Charlie Munger died yesterday, just a few days shy of 100 years old. His life was full of the sort of wisdom and common sense that so often seems to evade Wall Street Types™ and those who blindly follow them, and I’m grateful much of that wisdom and common sense was so quotable that we will have a decent record of it even now that he’s passed.
One of his ideas was the concept of a “circle of competence.” He and Buffett famously had a “too-hard pile” where they tossed any investment idea that they couldn’t sufficiently wrap their minds around. The wisdom behind this idea is that while what you know is important, what matters most is the humility and awareness to admit when you don’t know something.
This humility and openness is not just the key to investing well, it is the key to living well. Holding the gift of life loosely, with expectations that tend toward simplicity, selflessness, and sincerity—it may not be a recipe for Munger-like financial wealth, but it will make your rich nonetheless.
Meaningful Returns 