Vanguard's Ticker for the S&P 500, VOO - VOO and Chill
The Case for Buffett’s Recommended Investment Strategy
Warren Buffett started with virtually nothing and built a fortune exceeding $100 billion. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest investors in history. Multi-millionaires have paid millions of dollars just to have lunch with him and ask him questions.
Yet when asked how most people should invest, he gives his advice away for free.
Start by watching Buffett explain how to invest for the long term in a 15-minute presentation from 2018—and why he believes this is the best way for most people to invest. Be sure to read the summary of his presentation as well.
Then explore the rest of the site to find everything you need to decide whether to implement this solution as a lifelong strategy, including:
- Why the S&P 500 is uniquely suited for long-term investing
- The evidence showing it has outperformed nearly everything else
- Why it works
- The philosophy behind it
You will also find endorsements from legendary investors such as Charlie Munger, Charles Ellis, and Ed Thorp—each of whom independently reached the same conclusion as Buffett.
Because sticking with this strategy is nearly impossible unless you fully understand the philosophy behind it—and why it works better than almost anything else over the long term.
Start here by watching Buffett make the case himself.
▶ The Warren Buffett Investing Plan
Warren Buffett’s Investment Advice - In his own words
- When he purchased his first stock during WWII, the best thing he—or anyone—could have done was to buy the S&P 500 index fund.
- $10,000 invested in an S&P Index fund at that time would be worth a staggering $52 million in 2018.
- Think of investing in the S&P Index as buying and holding a piece of American business.
- One investment decision for your lifetime:
- You would never have to look at another stock quote or listen to another person give you advice.
- All you had to do was believe that America would do well over time. If America did well, American business would do well.
- If you listened to the doomsayers and invested in gold, you would have 1% of what you would have had investing in a productive asset like the S&P.
- We have operated in this country with the greatest tailwind at our back that you can imagine; it's an investor's heaven.
- You can't really fail unless:
- You buy the wrong stock.
- You get excited at the wrong time.
- But if you own a cross-section of America and consistently invest over the years, there's no comparison between that and:
- Owning something that produces nothing.
- Trying to jump in and out of stocks.
- Paying investment advisors.
- The only problem with this advice? Your friendly stockbroker would have starved to death, and you could have gone to their funeral to atone for their fate.
- The truth is, you would have been better off doing this than a very high percentage of investment professionals or active investors.
- It’s very hard to move around successfully and beat what can be done with a very relaxed philosophy.
- You don’t need to know about:
- Accounting.
- Stock market terminology.
- What the Fed is going to do next.
- None of that counts in a lifetime of investing.
- What counts is having a philosophy that you stick with and understand why you're in it.
One investment decision. One lifetime plan.
© 2025 Dan Mahoney | Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. I am a self-taught investor who worked in sales in the IT reseller solutions industry. After watching Warren Buffett—arguably the greatest stock picker in history—deliver an investing lesson, I asked a simple question: Why would he recommend a low-cost S&P 500 index fund for just about everyone?
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