I view Warren Buffett as one of the greatest investors the world has ever seen. Generously, he has given out numerous pieces of life, financial and investment advice.
Buffett has proven to be a wonderful businessman and an incredible investor, delivering an average return per year of approximately 20% through Berkshire Hathaway, a giant US conglomerate company.
There is a wide range of excellent quotes that I could focus on in this article. But, there are two (or three) I'll highlight that can make a big difference to our returns.
Don't lose money
Warren Buffett has made a number of excellent long-term investments, such as American Express, Coca Cola and Apple. While he admits he has made mistakes, I wouldn't say he's made any massive blunders.
One of his most important pieces of advice, in my view, was:
Rule number one: Never lose money. Rule number two: Never forget rule number one.
We all want to make investment gains, but avoiding losses is also essential. It can take a while to make sizeable gains, but declines can happen too (very quickly).
Avoiding high-risk investments is a good call by Warren Buffett, in my view. That can be both avoiding highly overpriced businesses as well as sticking to industries we can evaluate. For example, I tend to avoid investing in ASX biotech shares due to the challenges of assessing the ramifications and potential rewards of new treatments, the industry's regulations, and the competitive landscape.
If we can cut out the investments that may blow up, then that should give our overall return a boost. We want to choose investments where there's a pleasing margin of safety.
Be greedy when others are fearful
The time when the market presents the best ASX share opportunities, with the widest margins of safety, is during large market sell-offs. We saw this during the COVID-19 crash in 2020, the inflation volatility in 2022 and 2023, then the tariff sell-off in April this year.
It can take a certain type of bravery to decide to invest during difficult times, but I think Warren Buffett's words are the right mindset to have to unlock strong returns.
As Warren Buffett said:
Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.
I think this is a great rule to follow because it can help us (generally) avoid overpaying for ASX shares during boom times and find great opportunities during weak times.
