The Secret to Warren Buffett’s Longevity in Investing: 5 Habits To Follow

What’s truly remarkable about Warren Buffett is his longevity. From 1965 to 2024, Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A) returned an incredible compound return of 19.9% per year, nearly double the returns of the S&P 500 Index at 10.4%. While markets have risen and fallen and countless investment fads have come and gone, Buffett’s success hasn’t—even in 2025, his Berkshire company posted more than 16% total return between Jan. 1 and May 1, while the S&P 500 lost 4.3% in total returns, according to TradingView data.

Below, we’ll explore five key habits that have fueled Buffett’s extraordinary staying power in the investing world—habits that any investor can adopt to improve their own financial journey.

“We select our marketable equity securities in much the same way we would evaluate a business for acquisition in its entirety,” Buffett wrote Berkshire shareholders back in the late 1970s. “We want the business to be (1) one that we can understand, (2) with favorable long-term prospects, (3) operated by honest and competent people, and (4) available at a very attractive price.” Let’s take these in turn, with one more that pulls them all together.

Habit 1: Invest in What You Understand

A fundamental Buffett principle is his commitment to staying within what he calls his “circle of competence.” Instead of chasing every trending investment opportunity, Buffett says you should stick to what you know best.

This approach explains why Buffett avoided technology stocks for companies he didn’t understand during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. While this decision initially drew criticism as tech stocks soared, it protected Berkshire Hathaway from significant losses when the bubble eventually burst.

Habit 2: Focus on Long-Term Value

“Our favorite holding period is forever,” Buffett has said, highlighting his avoidance of short-term thinking as an investor. Rather than chasing quarterly earnings reports or attempting to time market fluctuations, Buffett focuses on the fundamental value of businesses over decades.

For individual investors, this means resisting the urge to constantly check stock prices or make frequent trades based on short-term news. Instead, focus on buying quality businesses at reasonable prices and give them time to grow.

Habit 3: Seek Honest and Competent Management

The third principle Buffett follows is investing in companies run by honest and competent people. “It is a real pleasure to work with managers who…instinctively and unerringly think like owners,” Buffett said to Berkshire shareholders.

How can individual investors assess management quality? Look for consistent messaging in annual reports and conference calls, reasonable executive compensation relative to performance, significant insider ownership, and a track record of fulfilling promises made to shareholders. Red flags include frequent accounting restatements, excessive executive perks, and complex corporate structures that obscure financial results. Companies with these problems don’t often last long.

Habit 4: Insist on Attractive Pricing

No matter how excellent a business might be, Buffett refuses to overpay, understanding that the price determines the return on investment. Buffett follows his mentor Benjamin Graham‘s school of value investing, which tells you to look for securities with prices that are low based on their fundamentals. This tells you not to follow the crowd.

Habit 5: Practice Unwavering Patience

The fifth principle that combines Buffett’s investment philosophy involves his extraordinary patience. “Our stay-put behavior reflects our view that the stock market serves as a relocation center at which money is moved from the active to the patient,” Buffett once said, highlighting the importance of long-term thinking in investment success.

The Bottom Line

Buffett’s remarkable longevity comes from five foundational habits: investing in what he understands, focusing on long-term value, seeking out the best management, practicing value investing, and committing to lifelong patience.