Berkshire Hathaway

[SouthStndJunkie]

Berkshire Hathaway?

When I first saw the thread headline, I thought it was the name of some rich girl whom you nearly had sex with, before messing it up or being unceremoniously cock blocked at the last second.

All kidding aside, I'll go against the grain and tell you there is more to life than chasing the almighty dollar. If you're talented and determined enough, you'll be able to do what you want and stay where you want and make plenty of money.

[Meck77]

Originally Posted by SouthStndJunkie

All kidding aside, I'll go against the grain and tell you there is more to life than chasing the almighty dollar. If you're talented and determined enough, you'll be able to do what you want and stay where you want and make plenty of money.

There is no right or wrong answer. I did my time working in finance for corporations. Couldn't stand it. Hated wearing a suit and tie, hated the kiss ass culture of a corporation, the repetition just about bored me to death.

Smurf the experience certainly won't kill you but if you have access to some seed money I'd say bite the bullet and start your own venture.

Doing what you love is the key. You do that the money will follow. The freedom of being self employed is greater than any amount of money some corporation could pay me to essentially be locked up 40, 50, 60 hrs per week in their cubicle!

Oh but if you do go in business for yourself try to limit the amount of employees you have. Managing people is a pain the ass but you can manage them from the ski slopes.

[SonOfLe-loLang]

Originally Posted by R8R H8R

I have no idea what kind of company Berkshire is to work for, but as other have said, it would look great on your resume' to work for them.

True story: about thirty some-odd years ago in the early eighties I joined a local investment club w/ my dad to get into investing. I was in my early 20's and was always a good saver, but had never invested with risk until then.

On an educational day, the club leader was talking about good companies and started talking at length about Buffett and his company Berkshire Hathaway. It all sounded good until he mentioned that the price of the stock was about $2000 each! That is a lot of money now, think of what that price was over 30 yrs ago.

Well, back then, I didn't understand that the price of a stock has nothing to do with the fact on whether it is over-valued or not. All I saw is the $2000 price tag and it seemed outrageous to me.

And the thing is, I could have bought at least 5 shares with my savings, but didn't. Anyway, the stock closed at $155,210 a share today. Oh well, you live and learn.

Take the job, don't be foolish because of a hobby.

Youre old But good advice

[Phantom]

Go Huskers!!!
Omaha is decent. Good place to raise a family - good schools, cheap housing, low unemployment. If your single, well ...
Mt. Crecent is 15 minutes away. Four trails to ski down the "bowl". We pretty much just race straight down and last one buys the round.

[maven]

I will go against the grain if you're good enough to get a job at Berkshire than you are good enough to get a job in NY City or wherever you want to go. Live in Omaha? No ****ing thanks.

[crowebomber]

Hathaway has really done alot for herself since breaking away from Mr. Drysdale.

[Requiem]

I assume he will be in Lincoln (UNL) and not Omaha (UNO) -- but I think both are pretty cool places. Roads in Omaha are ****.

[ColoradoDarin]

Buffett is an evil genius who has figured out how to screw millions of people and make most everyone think he's a good guy.

Work for him, and learn.

[rugbythug]

Originally Posted by Meck77

There is no right or wrong answer. I did my time working in finance for corporations. Couldn't stand it. Hated wearing a suit and tie, hated the kiss ass culture of a corporation, the repetition just about bored me to death.

Smurf the experience certainly won't kill you but if you have access to some seed money I'd say bite the bullet and start your own venture.

Doing what you love is the key. You do that the money will follow. The freedom of being self employed is greater than any amount of money some corporation could pay me to essentially be locked up 40, 50, 60 hrs per week in their cubicle!

Oh but if you do go in business for yourself try to limit the amount of employees you have. Managing people is a pain the ass but you can manage them from the ski slopes.

Imo- doing both working for a company and myself. You need one to appreciate the other.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by ColoradoDarin

Buffett is an evil genius who has figured out how to screw millions of people and make most everyone think he's a good guy.

Work for him, and learn.

Or just be good and make money if that's your thing.

My take, as someone that comes from a finance hub, is that 95% of people in finance hate it and are in it just for the money. If that's you I think you'll find yourself unhappy by the time it's too late. 5% are made for it. If that's you, then I'd do it.

