. It is great for beginners and someone who already has some understanding.
 
I am really confident the book I am currently working on can help people learn the things I'm already implementing in my life. Whatever I am covering in my book is the knowledge and experience I have gone through to create the personal wealth I have right now. Yes, I have received quite a large sum of starting capital from my dad from investing in the stock market; however, I believe this book can help anyone out there start building wealth starting from zero. I want to be able to help others reach the financial freedom that many dreams of. Also, there are many things that the book covers, creating new sources of alternative income. Some of these methods are things I am also currently working on in my life. It might not pay much money now; but, I will explain the potential revenue from working on these side projects.  
 
Once I finished writing the book, I am planning to have it publish and sold. I am not planning to price it at a high price, but at a meager and affordable price. I don't want to make a lot of money from selling this book because my real intention is for people to learn how to build wealth through stock investing. Also, I want people to know and learn about the side-projects I am working on that can potentially make me a good income aside from working in my dad's company. In this blog post, I want to explain why purchasing my book is beneficial for readers out there to learn about building wealth and stock investing. Moreover, the book also covers the things you can do to create a new stream of income. Buying my book is value for the money, and it is something you should not avoid before starting investing in the stock market.

Recent Stock Purchase [Pfizer Inc. (PFE)]: I’m Adding More Shares of this Company

The stock market has rallied after the presidential election between Trump and Biden. My portfolio holdings have increased by quite a fair amount. Today, November 11, 2020, I decided to monitor and analyze my portfolio during my free time. I was reading an article content made by Chris Lee Susanto about his investment holding. I realized he is betting quite a large amount of his money in Pfizer Inc. (Ticker: PFE).
 
After analyzing Chris Lee’s portfolio, I decided to sell some of my winners from my portfolio. I wanted to purchase more of Pfizer Inc. shares because I feel really confident about this investment. Because I needed more capital to invest, I decided to let go of some of my Buckle Inc. (Ticker: BKE) position from my portfolio. 
 
With the money I receive from selling the stock, I decided to purchase more of Pfizer Inc. (Ticker: PFE) company share. I have spent some time analyzing this investment decision since I am betting more of my money into Pfizer Inc. stock. If you want to understand why Pfizer Inc. is a great investment, I have written an article about it in this blog.
 
As a host of this blog, I want my readers and followers to be informed of whatever decision I am making. I hope this article can be useful for you guys. This post is to announce my recent transaction for readers out there to be informed. I am going to give my reasoning as to why I am doing it.
 

Why Bitcoin Cryptocurrency is a Bad Investment: 5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Invest in it

I am pretty sure that people out there have heard about Bitcoin. Some even went to purchase Bitcoin as an investment. They believe that Bitcoin will keep increasing in value because of its limited supply. 

If you have no clue what bitcoin is, I am here to explain it to you. Bitcoin is a digital currency created in January 2009. Bitcoin offers the promise of lower transaction fees than traditional online payment mechanisms and is operated by a decentralized authority, unlike government-issued currencies.

Bitcoin has indeed increased in price these past several years. Some even made a fortune investing early into Bitcoin. Fearing of missing out, many people invest their life savings into Bitcoin. I have many friends who believe in Bitcoin and have invested their money in it.
 
I am not against blockchain technology that is a decentralized ledger of all transactions across a peer-to-peer network. I believe that blockchain technology is a great invention. Using this technology, participants can confirm transactions without a need for a central clearing authority. However, I am against investing my money into Bitcoin. This article will cover the reasons why Bitcoin is a bad investment and why you should avoid investing in it. Bitcoin does not have any intrinsic value to it, and it is just a hype where many investors decided to invest in it. 
 

Why I Don't Day Trade or Try to Time the Market

There are many ways how you can make money in the stock market. One method is to day trade. Day trading and investing for the long term are both viable forms of securities trading, and many traders opt to do both. Day trading involves making trades that last for seconds or minutes, taking advantage of the short-term fluctuation in a stock's price. With day trading, all positions are opened and closed within the same day.

Many of my friends have asked me why I do not day trade. You can make money by day trading; however, this method of making money in the stock market is something I dislike and do not pursue in doing. I used to try learning how to day trade. When I was still a beginner in investing in the stock market, I tried doing some day trading when I was still studying in the United States. It might seem easy and fun; however, it is actually pretty tricky and stressful.

