- On Planned Parenthood : Buffett said he believes it is terrific. Says women have had bearing babies forced upon them for years. Men set the rules for years, and he thinks it wonderful that women can make reproductive choices. He said, "I hope you'll respect my opinion as I respect yours."
- On the Dow @13000 : Better get used to these big numbers, to get a 5% return, the Dow will have to be at a million by the end of this century.
- Warren Buffett's only tax advisor is George W. Bush. His annual tax rate last year was 20%. In comparison, he said his employees with income's of US$50k+, pay close to 37%. Forbes 400 richest Americans pay a lower tax rate than their receptionists.
- Still sticks with the 50% return claim for upto $10 million.
- "Read everything you can. By the time I was 10, I read every book in the library that had to do with investing, and many I read twice. You just have to fill up your mind with competing thoughts and then sort them out as to what makes sense over time. And once you've done that, you ought to jump in the water. The earlier you start the better in terms of reading. What I'm doing today at 76 is running things in the same thought pattern that I got from a book at 19. Read, and then on small scale do some of it yourself."
- Will 1973-74 opportunities happen again?When I closed my partnership, the prospective returns going forward I felt was the same as municipal bonds. Don't think that it is the same situation now. If I managed endowment funds, it would be 100% in stocks or long bonds or short bonds, no mix. If I have 20 years and a choice between index funds and 20 year bonds, I would rather buy stocks today.
- Silver : I bought too early, sold too early, and other than that it was a perfect trade.
- What advice do you have for people giving money 40 years from now? As long as you plan to give it back, there is nothing wrong with your time horizon. If you're compounding money at a rate greater than people generally do, you are an endowment for society. Endowments do that to get average returns. You can let someone else take care of the giving now.
- We were talking about an oil company where we read the report and couldn't find the exploration costs in the report. To the extent that it was touched on, was in a dishonest manner. It makes a difference. Annual reports tell you a lot about the honesty of the individual.
- If I were writing something now, I would say if I had to own long bonds or equities, I'd rather have equities, but I would not have high expectations, but above 4.75%
CM mentions Marcus Aurelius here, (a full transcript of the Q&A)
"What one does easily, one does well." -Andrew Carnegie