[SportinOne]

Originally Posted by Chris

Or just be good and make money if that's your thing.

My take, as someone that comes from a finance hub, is that 95% of people in finance hate it and are in it just for the money. If that's you I think you'll find yourself unhappy by the time it's too late. 5% are made for it. If that's you, then I'd do it.

I mean.. that's a pretty logical assessment. You go into the money business to make money. Some people REALLY like numbers, i'm not even sure where they fit in with this.. Some people don't need deeper meaning than a bottom line. To each their own, but there exits a good amount of data on the role of money in happiness and contrary to the old adage, it can afford you some happiness/well-being, but only to the extent that it allows you to cover your basic needs and have a decent amount of financial security. After that, the increase in wealth has a negligible effect on happiness/well being. Just some food for thought.. to maybe chew on while you find yourself striving to make some sort of crazy income. You may ask yourself, why do I care? That's a good place to start.

[Mediator12]

Originally Posted by MariusPontmercy

Finance guys (and gals) - I was wondering what you all thought of Berkshire Hathaway. I just had a second interview with them, and I think I might get an offer as an actuary.

It's Buffet's company and I hear great things, like it can totally propel a career. One of my grad school Profs. said when he was my age, "I would have cleaned Buffett's carpets for a living to get in with BHHC, and I'm only half-joking."

I'd have to move to Nebraska, which means I'd have to curb my ski habit, put my season tixs up on exchange, leave CU-Leeds and finish my MBA at.... ugh... the University of Nebraska.

Worth it?

Lots of solid advice here. However, the best relates to how do you view it?

BHHC is an amazing company, and it certainly would boost your career as an actuary, which is way different than pure finance like most are commenting.

The deal will be why? Why would you interview with a company in the first place, if you do not want the actual job? If you like the job, then you get into the rest of the deal about moving, but it is always about why am I doing this. If its a stepping stone, USE it. If its a career, then being In Nebraska for an extended period could be an issue. If it is what people would think you should do, then don't go unless its what you want to do.

Motives, expectations, and desires are what drive people to be good. Why would you take the job? Really ask yourself that, and then and only then will you have your answer. We can only guide you.

[ol#7]

I have lived in Nebraska twice...it kind of sucks. Even in the bigger towns there is a hick mentality.

I mean, they have a fast food chain that sells cabbage rolls called Runza in Nebraska, do you know what a cabbage and cheese rolls does to your insides? Do you?

The women...not exactly refined. Maybe you would prefer it that way.

Sounds like a good opportunity, but I have spent most of my adult life living in places I hated both in the military and out, and let me tell you, it better be a damn good job to be worth it.

I am typing this right now in a hick town in Germany, and I cant even look for a job in Colorado because I owe them another 10 months for my move here. By then I still probably have to stay put so my kids can graduate without changing schools. Worst part, even if I wanted to stay here, they make civilians move back to the states after 5 years anyway.

Now I want a cabbage roll. Bastard.

[Rohirrim]

Buffett plays the long game. Look at what he just bought? Heinz. What do they make? Ketchup. You're not going to learn the latest style of Wall Street fireworks and piracy working for BH. But then, the pirates are going to go belly up soon anyway and the wreckage will be substantial. I'll bet BH will still be doing fine. Why? They make ketchup.

[ColoradoDarin]

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

Buffett plays the long game. Look at what he just bought? Heinz. What do they make? Ketchup. You're not going to learn the latest style of Wall Street fireworks and piracy working for BH. But then, the pirates are going to go belly up soon anyway and the wreckage will be substantial. I'll bet BH will still be doing fine. Why? They make ketchup.

Even better than Heinz - he lobbies the government for death/inheritance taxes and then sells life insurance (LI is generally not subject to federal taxation).

[Chris]

Originally Posted by SportinOne

I mean.. that's a pretty logical assessment. You go into the money business to make money. Some people REALLY like numbers, i'm not even sure where they fit in with this.. Some people don't need deeper meaning than a bottom line. To each their own, but there exits a good amount of data on the role of money in happiness and contrary to the old adage, it can afford you some happiness/well-being, but only to the extent that it allows you to cover your basic needs and have a decent amount of financial security. After that, the increase in wealth has a negligible effect on happiness/well being. Just some food for thought.. to maybe chew on while you find yourself striving to make some sort of crazy income. You may ask yourself, why do I care? That's a good place to start.