 

This is why I decided to do value investing as a method to make money in the stock market. I believe that investing in the stock market for the long term suits me more than day trade. I want to explain why I decide to not day trade or time the market and choose long term value investing. I believe investing in the stock market for the long term is more beneficial and also more profitable.

 

Dollar Cost Averaging Investment Strategy

Many investors who are new to stock investing tend to worry about when to enter the market. It’s normal for new investors to feel this way since they don’t want to risk losing their hard-earned money. When I was new to the stock market, I got afraid when the stock went down in value and ended me to make an irrational investment move by selling the stock when the price was actually a bargain. I was frustrated and upset after seeing the stock I sold goes up in value years later, knowing that I would make huge returns if I have kept the stock. New investors worry if the stocks are too expensive while simultaneously fretting about missing out on market gain. The stock market price value fluctuates every day, and no one knows when the market will enter into a bear market or if the stock market is going to continue to going up. Peter Lynch, who is a successful fund investor, mentioned, “I can’t recall ever once having seen the name of a market timer on Forbes‘ annual list of the richest people in the world. If it were truly possible to predict corrections, you’d think somebody would have made billions by doing it.” What he meant by this is that it’s almost impossible to time the market.

Moreover, if you purchase a stock based on your feeling that the market will go up, that will be considered as speculating and not investing. So what’s the solution for new investors who want to start investing in the stock market? There is a simple solution for beginners who want to limit their risk while investing in the stock market. What I want to introduce to you readers is an investment strategy called Dollar Cost Averaging. Dollar-cost averaging is a popular strategy for building investment positions over time. This investing strategy is simple and can be effective for new beginners who want to start investing in the stock market. In addition, I will also explain the pros and cons of this investing strategy.

11 Basic Financial Metrics to Value a Stock

Value investors often try to find a stock in the market that is trading in a undervalue territory. Investors usually use financial metrics to evaluate a stock whether the market overreacts to good or bad news. We can see a stock price movement that doesn’t correspond with the stock company financial fundamental. There are many successful and well known value investors out there such as Warren E. Buffett, Peter Lynch, and many others that use this strategy to analyze a stock. Looking at financial metrics gives the ability for a value investor to see whether the stock is overpriced or oversold. Also, they can use these metrics to see whether the stock is trading at a fair value or not. It is fine to buy great companies that have long term business potential at a fair price as mentioned by Warren E. Buffett himself. He also mentioned that it’s better to purchase a great company at fair price rather than a low quality company at an undervalue price. It’s great when you have this financial knowledge to evaluate whether a company is a potential buy or something that you want to avoid investing. Having the knowledge of utilizing financial metrics when investing give investors a more understanding of what’s going on with the company. People that have been following my blog know that I am a dividend growth investor who adopts value investing techniques. I’ve been using this technique since I initiated this blog to find great dividend growth stocks. It has a long term potential of increasing the companies’ dividend payout as well as capital appreciation to the stock price. I’m here now to share my experience on 11 basic financial metrics I use to find great dividend paying stocks.

What is Value Investing: The Beginner’s Guide

Investing in stocks is considered to be one of the most powerful methods you can use to attain financial independence. However, it’s also a great way to lose your hard earned money if you don’t know what you are doing. In the stock market, many people have different strategy to invest. Some uses chart and technical analyst when picking a stock which can be considered to be speculating. Some prefers to invest in stocks as if they are investing in a business. This is where the term Value investing comes in.  It is like an art skills on picking a stock as an investment. Value investing is a strategy of which so appealing for beginners because it is designed to both reduce risk and unlock potential profits. It is an investing strategy that involves on how picking stocks listed in the stock market that appear to be trading less than or within their intrinsic value. The term was first inspired by Benjamin Graham who is the author of “The Intelligent Investor” and in some circles, he is known as the “Father of Value Investing”. Benjamin Graham was also a mentor to one of the most successful investor name Warren E. Buffett. With this method of investing, many investors had made fortune in their investing career. Some of the successful investors such as Peter Lynch, Joel Greenblatt, Ray Dalio, and many more had done very well using value investing method. These investors had used value investing principle when picking a stock to invest. Anyways, are you curious about this method of investing? If you want to invest in stock safely, I think value investing is the right investing method for you. In this content, I would share with you readers the investing method of Value Investing, and how you can apply this investing term to the way you invest in the stock market. Moreover, I would like to share why I use this method as my investing strategy to pick my dividend growth stocks to my portfolio holding.  

