The world's third-richest man, known as the "Oracle of Omaha," is wicked smart. Of course, that goes without saying.
But he is also - along with Bill Gates - the biggest philanthropist in the United States, having pledged the lion's share of his $47 billion fortune to charitable foundations. He told his kids that they'd all be millionaires and they should be happy with that. Then he gave 85% of his money away, most to the Gates Foundation, because they do great work and he didn't need the big ego boost (or bureaucracy) of his own charitable foundation.
Buffett is an agnostic who forcefully puts the lie to the moldy old card about how you "can't be good without god," giving godless heathens a "yes you can!" role model alongside Gates.
And he lives frugally:
... in the same 6,000-square-foot, five-bedroom, gray stucco house he bought in Omaha, Neb.'s Happy Hollow suburb in 1958 for $31,500. The home has everything the 79-year-old needs, including his very own handball court that he uses to keep fit.
Okay, so he has a $4 million beach home in Laguna. I love Laguna Beach, and would live there in a shack if I could swing it, so I can hardly fault him. And besides, that's still less than one hundredth of a percent of his estimated net worth.
Probably the best piece of advice I've gotten in 15 years of writing about money is this: Live just a little bit below your means. Don't live like a rat or save like a miser, but don't spend to the outer limits of your income either. Buffett embodies that philosophy and has been able to use his fortune to make the world a better place. I can't think of a more fitting legacy.