Totally agree. And you'll always finding yourself wanting more. I think what I neglected to mention was the fear of not having money driving people to finance. That's a ****tier way to be than just wanting money because it pushes you away from pursuing whatever it is that might actually make you happy.

I wrote this related rant on quora a while back.

On "Is getting rich worth it?"

This is a long way of saying I don’t know the answer to your question but I think about it a lot.

I don’t have a lot of money but I’m willing to guess “Anon User” is in the minority. He seems like a typical example of what happens when people get a lot of money before they’ve taken the time to figure out who they are and what they care about. I could think of a lot of things I’d do with a large sum of money because I’ve taken the time to explore what matters to me independent of it. Of course, that’s easy for me to say as someone that doesn’t currently have much and may never. As an aside, I’m always slightly bothered by situations where any form of elevated status is attributed to me, like a bell boy my age calling me “sir” at a hotel, as it reeks of artificiality. The respect wasn’t earned and it wasn’t felt by the person giving it. One day I would hope to do something other than handing over some cash to warrant a sir. I know others who live for this “validation” but to me that’s just one small part of the bubble that money can create around people that removes them from a sense of shared humanity.

On to the actual question at hand - I think most of us can agree that having money is comfortable and can give your life greater flexibility than the average person. I think it’s up to each person to assess whether or not money matters to them and, if so, whether or not they can combine truly meaningful work with its pursuit. If that isn’t possible or desired then they should ask themselves how much time it’s going to take to make the money and get out. Be careful with that last one as it’s a potential trap that sucks people in forever and leaves them unhappy. If money doesn’t matter then that can be somewhat liberating, provided they are honest about what that means (a reduction in comfort, in mobility, exposure and most likely influence). The number of people that say money doesn’t matter to them but haven’t come to peace with the true ramifications of that choice seems quite high. The last thing is to realistically assess whether or not you can make enough money to justify time spent. In my case, if money grew on trees I would have the tallest ladder but I have yet to decide if it’s worth using time that could be devoted to other areas, which, while financially unrewarding, may lead to greater satisfaction and a sense of meaning. I believe that's the key to sustained happiness.

When people start to consider this question they are often scared by the alternatives. Many of us ambitious people live in expensive cities like New York, London and San Francisco where quality of life would take a sharp drop the second the money stopped rolling in. For those of us that rely on ideas and culture for sustenance, aka metropolitan cities (no bias there), the number of these places that also have a low cost of living is comparatively rare (Berlin and Austin come to mind). We also live in an economic system that requires you to want to make money and spend money as a means for its continued operation. The science of product marketing is increasingly invasive, potentially insidious, such that we're less and less able to resist its influence. So in effect our environments, our cities and our countries, play a big role in scaring us away from anything other than working in the hope of ultimately becoming rich.

I think a lot of people use the wealth pursuit as a way to avoid what might initially feel like a completely meaningless existence. It’s perhaps unsurprising that, despite our knowledge of science that renders us mortal blips in time and space, we’ve created a society that in some ways is designed to distract ourselves from these difficult realisations for the extent of our lifetimes. Confronting this “void” is really the first step to finding some form of meaning for ourselves. This is not to say that you need to drop out of the traditional world and spend your days paralysed by large thoughts, but rather that you need to be working because it gives you meaning, whatever that work may be. You could be working in Finance, for example, if it compels you for reasons other than the wealth pursuit - the organisation of capital as the ultimate reflection of human collaboration? Who knows? Alternatively you could go off, cut your consumption and dedicate your time to a pursuit with little or no monetary value. I work in the corporate world, but I’ve had some breaks, and I’ve found that the absence of a traditional work schedule frees my mind to think about these things and be more productive in ways that truly satisfy me. I’m just not yet sure if I can turn that into a lifelong thing. How you're productive, for me, is really up to the person and how compelled they are to leave some form of wider legacy (beyond the interpersonal relationships of family and friends).

When making the choice to pursue wealth or not, it naturally helps to know what you're getting into, to come from some money. A bit of money gives you tremendous exposure – it lets you travel, it often gives you access to smart, worldly people from an early age and that's an invaluable every day education. Granted many of these people would probably be highly material and not the least bit philosophical. Front loading your life with experiences in this way would make it easier to say “been there, done that” and move on to another path. It'd remove the fantasy of wealth that likely exists in many people’s minds.

