simplicity

I enjoy what I do, I tap dance to work every day. I work with people I love, doing what I love. The only thing I would pay to get rid of is firing people. I spend my time thinking about the future, not the past. The future is exciting. As Bertrand Russell says, “Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get.” I won the ovarian lottery the day I was born and so did all of you. We’re all successful, intelligent, educated. To focus on what you don’t have is a terrible mistake. With the gifts all of us have, if you are unhappy, it’s your own fault.

The quote above as well as the quote from the previous post are from a fantastic Q&A session that Warren Buffet held at UT Austin. The notes are available at the Underground Value blog. I had the opportunity to go through the entire post and as per is usual with anything Mr. Buffet does, I came away impressed.

The Q&A session discusses his success, his drive, his work/life balance, as well as his thoughts on the future of the economy.
One thing that has always struck me about Mr. Buffett was his stance on the tax-code. If you follow anything Mr. Buffett does you know that in the past few years he’s been pushing for a flat income as well as payroll tax. He criticizes the fact that the tax-system is “tilted for the rich” and discusses this during the session:

We did an informal office survey by looking at the total tax footprint versus the total income. I earned 46 million and paid a tax rate of 17.5%. My rate was the lowest, the average was 33%, and my cleaning lady paid 40%. The system is tilted towards the rich. The Forbes 400 total net worth has gone from 220 billion to 1.54 trillion, an increase of 7-to-1. You see in legislature that there is lobbying carried on by the powerful over issues such as the estate tax and carried interest for private equity investments. We need to flatten income and payroll taxes, and those making under $30,000 shouldn’t be bothered.

It’s a fascinating read and I highly recommend it.