The Meaning and Benefit of Having Economic Moat

The term Economic Moat is a term that is used by many value investors in the investing world. The bigger the moat means the safer for the investors to invest their money in the company. It was a term that is popularized by a successful investor Warren Buffett. Economic Moat refers when a company or business that has the ability to maintain its competitive advantages over its competitors in order to protect market share and its future earnings. It’s like a castle in the olden time that have a moat around it, the moat functions is to protect those inside the fortress and their enemies from coming in. Having a stronger moat such as having water surrounding the castle makes it difficult for enemies to attack. This is similar in the investing world. It’s great to buy stocks which companies have a strong economic moat. These companies are able to sustain their business and to stay one step ahead of their competitors. One of Warren Buffett’s secret of success in his investing career is to invest in companies that have strong economic moat. Warren investing in companies with great economic moat allowed him to hold companies for a long period of time. He likes to invest in companies that have a long business prospect so that he’s able to keep holding them in his portfolio without the need to sell the companies often. In this article, I will discuss further about economic moat and why it’s important in the investing world. I will then also explain about how to spot whether a company has an economic moat and why I prefer investing in companies with moats around in my dividend growth portfolio.

How to Know Whether a Stock is a Value Trap & How to Avoid Them

Value Investing is an investing strategy and method that was taught and inspired by Benjamin Graham. Benjamin Graham is the author of “The Intelligent Investor” and considered as the father of value investing. The basic concept of value investing is pretty straight forward and pretty simple to be comprehended. The stock market is a place where many listed companies are available to be purchased or sold. Companies’ stock prices changes every day and it’s very liquid meaning that you are able to sell or buy the stock at any given time (during opening market). The strategy of value investing is to invest in stocks where the companies’ fundamental are trading in the stock market less than their intrinsic value. It’s similar like buying a Television set on sale, and knowing the price of the TV is supposedly worth more than its usual price. You’ll probably wait before purchasing because you know that there will always be times when the item is on sales. When the time comes, you’ll buy that certain merchandise at a discount getting a great value for your money. Many great value investors have made fortune in investing using this technique. Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, David Dodd, Charlie Munger, Joel Greenblatt, David Einhorn and many more are some examples of successful value investors. 

I myself have been using this strategy in investing in the stock market and made pretty good return since I initiated this blog. Looking at companies’ financial metrics gives me the advantage of purchasing a stock that is on discount. However, there is a challenge when investing using this value investment strategy. It’s not as simple as you would think to be and this is where the term value trap comes in. Value trap is a stock that appears to be cheap having low valuation financial metrics such as multiple of earnings, cash flow or book value for an extended time period. Such stocks of course attract many value investors such as myself thinking that the stock is trading at a bargain price. The trap happened when investors purchase the stock at a low price thinking they are getting a bargain but the stock continues to weaken and drop further. Its price appears to be a bargain but in fact the stock is not selling below its intrinsic value. This of course results for the investors that purchase that particular stock to lose money on their investment. I myself experienced value trap when investing in the stock market. It result me losing approximately $40,000 on that stock (Ticker: GME). After going through this horrible mistake, it made me become more experience in investing in the stock market and be more cautious when investing. So how do we spot a stock that is a potential value trap? In this article, I will explain my experience and knowledge to know whether a stock is value trap.

Why Reinvesting Dividends is a Smart Investing Strategy

Becoming a Dividend Growth Investor is not a quick way to get rich. It requires you to have a strict discipline to hold those dividends paying stocks for a long term period. The longer the investment horizon you have, the better the result your portfolio will have in the future. Historically, the total return of the S&P 500 has delivered just over 9% per year. Half of the total return comes from price appreciation while the other half comes from dividends. This proves that dividends are driving force to S&P 500 total return performance. Readers that have been following my blog know the benefit of owning dividend stocks. As a Dividend Growth Investor, you will receive dividend payment that will be paid every quarter for the stocks you own. Whether you are looking for a source of income for now or building your portfolio for the future, owning dividends stocks can be beneficial towards your long term investing. With dividends coming in, you will have the choice to either use the dividends received for your expenses; put a down payment on your property, or you can just store the extra cash in your brokerage account. However, one crucial part of becoming a successful dividend growth investor is to use the dividends received from your portfolio to be reinvested in stocks that pay dividends. This might seem to have very little impact to your portfolio of having the dividends reinvested in the beginning, but over a long period of time, the power of compound interest can multiply your dividend growth portfolio at an exponential growth. Dividend reinvestment is one of the simplest ways to grow your portfolio. When you reinvest your dividends, you get a massive advantage compared to not reinvesting your dividends. Since my goal to financial freedom is still far ahead, I am currently not using the dividends I receive from my portfolio for my daily expenses. In fact, I personally am reinvesting the dividends I receive from my portfolio in order to have better financial result. When my dividend growth portfolio produces significant amount of passive income (dividends) in the future, then I will start using the dividend earnings for my early retirement. In this article, I will explain why reinvesting your dividends is a smart investing strategy for your portfolio.

