为什么巴菲特在身家数十亿的情况下仍要假扮一种节俭的生活方式?
Why does Warren Buffett portray a lifestyle of frugality when he’s a multi-billionaire?
译文简介
国外网友如何看巴菲特的“简朴”？
正文翻译
Why does Warren Buffett portray a lifestyle of frugality when he’s a multi-billionaire?
为什么巴菲特在身家数十亿的情况下仍要假扮一种节俭的生活方式?
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Not to play mind-reader, but I suspect at least some aspect of his folksy image is meant to ward off kidnapping and extortion attempts.
He certainly gives off the impression that all his money is locked up and his modest house and McDonald’s runs are all he has to live on.
Everyone knows that’s not true
But it certainly narrows down the pool of people wishing to do him harm.
我不是玩读心术，但我怀疑，他平易近人的形象，至少在某种程度上是为了抵御绑架和勒索。他给人的印象是，他所有的钱都锁仓了，他那简朴的房子和麦当劳是他唯一依靠的生活品。
每个人都知道那不是真的。但这确实缩小了想要伤害他的人的范围。
Let’s just admit that he lives modestly compared to his cohort. I know he lives in swanky hotels and has a chauffeur. His LA home sold and it did indeed show a guy who didn’t overly fret for frivolous details and upxes.
我们得承认，与他的同龄人相比，他生活得很简朴。我知道他住在豪华酒店里，还有个司机。他在洛杉矶的房子卖掉了，这确实表明他不会为琐碎的细节过度烦恼。
When your managing other peoples’ money you have to come off as modest and responsible. And he probably is modest and responsible given his own economic reach.
当你管理别人的钱时，你必须表现出谦虚和负责任的样子。考虑到他自己的经济影响力，他可能就是是谦虚和负责任的。
Warren Buffet is very straightforward about his lifestyle. He frugal because he does not believe in spending money to acquire liabilities. He does not look at cars or expensive elaborate houses as perks of wealth but as liabilities to be eschewed. Therefore, having no interest in these things he does not try to acquire them. To the extent where it matters to him he does not hesitate to spend money. He writes in his book that he dislikes the inconvenience of travel and therefore spends excessively on private jets to take him from place to place. He writes that when Lehman Bros. Went into receivership and as the largest shareholder he was appointed to take over as he CEO, he was criticized for taking private jets everywhere he went even though he was only paid modestly for his efforts as CEO. When later in life he decided to buy his own private jet, his business partner, the equally frugal Charlie Munger who believes in the same principle of never acquiring liabilities, became upset at the cost of this acquisition. He told Buffett that buying it was indefensible because of it cost and dramatic deprecation. Buffett overruled him. It goes to show that whe Buffet is so inclined he does not hesitate to spend money, but as a lifestyle he believes in being frugal and lives that way as well.
沃伦巴菲特在其生活方式上很坦率。他节俭，因为他不赞成花钱负债。他不把汽车或昂贵的豪华房子视为额外财富，而是作为负债予以避免。对这些东西没有兴趣，因此他就不会试图去获得它们。只要对他有意义，他就会毫不犹豫地花钱。他在书中写道，他不喜欢旅行的不方便，因此要昂贵的私人飞机带他从一个地方到另一个地方。他写道，当雷曼兄弟进入破产管理程序时，他作为最大的股东被任命为首席执行官，他被指责无论去哪里都乘坐私人飞机，尽管他作为首席执行官只有微薄的报酬。当他晚年决定购买自己的私人飞机时，他的商业伙伴、同样节俭的查理芒格对这次购买的代价感到不安。芒格信奉的原则与他一样，就是永远不要负债。他告诉巴菲特，购买私人飞机是不可取的，因为它的成本和戏剧性的贬值。巴菲特反驳了他的说法。这表明，当巴菲特有倾向时，他会毫不犹豫地花钱，但作为一种生活方式，他相信节俭，并以这种方式生活。
In the 1990’s and 2000’s I worked at the New York Stock Exchange.
I had several colleagues who had hosted a meeting with him in the early 1990’s. They said that Buffet was extremely approachable and self-deprecating. They also said up into the mid 1990’s you could probably call his home in Omaha and he would answer the phone himself.
