Charlie Munger's golden words that Warren Buffett believes in: ‘Write your obituary, live accordingly'

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett this month handed over the reins of Berkshire Hathaway to successor Greg Abel, and amid this, his various life advice and investment mantras are gaining even more popularity on social media.

In a viral post on X (formerly Twitter), one user noted that 95-year-old Warren Buffett's key advice on avoiding major mistakes was borrowed from his dear friend and business partner, the late Charlie Munger.

The advice that Charlie Munger gave was retrospective and thoughtful: “Write your obituary the way you want it written and then live your life accordingly.”

How to avoid major mistakes: Warren Buffett says this helps…

Speaking at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting press conference in 2023, Buffet answered a question on how to avoid major mistakes in life.

“If I had one piece of advice, I would sort of use Charlie's (Munger) advice: Thinking out your obituary to read and then start selecting the educational paths, the social paths… you know, whatever (it is) that you're particular situation in terms of associating (pursuing),” he said.

Warren Buffett also told the audience that living in the US is an advantage in itself. “You're lucky you live in this country. Because, just to start with, you've got opportunities here that wouldn't exist in much of the world. The opportunity in this country, you know, is basically limitless.”

Charlie Munger's philosophy on living well

Speaking to CNBC in November 2023, Munger said that he advised Buffett to “write his obituary the way he wants it written and then live his life accordingly. Look at things, and live backwards”, adding that “it’s not a bad idea” to start at the end.

He added, “I’ve written my obituary the way I’ve lived my life, and if you want to pay attention to it, it’s alright with me. And if they want to ignore it, that’s OK with me too. I’ll be dead. I am very good at recognizing unfair advantages, and I got unfair advantages in old age the same way I got unfair advantages in non-old age. And when they came, I just grabbed them: boom, boom, boom.”

He passed away later that same month on 29 November 2023.