Warren Buffett Reading Habit- Which Can Inspire You To Be a Billionaire

“Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.”

Jim Rohn

You may ask why we have picked reading-habit first. The reason is, proof and evidence indicate that successful people have reading habits in common. This fact has contributed a lot to Warren’s success to emerge as a Billionaire.  

CNBC and Business Insider have reported 80% of Warren’s working hours are spent reading. His days start reading with at least 5 newspapers like the WSJ, NYT, Financial Times, Washington Post, and the Omaha World-Herald. 

So, in this article, we will discuss Warren Buffett reading habits so that you can go through the exact way to succeed in life.

The Very Introduction To Book

Buffett’s reading inclination had been spotted since his early childhood. “One of the rudimentary habits is reading books”- it was known in the very early stage of Buffet’s life. His aunt Edie gave him a book named  “1939 World Almanac”, and he finished it when he was only in 5th grade. 

The book gradually became his favorite one. Warren memorized everything from that book.  and even in his recent interviews, he often states “Omaha’s population was 214,006 in 1930.” It compels us to imagine how intensely he read at that time! 

By fifth grade he had immersed himself in the 1939 World Almanac, which quickly became his favorite book. He memorized the population of every city. He got a contest going with Stu over who could name the most world cities with populations over a million.

Source: The Snowball

His indefatigable interest in reading was clearly reflected when suddenly he fell ill. Buffett underwent surgery and had to stay at the hospital. Astonishingly he enjoyed reading even lying in the hospital bed. Here, we are going to share an interesting story in his hospital days. It will express his intellectuality as well as reading enthusiasm. 

“One evening, however, Warren was distracted from his Almanac and his bottle caps by a terrible pain in his belly. The doctor made a house call, then went home to bed. But he couldn’t get the house call out of his mind, so he returned and sent Warren to the hospital. 
Later that night, Warren underwent surgery for a ruptured appendix. The doctor had almost been too late. Warren lay gravely ill in the Catholic-run hospital for several weeks. But cared for by the nursing sisters, he soon found the hospital was a comforting haven. As he began to recover, other pleasures came his way. The World Almanac was brought for him to study.

Source: The Snowball

After being released from the hospital, Warren’s grandfather, Ernest Platt Buffett, took him to Chicago and they enjoyed an exciting baseball match. Besides, Ernest presented the boy with a book about the 1938 Baseball Season expending twenty-five-cent.

As Buffett’s passion for reading had already increased and become a habit, he also memorized it. Warren told Alice, the writer of The Snowball

“That was the most precious book to me. I knew every player’s history from every team and could have told you clearly every word in that book. I knew it in my sleep.”

Warren Buffett

Again, Buffett developed a new interest in Bridge after reading a book gifted by his aunt. 

His aunt Alice introduced him to another new interest when she gave him a book about bridge—probably Culbertson’s Contract Bridge Complete: The New Gold Book of Bidding and Play. Contract bridge—a social, psychological game in which figuring out the problem is as important as solving it—was sweeping the country at the time, and Warren found it suited him more than chess.

Source: The Snowball

This manifests his process of self-development and systematic approach towards solving problems. 

Buffett’s Inauguration to The World of Business Through Books

Warren had an irresistible desire to accumulate money from his early childhood. And he got his jackpot by finding a book at the Benson’s library when he was only seven. 

The book was entitled “One thousand ways to make $1,000.” It was a non-fiction book written on personal finance management by Frances Minaker in 1936. This book had created a magic spell upon the little Buffett. The more he read, the more he bewildered. 

The alluring starting words of the book captivated the young boy by showing different business ideas. The book started this way,

Never in the history of the United has the time been so favorable for a man with small capital to start his own business as it is today, but you cannot possibly succeed until you start!
The way to begin making money is to begin…Hundreds and thousands of people in this country who would like to make a lot of money, but are not making it because they are waiting for something to happen.

One Thousand Ways to Make $1,000

After reading this one, the most innovative idea that attracted Buffett is a pennyweight scale. Being motivated, he started calculating how he can purchase the second one with the profits of the first one. 

Thus, as a young boy, he grew a great business strategy. He earned his first penny by selling chewing gum packs. Buffett disclosed,

I had this little green tray, which had five different areas in it. I’m pretty sure my aunt Edie gave me that. It had containers for five different brands of gum, Juicy Fruit, Spearmint, Doublemint, and so on. I would buy packs of gum from my grandfather and go around door to door in the neighborhood selling this stuff. I used to do that in the evening, largely.

Warren Buffett

Buffett’s Breakthrough in the World of Investment

Warren Buffet has gathered his investing skill by reading numerous books. He sorted out the best tricks and applied them in practice. He said,

I read all of them over and over. The book that probably had the most influence on me was Garfield Drew, who wrote an important book about odd-lot stock trading. I read that about three times. I read Edwards and McGee, which is the bible of technical analysis. I would go down to the library and just clean them out.

Warren Buffett

But the best one that affected him much was “Intelligent Investor” written by Benjamin Graham. 

When he found The Intelligent Investor, he read and reread it. It was almost like he found a god. 

Truman Wood, his housemate 

In Buffett’s words,

Graham’s book” was The Intelligent Investor, published in 1949. This book of “practical counsel” for all types of investors—the cautious (or “defensive”) and speculative (or “enterprising”)—blew apart the conventions of Wall Street, overturning what had heretofore been largely uninformed speculation in stocks. It explained for the first time in a way that ordinary people could understand that the stock market does not operate through black magic…… Graham illustrated a rational, mathematical approach to valuing stocks. Investing, he said, should be systematic.

Reading Habit Can Change Your Mind & World

We all know that at different ages great people around the world had gathered and experienced knowledge and documented them in books. Thus, we learn from books because it can change one’s brain.

By reading books you learn what to do and what not to do. Buffett had utilized this trick in life and always mentions,

“You hit your short term or long term goal easily by ensuring you are NOT doing a wrong thing!”

Warren Buffett

Two Related Researches on Reading Books

Study 1

In a six-month daily reading program from Carnegie Mellon, scientists discovered that the volume of white matter in the language area of the brain actually increased.

Source: Open Educational Database

Study 2

Oxford scientists proved that the process of reading trains the cognitive abilities of the brain. This is because while reading blood enters the areas of the brain that require concentration and cognition.

Source: BRIGHT SIDE

Ways to Concentrate in Reading

What is the Warren Buffett rule?

Answer: The Buffett Rule offered a 30% minimum tax on people earning more than $1 million a year. It was part of President Barack Obama’s 2011 tax project. It was titled after Warren Buffett, who scrutinized a tax system that enabled him to pay a more moderate tax rate than his secretary.

What is the 20-slot rule of Warren Buffett?

Answer: According to Munger, Buffett begins by advising MBA students, “I could develop your ultimate financial welfare by providing you a ticket with only 20 slots in it so that you had 20 punches- representing all the investments that you got to make in a lifetime.”

Does Warren Buffett use stop losses?

Answer: The chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway- Buffett doesn’t sell stocks utilizing a stop-loss order because of its short-term focus. He says investors should not seek to trade stocks but invest in them steadily over time.

Wrapping Up: Warren Buffett Reading Habit

Reading is such a habit that polishes us to be successful in life. The Oracle of Omaha realized it and exploited it in his personal and professional life. 

If you want to succeed in life, you can follow Warren Buffett reading habit. It will show you the path to prosperity. Besides, books have the ability to change your state of mind. 

However, if you have any questions related to it, feel free to leave a comment.