He is one of a kind.
在20世纪90年代和2000年代，我在纽约证券交易所工作。90年代初，我有几个同事曾与他主持过一次会议。他们说巴菲特非常平易近人，而且很会自嘲。他们还说，直到90年代中期，你可能打电话到他在奥马哈的家，他会自己接电话。他就是这种人。
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His generation isn’t the “take pictures of every food I eat, every car I drive, everything I buy,….and buy more to show the followers how wonderful my life is” There are so many people like him who do not advertise their wealth everywhere. As a matter of fact apart from celebrities, athletes, scammers, rich kids, small entrepreneurs seeking advertisement, who else actually takes pictures of everything they own or buy to show it to the followers on the web?
他这代人并不会“吃什么都拍，开什么车都拍，买什么都拍....多买一些，向粉丝们展示我的生活有多美好。”有很多像他一样的人，他们不会到处张扬自己的财富。事实上，除了名人、运动员、骗子、富家子弟、想做广告的小企业家之外，还有谁会拍下自己拥有或购买的所有东西，并把它们展示给网络上的粉丝?
Smoke and mirrors,
he says he lives in his original house from way back, I’m sure for security measures he bought out all the houses on his block and across to create perimeter security zone. That anyone who begins to enter is spotted before they get to his house,
烟幕弹啦。
他说他一直住在他原来的房子里，我相信为了安全措施，他买下了他所在街区和对面所有的房子，建立了周边的安全区域。任何开始进入的人在进入他家之前就被发现了。
I have several rich friends. One of them spent a full term on an air mattress through a cold winter rent free as a graduate student.
He didn't drive and took the bus everywhere. He ate and dressed simply. Healthy diet and never shabby. He never called attention to himself, and was friendly and polite to everyone. You know, the quiet, nice guy next door. Every class has one.
I had NO IDEA he was the scion of a rich family until years later when he invited me to be best man at his wedding in Taipei. As you have probably already guessed, I was the rent-free landlord that took pity on the poor chap who set the alarm at ungodly hours (central time) to call his then-girlfriend in Taiwan to gently wake her up for class.
His dogged dedication to the long distance relationship cemented our friendship. He wasn't just “nice”, but genuinely nice.
You don't want to know who were among the guests as I gave my little speech during the wedding dinner. There were faces I had only seen on TV staring back at me.
I once asked him why didn't he rent an apartment for the term. He explained it wasn't worth it because single term contracts were expensive and he didn't fancy the hassle of cleaning up when the term ended.
Over time, I began to piece together that he wasn't a miser. Rather, he makes spending decisions based on utility. For example, he will spend money to retain a trusted employee. Or find the best school and teachers for his twin daughters. But if there is a 3-4 star hotel within 30 minutes of his meeting, he will stay there instead of the 5 star hotel 20 minutes away.
我有几个富有的朋友。其中一名学生在一个免房租的气垫床上度过了一个寒冷的冬天。他不开车，去哪儿都坐公共汽车。他吃穿很简朴。健康饮食，从不寒酸。他从不引人注目，对每个人都很友好礼貌。就是隔壁那个安静的好人。每个班都有一个。我一直不知道他是富家子弟，直到多年后他邀请我去他在台北举行的婚礼当伴郎。你可能已经猜到了，我是个免房租的房东，看这家伙可怜，他会设置好闹钟，叫他在台湾的女朋友起来上课。他对异地恋执着的奉献也巩固了我们的友谊。他不只是“好”，而是真正的好。你不会想知道我在婚礼晚宴上发表的简短讲话时都有哪些客人。有几张我只在电视上见过的脸正盯着我。有一次我问他为什么这个学期不租一间公寓。他解释说，这样做不值得，因为单期合同价格昂贵，而且他不想在合同结束后麻烦地清理。随着时间的推移，我开始观察出出他不是一个吝啬鬼。相反，他的消费决策是基于效用的。例如，他会花钱留住一个值得信任的员工。或者为他的双胞胎女儿找到最好的学校和老师。但如果在30分钟车程内有3-4星级酒店，他就会住在那里，而不是20分钟车程的5星级酒店。
I can’t speak for Warren Buffett, but I do personally know a few people whose net worth is very high, and the following are my observations based on their behavior.
