If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. - Sir Isaac Newton

⁣⁣⁣With that thought in mind, if you are going to get serious about investing your money to create wealth for your family then you might want to pay attention to the common sense and often quite quirky home-grown philosophy of the financial giant, Warren Buffett.

⁣⁣⁣Many consider him to be the best investor in the world! ⁣⁣⁣His track record certainly puts him right up there – he turned an investment of just ⁣⁣⁣$114.75 into a $117 Billion net worth.

⁣⁣⁣He’s in his 90’s now but still heads up his company Berkshire Hathaway, an⁣ investment company that he acquired back in 1965. As a kid his goal was to become a millionaire by 30. So he got to work on that... ⁣⁣At 10 years old he pestered his father to take him to New York City so that he could visit the New York Stock Exchange⁣⁣⁣

He bought his first stock at 11 years old. ⁣⁣⁣Then fuelled by a fascination with money, he bought a book called ‘One Thousand Ways To Make $1,000’. ⁣⁣⁣From there he started to do anything and everything he could to make money – he did paper rounds, sold chewing gum door to door and would even scavenge for discarded winning tickets at the local horse race track.

⁣⁣⁣At age 13 he was making $175 per week. ⁣⁣⁣At 14 bought 40 acres of farmland installed a tenant farmer and split the profits. ⁣⁣⁣Over the next few years he started several more businesses (most failing!) including a car valeting enterprise and another where he installed pinball machines in barber shops and again split the profits. ⁣⁣⁣By 18 he’d gone from delivering papers himself one door at a time to running a team of 50 rural paper boys.

⁣⁣⁣By the time he’d graduated from high school as a result of all of these entrepreneurial endeavors Buffett had accrued savings of over $50,000 in today’s money. ⁣⁣⁣After high school Buffett attended Columbia Business School where he encountered the ‘giant shoulders’ of Benjamin Graham, an investment guru – the two of them hit it off and Buffett was the first student of Graham to get an A+ in his 22 years as a professor.

⁣⁣⁣From there on in Buffett was a professional investor.

• ⁣⁣⁣By his 30th birthday, his investment abilities had made him a millionaire
• By 40 he was worth about $25,000,000⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
• By 50 he was worth $376,000,000⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
• By 60 he was worth $3,600,000,000 (Yep that’s billion!)

And he’s more than tripled his wealth since.⁣⁣⁣ Yet, till this day he still lives in the same house he bought way back in 1958 and he takes a salary of just $100,000 from his business.⁣⁣⁣

I encourage you to do your own research into his obviously successful approach to investing but for now, here are my top 10 favourite quotes, many from speeches he’s made at the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meetings that are attended by an incredible 30,000 fan/shareholders each year!⁣⁣

1. “Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No.1.”⁣
2. “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
3. “Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”⁣
4. “Nobody buys a farm based on whether they think it’s going to rain next year. They buy it ⁣because they think it’s a good investment over 10 or 20 years.”⁣
5. “Never invest in a business you can’t understand.”
6. “The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect. You need a ⁣temperament that neither derives great pleasure from being with the crowd or against the ⁣crowd.”⁣
7. “If you aren’t willing to own a stock for 10 years, don’t even think about owning it for 10 ⁣minutes.”
8. “Our favorite holding period is forever.”⁣
9. “I will tell you how to become rich. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when ⁣others are fearful.”⁣
10. “Never depend on a single income. Make an investment to create a second source of ⁣income.”

⁣⁣Oh, and just one more … “The most important investment you can make is in yourself.” That’s what he said!⁣⁣

So don’t forget, when you are ready to invest in your own financial education you can get started with the Dentists Who Invest Academy – I created it specifically for dentists like you that want to turn a great income into great wealth.⁣