If you want to get good at golf it would only make sense to watch and learn from the world’s best golfers. This is true for most sports. If you want to improve your game, take advice and watch the best in the world, whatever the sport.
The same is true for almost anything; from dieting, driving, money and getting a promotion at work. Take advice from people that have done it in the past.
Warren Buffet is the second richest man in the world. I guess this makes him someone you could take advice from, knowing that it is likely to be excellent.
In 2008, he met with some girl scouts in the USA for lunch at a takeaway restaurant. This was an opportunity for the girl scouts to get some money advice for their lives going forward.
One of the questions that were asked was.
Questions: What financial suggestions do you have for college students?
Warren Buffet’s Answer: The biggest suggestion I have is to avoid credit cards. I get letters every day; lots of letters every day, from people that have financial troubles. And it comes about from three things; one is losing their job, the other is some kind of terrible illness that hits them by surprise, but the third thing is credit cards. Interest rates are very high on credit cards and sometimes they’re 18%, sometimes they’re 21%. If I borrowed money at 18% or 20%, I would be broke. I can’t make a living by borrowing money. If I’m $10,000 ahead, and $9000 or $10,000 in the hole is night and day and credit cards, it is very easy to get in the hole and the interest charges compound and finally you’re in too big a hole to dig your way out. If I had one piece of advice for young people, generally it is just to avoid credit cards.
Warren Buffet has made all of his money from the sharemarket. It was interesting that his advice was to avoid credit cards. He could have said anything from learn about stocks, start your own business, get a degree in a particular subject or even write down and stick to goals.
But he didn’t, his advice was not to sign up to and use credit cards.
The funny thing about this is, Warren Buffet is one of the major shareholders in American Express; one of the world’s largest credit card companies. He has been involved with that company since the 1960s!
So he has made a huge fortune in getting people to use credit cards, yet his biggest advice is not to use credit cards!
