The Art of Doing Nothing: Charlie Munger’s Secret to Building Wealth

“It’s waiting that helps you as an investor, and a lot of people just can’t stand to wait.”

The investor Charlie Munger, the longtime partner of Warren Buffet, once said:

“Life, in part, is like a poker game, wherein you have to learn to quit sometimes when holding a much-loved hand — you must learn to handle mistakes and new facts that change the odds.”

Munger often talks about patience in investing. But he also highlights one important aspect of smart investing, which is knowing when to quit.

The thing I like about Munger is his personal philosophy of playing defense with one’s money, something that Warren Buffett also advocates. Munger said:

“It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.”

When people try to be “very intelligent” they often search for “hidden” ways to make more money. We see that in the…