Perhaps I’m young (28) and naïve but I know several people in their 60s that have spent their entire lives pursuing and ultimately acquiring wealth that are now asking, “What next?” If I were lucky enough to have a lot of early exposure, I’d probably start by trying to answer "What next?" right now

I wrestle with this all the time. I know I'll never work in finance (for one thing I didn't go to college so that's a no no)... but most of the stuff I'm interested in makes zilch. That's why I'm quitting the gig and heading to Berlin for a sabbatical to make music and consider a sort of hierarchy of values.

[broncosteven]

Originally Posted by Mediator12

Lots of solid advice here. However, the best relates to how do you view it?

BHHC is an amazing company, and it certainly would boost your career as an actuary, which is way different than pure finance like most are commenting.

The deal will be why? Why would you interview with a company in the first place, if you do not want the actual job? If you like the job, then you get into the rest of the deal about moving, but it is always about why am I doing this. If its a stepping stone, USE it. If its a career, then being In Nebraska for an extended period could be an issue. If it is what people would think you should do, then don't go unless its what you want to do.

Motives, expectations, and desires are what drive people to be good. Why would you take the job? Really ask yourself that, and then and only then will you have your answer. We can only guide you.

I like what Med and Meck both said.

Like Med said, you interviewed for a reason, they had something your interested in. Your young, why not go find it, learn for a couple years, and if nothing else you have it on your resume, that and some great contacts should you impress would serve you well in the long run.

Like Meck said, follow your passion. If this is what you went to school for then take it. If however your already second guessing it, open a ski shop or something that follows a passion of yours. Would Meck have found his if he didn't take that corp job for a couple years? Who knows.

Like I tell my 10 and 5 year old kids, everything you do is a choice YOU made. Good or bad you have live with it, trick is making the right choices, and if you make a bad choice making enough right choices to fix it.

If there is another company you want to work with then do it. Buffet's job should get you in a good position for the rest of your career but once your there you have to be able to hack it and impress. If your heart is not in it then you will have trouble.

I used to laugh when people said follow your bliss but they are right. You have to be able to do the things that make you happy.

If your only concern is where you live, you know you can impact the area and make it better by getting involved with the community. Plus you might find out you enjoy pigs and corn and stuff. Plus Buffet still lives there, he likes it enough that it makes him happy, you just have to look closer, you will learn that it is not where you live but who you surround yourself with that really makes the difference.

Good luck with YOUR choice!

[Chris]

You might find that you enjoy having sex with animals. The choice is yours.
















Don't hit me I love North Dakota. GREAT PLAAAAAAINS.

[broncosteven]

Chris is right, his article/post/journal entry whatever he wants to call it is spot on.

I typed up a couple responses but deleted them all, Chris said it best.

[broncogary]

Originally Posted by ColoradoDarin

Even better than Heinz - he lobbies the government for death/inheritance taxes and then sells life insurance (LI is generally not subject to federal taxation).

Yeah, but its subject to estate taxation.

[Swedish Extrovert]

Originally Posted by Requiem

I assume he will be in Lincoln (UNL) and not Omaha (UNO) -- but I think both are pretty cool places. Roads in Omaha are ****.

It's in Omaha, but I would commute twice a week.

[ak1971]

Originally Posted by MariusPontmercy

Is there any somewhat decent mogul skiing in relatively close proximity to Omaha?

You ever hear of google?

[DBroncos4life]

Originally Posted by ak1971

You ever hear of google?

He should use the hell out of that because where he is headed there is no google.

[ColoradoDarin]

Originally Posted by broncogary

Yeah, but its subject to estate taxation.

It's not. That's what I'm saying. It's a great scam. Tax people, then sell them a product that doesn't get taxed. Then act like you are altruistic about the "rich paying their fair share" when really you're just making a buck off of gaming the system because you have so much money/clout.

[broncogary]

Originally Posted by ColoradoDarin

It's not. That's what I'm saying. It's a great scam. Tax people, then sell them a product that doesn't get taxed. Then act like you are altruistic about the "rich paying their fair share" when really you're just making a buck off of gaming the system because you have so much money/clout.

You are so wrong.