Why Warren Buffett Values Time More Than Money — How You Can Have a Wealth of Both
Written by
Aja McClanahan
Edited by
Travis Woods
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Warren Buffet is among the wealthiest men in the world, yet he insists that money isn’t his most valuable possession. The renowned investor and philanthropist has admitted, “I can buy anything that I want, but I can’t buy time.”
In a 2017 interview with Charlie Rose on the Bloomberg network, the Berkshire Hathaway chairman added, “You better be careful with [time] because there’s no way I will be able to buy more.”
In another 2016 interview on Bloomberg’s network with David Rubenstein, Buffet confessed that “Money has no utility to me. Time has utility to me,” reflecting a philosophy driven by the pursuit of meaningful activities over mere wealth accumulation.
From the perspective of a multi-billionaire, here are some ways to think differently about money versus time, and how you can ultimately have more of both.
Use Time to Make Money
If you don’t have much in the way of money, you can convert your free time into money, like creating a small enterprise or starting a side hustle.
Use Money to Buy Time
Once you’ve used your time to make some money, the next step would be to use that money to buy time. Ways to buy back your time might include hiring help for certain tasks that take away from your ability to earn more money or engage in more recreation and leisure. As an investor, you can use your money to even “buy” an early retirement or work-optional lifestyle.
You can do this by acquiring passive streams of income, which may include dividend stocks, real estate or business holdings. Buffet is a staunch advocate for letting the power of compound interest grow wealth over time, pointing out that the earlier you start investing, the more time your money has to grow.
Spend Your Time Doing What You Enjoy
Although this may sound like a luxury most people can’t possibly afford, it’s one of the reasons Buffet says he’s still working despite his age (93). His advice to people grappling with the time, money and the ideal retirement age conundrum is to “Look for the job that you would want to hold if you didn’t need a job.” He added that you should “look for the job that turns you on. Find a passion.”
With this approach, you’ll have a good balance of using your time for purpose-driven pursuits that also bring substantial financial gain, which could be a great way to redefine what true wealth really is –enough money to enjoy life along with plenty of time to do it.
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