Some rich people are genuinely frugal. Many who fall into this category are self-made billionaires. It is much easier to spend your inheritance on Patek Phillippe watches and Bugatti’s but it is a little harder if you have toiled yourself for that money. (But people who are born into wealth generally are understated.)
Many people lose interest in material things once they know they can afford them. I am serious!
Most seriously rich people have a public persona and a private life that only the people in their innermost circle know about. The billionaire who wears a $50 Seiko and $75 shoes and a JC Penny suit in public also might own several mansions in the most expensive locations, a private island (or two) and a G700 (or two). But no one except those in his innermost circle would know about it.
But … it is really hard to spend so much money. Even a G700 or Bombardier Global 7500 won’t make much of a dent in a billionaire’s bank account. That is one reason why private islands and private yachts are so popular with billionaires. But what will you do with a private yacht? How many days can you spend idling in the middle of nowhere? (That’s why so many yacht owners eventually sell them or lease them out.)
Sorry to repeat myself, but it is really hard to spend serious amounts of money. I have been on vacations with some of my seriously rich friends. In a 3–4 day vacation, how much Royal Salute or expensive Cognac can you drink? How many Cuban cigars can you smoke? How much does the golf round at the ritziest, most exclusive golf club cost? How many steaks, how much caviar can you eat? So while at the end of these vacations I had burned a small hole in my bank account, my rich friends were disappointed they spent so little.
If you show your money off, there will be all kinds of people looking for a handout from you. How do you figure out who is a moocher and who is a truly deserving candidate for your help? Very hard to do when there are literally hundreds of individuals asking for your help, and hundreds of charities seeking your donation for a supposedly worthy cause. Putting up a public persona of frugality and simplicity is a way of fending them off.
Final point, and this is very important. It relates to privacy, security, and anonymity. When you show off, you attract attention to yourself. You paint a target on your back. Wear Walmart clothes, a $50 Casio watch, drive a Camry, and no one bothers you. And this is a very, very important concern for rich people. It seems, the happiest people are the ones who have enough money to afford whatever they want, but have jealously guarded their anonymity and privacy.
我不帮沃伦·巴菲特说什么，但我个人确实认识一些净资产非常高的人，以下是我对他们行为的观察
1，有些富人真的很节俭。这类人很多都是白手起家的亿万富翁。把遗产花在百达翡丽和布加迪上要容易得多，但如果你为了那笔钱而辛苦工作，那就有点难了。(出身富裕家庭的人通常都很低调)
2，许多人一旦知道他们能负担得起物质上的东西，就会对它们失去兴趣。我是认真的!
3，大多数真正富有的人都有自己的公众形象和私人生活，只有他们最深的圈子里的人才知道。
4，在公共场合戴着50美元的日本精工表、穿着75美元的鞋子和JC Penny西装的亿万富翁，可能还在最昂贵的地段拥有几处豪宅、一座(或两座)私人岛屿和一辆(或两座)G700。但除了他最亲密的圈子里的人，谁也不会知道这件事。
5，钱很难花的。即使是一辆G700或庞巴迪7500也不会对亿万富翁的银行账户造成太大影响。
这就是为什么私人岛屿和私人游艇如此受亿万富翁欢迎的原因之一。但是你要一艘私人游艇做什么?你能在荒无人烟的地方闲逛几天?(这就是为什么很多游艇所有者最终会将游艇出售或出租的原因。)
6，很抱歉我要重复一遍，但是真的很难花那么多钱。我层和一些非常有钱的朋友去度假。在3-4天的假期里，你能喝多少皇家礼炮或昂贵的干邑?你能抽多少支古巴雪茄?在最豪华、最高档的高尔夫俱乐部打一场高尔夫球要多少钱?你能吃多少块牛排，多少鱼子酱?所以，假期结束时，我的银行账户上只少了很小一块，而我那些有钱的朋友们却对他们花这么少感到失望。
5，如果你炫耀你的钱，将会有各种各样的人寻求你的施舍。你如何判断谁是一个揩油者，谁是真正值得你帮助的人?这很难做到，因为有成百上千的人在寻求你的帮助，有成百上千的慈善机构在寻求你的捐赠，因为他们认为这是有价值的事业。树立一个节俭和简单的公众形象是抵御他们的一种方式。
6，最后一点，这一点非常重要。它涉及隐私、安全性和匿名性。当你炫耀时，你会把注意力吸引到自己身上。你在自己背上画了个靶子。穿沃尔玛的衣服，戴50美元的卡西欧手表，开凯美瑞，没人会来烦你。这对富人来说是一个非常非常重要的问题。似乎，最幸福的人是那些有足够的钱来支付他们想要的任何东西，但又小心翼翼地保护自己的匿名性和隐私的人。
It would be foolish to suggest that Buffett lives a life that’s deprived in any way. He buys whatever he wants to buy and does whatever he wants to do. But my impression of him is that he only spends his money on things he derives actual value from.
