I’ve started to read “The Snowball“, which is a biography of Warren Buffett.  So far, it’s a facinating book, that has changed my perspective on my “Financial Hero #2 Warren Buffett” post.

Although I’m only 1/4 of the way through the book, I wanted to mention something that I wouldn’t have guess about Warren Buffett.  He was a Renter!

There was a time when Mr. Buffett was just a little rich (my my standards) and so he was a renter.  When he was 26 year old (and rich by most of our standards), he said that he was retired (but really this was just the beginning).  He had gathered enough money by that age that he would live off of the money he had at the time.  He believed that he could live off of that money through his stock market skills (and he was right).  But he didn’t stop there, no sir!  He started managing trusts for people.  They would invest and he would manage their money into investments.

Warren rented because he didn’t want to tie up his money in a house at that time, after all, he needed to live off of the interest on the stocks he owned.  This was highly unusual at the time, especially considering that even at 26, he would have be considered rich by most standards.

So all of you Renters out there that claim your way is the best… you might be right, especially if you have investing skills like Warren did.

The catch is he didn’t rent for very long after he was 26… Eventually he bought a house (I think the one he lives in today).

So you crafty renters out there that might be investing tons of money!  Hats off to you all!

-MR