The dream of owning a luxury home will not make you happy: a billionaire’s word

Even when his net worth exceeded $2.5 billion, Charlie Munger never gave up on the idea of ​​building a mega mansion. The financial genius and Warren Buffett’s right-hand man at Berkshire Hathaway lived in the same house for seven decades: “I did it consciously“, he said in his own words Latest CNBC interview Before he died at the age of 99.

“All our friends got rich and built bigger and better houses,” he recalls in the interview, which was recorded at his home in California. “And the, Naturally, [Warren y yo] We can:We both think about bigger and better homes. I had a lot of kids, so it was justified…”

However, Charlie Munger admitted that he was not comfortable with the lifestyle “where I look like the Duke of Westchester or something.” He was going to avoid it at all costs because he had a strong enough reason: “I didn’t think it would be good for kids.Munger had nine children in two marriages, including the couple’s two sons and a son who died of leukemia at age nine.

“I’m going to spoil them so much. When you grow up in a rich family, [te enseñan que] Your duty is to use your wealth and live wonderfully. This is what everyone does with money. “You learn from people who do it that way,” he said, explaining that his children should be prepared for whatever difficulties life throws at them, rather than taking the shortest path to success.

A bigger house will make you unhappy

Munger was also convinced that, contrary to popular belief, a larger or more luxurious home made people unhappier. “We’ve seen our wealthy friends build these really luxurious homes. I would say in almost all cases it makes someone less happy, not happier.”

Warren has lived in his home for about 60 years. “We’re alike,” he said of his 93-year-old friend and business partner. CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, with a net worth of $117.6 billion, lives in the same house he bought for $31,500 in 1958.

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Buffett himself has said on other occasions that his quality of life would be worse if he had “six or eight houses.” “My life couldn’t be happier. I have everything I need and I don’t need more because it doesn’t make any difference after a point.” Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting 2014.

He continued: “There are things that money cannot buy.” “I don’t think the standard of living equals the cost of living beyond a certain point. Good housing, good health, good food, good transportation. “There comes a point where you start to have an inverse relationship between wealth and quality of life.”

During the same meeting, Munger pointed to thrift as “the fundamental way Berkshire became a company.” “I look at this audience and I see a lot of humble, frugal people. We attract them.”

Like Buffett, Munger often preached the benefits of modest living. In the CNBC interview, he attributed his success – and longevity – to his long-standing sense of caution and his ability to “avoid all the common ways to fail.”

“The goal is not to remain rich, but to remain sane,” he said. “toInsanity is more common than you think. It’s easy to go crazy. Just avoid it, avoid it, avoid it.”

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