For example, he flies on private planes. He initially didn’t like the idea (he named his first plane “The Indefensible”), but realized that the ease of travel and the amount he could get done while flying made it a logical decision at his income level (he later renamed the plane “The Indispensable”). The point there is that he bought his private jets for the utility, not for the prestige. Ultimately, he came to the conclusion that he could get the same value for less money by chartering jets, and ended up acquiring NetJets, so he could make money in the process.
By the same token, he sometimes travels on yachts, because he has a lot of very rich friends, many of whom really want to earn his favor. But he doesn’t own a yacht, because what would be the point? It wouldn’t give him anything he wants that he doesn’t already have, except for the prestige. And, to all evidence, he has no interest in spending money to gather prestige.
he just doesn’t seem to have any interest in trying to convince other people that he’s rich and powerful. And once you take away that motivation, it changes all your decisions. Sure, you’ll buy expensive things, and do things that cost money, but only when they’re things you actually want. Buying things just to have them, or to show off to others, or to have the biggest and the best of something appears to be an ongoing motivation for a lot of rich people, and that’s just not in Buffett’s emotional make up.
说巴菲特的生活在某种程度上被剥夺都是愚蠢的。他想买什么就买什么，想做什么就做什么。
但我对他的印象是，他只把钱花在他能获得实际价值的东西上。例如，他乘坐私人飞机。起初他并不喜欢这个想法(他将他的第一架飞机命名为“无可辩白”)，但他意识到，从他的收入水平来看，鉴于旅行的便利和在飞行过程中可以做的事情来看买飞机是一个合乎逻辑的决定(他后来把这架飞机改名为“不可或缺”)。重点是，他购买私人飞机是为了公共事业，而不是为了声望。最后，他得出一个结论，租用飞机可以以更少的钱获得同样的价值，于是他最终收购了NetJets，这样他就可以在这个过程中赚钱。出于同样的原因，他有时会乘坐游艇旅行，因为他有很多非常富有的朋友，其中许多人真的想赢得他的青睐。但他没有买游艇，游艇这有什么意义呢?游艇不会给他带来任何想要的东西，除了声望。而且，所有证据都表明，他无意花钱来获得声望。他似乎没有兴趣试图让别人相信他有钱有势。一旦你失去了这种动力，你所有的决定都会改变。当然，你会买昂贵的东西，做需要花钱的事情，但只有当这些东西是你真正想要的时候。购买东西只是为了拥有它们，或向他人炫耀，或拥有最大最好的东西，似乎是许多富人的持续动机，但这并不在巴菲特的情感构成之中。
I figure, these guys have no one left to impress. They will never apply for a job again, and they don’t work for the govt. So, let’s be comfortable!
When I saw Zuck testify before Congress recently, he wore a suit. But he clearly felt uncomfortable in it, and fidgeted with his collar. This was one rare occasion where a hoodie just wouldn’t do.