The Definition of Circle of Competence in the Investing World

Circle of Competence is a term used by many value investors. Warren Buffet, a successful investor wrote in his 1996 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders that you don’t have to be an expert on every company, or even many. You are only required to understand few companies that are within your circle of competence. Just investing in companies you understand and feel comfortable with can create great wealth for you in the stock market or any other investment. What I mean by that, it’s better to invest in companies that you have understanding in rather than gambling your way to invest in companies that you don’t understand. This does not only apply in investing in stocks but also other investment such as real estate, and other assets. If you don’t understand how the businesses operate in a company or the investment, it’s better to stay away from it since you might actually lose money when investing in them. Understanding your circle of competence in investing helps you avoid making investing mistakes, it helps identify opportunities that you have understanding and confidence in.  So before you start investing in a stock, it is the best you really understand the companies you are going to invest in. In this article, I’m going to explain what circle of competence mean and how you can apply this term to be a better value investor.

How Warren Buffett Become Wealthy and Successful

Many value investors out there probably know who Warren E. Buffett is. If you don’t know him yet, let me give a short summary of him. Warren Buffett is an American successful investor, a businessman as well as a benevolent philanthropist. He was born in August 30, 1930, and apparently, he is still alive as this article is written in the year of 2019. He is considered as one of the most successful investors in the world that inspired many people. Many value investors try to understand how he invests and replicate his strategy. I as a dividend growth and value investor am inspired by his success and teachings. Even though I had never met him in real life; however I became really inspired by him for his investment ideology and respect him for his benevolent philanthropist act to the society. As this article was written today (June 30, 2019), Warren E. Buffett has an estimated net worth of $87.5 billion USD making him the third richest person right before Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. Having him to be one of the richest people in the world is not the reason why I idolized him so much. Warren Buffett is not the typical rich person that spent his money on materialistic things such as fancy cars, a huge mansion, or lavish yachts. He lives just like the typical average American who purchases his breakfast at McDonald every day before going to work. In addition, he still lives at the same modest home he purchased back in 1958 for $31,500 or about $250,000 if adjusted with inflation. Like I said, he is not the typical rich people who want to have lavish things and lifestyle but he is just a humble person that loves to build his business empire that will eventually go back to society. He pledged more than 99% of his wealth will go to philanthropy during his life or at death and he couldn’t be happier with that decision. I’m so amazed by his generosity since he has dedicated his life to building his wealth without much inheritance from his parents. He didn’t come from a wealthy family but an average middle-class family and through hard work and dedication; he has built the fortune he has today. I love building wealth and doing business just like Warren Buffett and believe that wealthy people who are in the 1% wealth list should donate at least 50% of their wealth before or after their death. 

My dad similar to Warren Buffet who started from nothing, and he is considered to be wealthy today; however I don’t see his wealth as my success. I believe in building my own scorecard and fortune just like my dad and Mr. Buffett, and I would not be upset if my parents decide to give away their wealth to charity later on. I mean, after all, I believe that their wealth is theirs and I don’t want them to feel obligated. However, if my dad let my brother and me to inherit his business legacy, I would still continue to expand his wealth. It would be better for me and my brother to grow the wealth since my dad has already built the tree for us which gives a tremendous head start. However, towards the future, if I become really wealthy, I might pledge to give away up to 50% of my wealth to charity after my death. Anyways let’s not get distracted about me being philanthropy; I’m still far from being in the 1% list!  Let’s go back to the topic of Warren Buffett. After understanding the stories of his success and the amount of wealth he accumulated, you readers might wonder how on earth he does it. I myself was curious about how Warren Buffett did it. After doing many bibliography studies and research about him, I learned how Warren Buffett became successful and wealthy therefore I’m here to share his stories with you guys.