The life recommendation Charlie Munger gave Warren Buffett: Stay life backwards

Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, who died Tuesday at age 99, offered what turned out to be sage advice to his friend and investing legend Warren Buffett years ago: live life backwards.

Munger years ago told the slightly younger Buffett, 93, how he should live his life, according to CNBC’s Becky Quick, speaking on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” Munger told Buffett, “he should write his obituary the way he wants it to be written, and then live his life accordingly,” Quick said. “Look at things, and live backwards.”

In a recent, unaired interview conducted earlier in November, Munger told Quick “it’s not a bad idea” to start at the end. “I wrote my obituary the way I lived my life, and if you want to pay attention to it, that’s fine with me. And if they want to ignore it, that’s fine with me too. I’m going to be dead. .”

Philosophizing about the vagaries of advanced age, Munger said, “I’m very good at recognizing unfair advantages, and I got unfair advantages in old age just as I got unfair advantages in non-old age. And when they came, I just grabbed them. :boom , boom, boom.”