我想，这些人已经没人可以取悦了。他们再也不会找工作了，他们也不会为政府工作。所以，过得舒服点吧!最近，当我看到扎克伯格在国会作证时，他穿着西装。但他显然觉得穿着不舒服，还摆弄着自己的衣领。这是少有的不穿帽衫的场合。
It is not lifestyle of frugality that he is portraying. It is the mindset. He and Munger always point out their success is not because they were too smart, but because they were not stupid.
He still lives in the same house, but his investor mindset tells him he does not need more and having a bigger house would only increase the maintenance costs, which in turn would make him poorer.
He is advocating sensible and intelligent lifestyle, with strong cost/benefit edge. He uses private jet when he travels and has personal security personnel. He says he wears expensive suits, but they look cheap on him. Thus, he is not frugal, but he invests money in things he truly needs.
他所描绘的并不是节俭的生活方式。而是一种心态。他和芒格总是指出，他们的成功不是因为他们太聪明，而是因为他们不愚蠢。他仍然住在原来的房子里，但他的投资者心态告诉他，他不需要更多的房子，拥有更大的房子只会增加维护成本，而这反过来会让他更穷。他倡导理性、智慧的生活方式，这种生活方式具有很强的成本/效益优势。他旅行时使用私人飞机，并有私人安保人员。他说他穿昂贵的西装，但穿在他身上看起来很廉价。因此，他并不节俭，而是把钱投资在他真正需要的东西上。
Because he understand spending money to spend money is not going to make you any happier than just pending for what you need. I know a fair number of very wealthy people, most live a pretty normal life. They do not eat 7 meals a day because they can afford it. Most do not have 9 cars because they can afford it. There is in addition a lot of satisfaction from spending wisely.
We have become very well off, we still enjoy cooking our own meals and to a great extent we eat what we like which is what we enjoyed when we were not well off. We have 3 cars. One for him, one for me and one when we need to haul something to the dump, the beast of burden. We clean our own house and do our own laundry because that is what WE WANT to do.
因为他明白盲目花钱不会比把钱花在需要的东西上让你更快乐。我认识很多非常富有的人，大多数人过着相当正常的生活。他们不会因为负担得起就一天吃七顿饭。大多数人也不会因为负担得起就买九辆车。此外，精打细算还能带来很多满足感。我们变得非常富裕，我们仍然喜欢自己做饭，在很大程度上，我们吃自己喜欢的东西，是我们不富裕时就喜欢的。我们有3辆车。一个给他，一个给我，一个当我们需要把东西拖到垃圾堆的时候用。我们打扫自己的房子，洗自己的衣服，因为这是我们想做的。
That’s the difference between poor and rich people. I believe it was bill gates who said “Wall Street is the only place where people drive a rolls Royce to get advice from someone who rode the subway”.
这就是穷人和富人之间的区别。我记得比尔·盖茨曾说过:“华尔街是唯一一个人们开着劳斯莱斯来向坐地铁的人寻求建议的地方。”
Well I wouldn’t say that he’s “frugal”.
But, if you are asking why he does not live a life of excessive luxury, most wealthy people don’t.
That’s how you get wealthy, is by being wise with your money.
I think Mark Zuckerberg, famously still drives his Kia or whatever it is.
我不会说他“节俭”。但是，如果要你问他为什么不过奢侈的生活，那么其实大多数富人都不会过这种生活。这就是你致富的方法，明智地使用你的钱。众所周知，马克·扎克伯格还在开他的起亚。
When i was working in travel agency. We had one client family of five. All of them were lawyers except their dog.
His family used to spend around 20 lac Indian rupees every year on foreign tour. As per Indian standard it is a big amount.
Every year he would come for planning of his family vacation and he would count every rupees which is being spent on this tour and he would always look out for cheapest options.
Once while planning his tour our tour planner asked this client jokingly, why are you crying( minding ) for the small amount when you are already spending 20 lacs on this tour?
My client's answer was that is how he makes money all his life.
True billionaires make money this way only. They work/bargain hard to save the money. This is why some people become rich.
True billionaires don't have to prove themselves to be billionaires.
In our life after some point money is just figure. It doesn't make difference to them. They just want to live their life,they are comfortable in.
For example Steve jobs might be comfortable in his jeans and turtle neck rather than expensive suit.
Or
Warren Buffett is comfortable in his 40/50 year old house rather than new swanky and lavish home.
当我在旅行社工作的时候。我们有一个客户是五口之家，都是律师，除了他们的狗。他的家人过去每年在国外旅游上花费大约20万印度卢比。按照印度的标准，这是一个很大的数目。每年他都会来计划家庭度假，他会计算这次旅行花费的每一个卢比，他总是会寻找最便宜的选项。
有一次，在计划他的旅行时，我们的旅行策划者开玩笑地问这位客户，你已经花了20万美元，为什么还要为这么少的钱而难过?我的客户的回答是，这就是他一生赚钱的方式。真正的亿万富翁只能通过这种方式赚钱。他们努力工作以节省钱。这就是为什么有些人变得富有。真正的亿万富翁不需要证明自己是亿万富翁。在他们的生活中，金钱只是一个数字。这对他们来说没什么区别。例如，乔布斯可能更喜欢穿牛仔裤和高领衫，而不是昂贵的西装。又比如，巴菲特喜欢住在他那栋有40/50年历史的老房子里，而不是住在时髦奢华的新房子里。
Not everybody wants the trappings of wealth, they serve no purpose and in the end are not investments, just big expenses that are a waste of money. Very seldom do these so called luxury items or toys ever appreciate in value.
不是每个人都想要财富的外表，它们没有任何作用，最终也不是投资，只是浪费金钱的大开销。这些所谓的奢侈品或玩具很少会升值。
To Warren Buffet everything is seen as an investment. Is this stock a good investment? This house? This vehicle? This meal? That's what made him one of the richest men in the world. To suddenly start buying jets and football teams would require a complete change on his part. Being rich is knowing you have enough. He's comfortable in his clothes. He has enough.
对沃伦·巴菲特来说，一切都是投资。这只股票适合投资吗?这所房子呢?这个车呢?这顿饭呢?这是使他成为世界上最富有的人之一的原因。突然开始购买私人飞机和足球队就需要他做出彻底的改变。富有就是你对你拥有的已经满足，对他来说，穿着舒服，就很满足了。
He does not live a modest life. He lives the life that he wants.
Yes, he lives in a relatively small house. But a bigger house will not bring him more happiness. He drinks coke rather than some artisanal kombucha because that is what he wants to drink. But when he needs to go somewhere far, he gets on his private jet and goes - he does not bother looking up the airline schedule.
I am sure when he needs to understand what a company is doing, he just calls up the CEO and asks rather than trying to suss it out via some online articles.
他的生活过得并不简朴。他只是过着自己想要的生活。是的，他住在一个相对较小的房子里。但是更大的房子不会给他带来更多的幸福。他喝可乐而不是手工制作的康普茶，因为可乐是他想喝的。但当他需要去远一点的地方时，他就会乘坐他的私人飞机去——他不会费心去查航班时刻表。我确信，当他需要了解一家公司在做什么时，他只需要给首席执行官打电话询问，而不是通过一些在线文章试图弄清楚。
Perhaps Buffett does not not spend money on things to impress other people. He may be one of those strange antisocial dudes that only spend money on things that they want. I can’t say this with any authority, because I don’t know Buffet. But, I can kinda understand the mindset, in spite of the fact that I’m a little short of $80 billion.
Then again, Buffet may just be following the habits of a miser. If I had $80b, I think I’d probably spend at least some of it on young women. Buffett obviously does not have the interest in young women that I do. Maybe that’s why he has more money.
也许巴菲特花钱不是为了给别人留下深刻印象。他可能是一个奇怪的反社会的家伙，只把钱花在他想要的东西上。我这么说可能不权威，因为我不认识巴菲特。但是，我可以理解这种心态，尽管事实上我还缺800亿美元。话又说回来，巴菲特可能只是在遵循守财奴的习惯。如果我有800亿美元，我想我可能至少会把其中一部分花在年轻美女身上。巴菲特显然不像我那样对年轻美女感兴趣。也许这就是他更有钱的原因。