Investment is like marriage: Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and after marriage, one eye open and one eye closed.

Today, let’s talk about the relationship between investment and marriage.

In fact, there are many principles that successful investing and successful marriage share.

So this program is about the enlightenment of investment,

helping others and oneself,

the insights from investing are the principles of life.

Someone once asked Munger how to find a good partner in marriage and what to do after getting married. Munger replied with a very interesting statement:

He said, "Before marriage, keep your eyes wide open,

after marriage, just open one eye and close the other."

He spoke very humorously,

and he is a very wise elder.

Actually, Munger’s first marriage was unhappy,

and it was very short,

his second marriage was very happy,

lasting fifty or sixty years,

and he had many children.

So listen to some people’s experiences,

don’t only listen to successful people’s experiences,

the best advice comes from someone who has experienced both success and failure.

People with such experience have more valuable insights,

if you have a choice,

you should listen to such people.

Why keep your eyes wide open before marriage,

and just open one eye and close the other after marriage?

For example,

young people looking for a boyfriend or girlfriend,

try to be a bit more picky,

especially men,

we have many options,

can actively pursue women,

can date multiple girlfriends,

as soon as you find she is not suitable for you,

quickly give up.

This is also good for the girl,

it won’t waste her youth,

and it frees you up,

to find the person you need,

the right person for you.

So there’s also a piece of advice here,

to choose more,

don’t rush to find someone immediately,

unless she is completely suitable for you.

If you finally find someone,

and get married,

marriage lasts forty or fifty years,

which is a long time,

and marriage is actually quite against human nature.

So this is also a big test of human nature,

your patience,

your tolerance,

and many other qualities.

I’m not going to discuss marriage itself here.

The other person also has flaws,

and you’re not perfect either,

you often make mistakes.

In many situations,

during big storms,

you need to keep one eye open and one eye closed,

don’t be too picky,

being picky before marriage,

allows you to choose a good person,

which is the most important.

Why be picky?

Because you can only find one,

so you need to be picky.

Investing is like buying stocks,

you only need to buy one or two good stocks to become a millionaire.

In fact, I have said,

most of the world’s billionaires became billionaires through one or two companies.

Choosing a wife is the same,

you only need to choose one wife,

so you should be picky.

After marriage,

you need to tolerate,

try to tolerate,

don’t give up at the first sign of flaws.

Divorce is actually not good at all,

people who like to divorce,

personally, I think they are not good people,

because they are not cautious,

lacking tolerance in marriage,

and finally give up,

hence the phrase “start chaos and end with abandonment.”

Initially being too casual,

shows they are not good people.

So, to find a good person,

first be a good person yourself,

be tolerant,

have love,

love is tolerance,

then marry a good person.

When you are a good person yourself,

it’s easier to recognize a good person.

A bad person is not so easy to identify,

so look at those who often divorce,

it’s not necessarily because the other person has many flaws,

it’s not bad luck,

but because they keep finding unsuitable women.

Actually, it’s their own problem,

either their ability is lacking,

judgment is poor,

or they are not tolerant enough,

or they are not honest.

For example, a singer from Beijing,

who has been married three or four times,

and recently married another actress.

I really like his song “Life in Bloom,”

but I think he is not a good person in marriage.

Another person from Beijing,

who often appears on TV as a social media influencer,

the one who likes to wave fans,

he is also.

I enjoy watching his programs,

but I always feel he is not a good person in marriage.

I’ll take this as an example,

and I don’t want to comment too much.

People who have married many times are often not good people.

So I say, "Find a good person,

and first be a good person yourself."

Be cautious at the beginning.

Young people should choose more,

choose more — then settle down.

In investment,

you first need to build your circle of competence,

then constantly scrutinize stocks,

to increase your certainty.

If a stock is not good,

for example, if you don’t understand some aspects,

you can’t buy it,

don’t buy industries you don’t understand.

Or if you think you understand an industry,

but can’t understand the company’s financial statements,

it might be because your ability is lacking,

or the company is falsifying,

and you can’t tell what they are saying.

In such cases, you need to give up,

be picky,

because we lack certainty.

Don’t “marry” a stock you are not sure about,

marrying it would be harmful to yourself,

so don’t buy companies you don’t understand.

Your circle of competence is very important,

know your own limits,

whether you truly understand,

or think you understand,

but find it difficult when analyzing,

then give up.

You don’t need to prove that a company is fake,

if there is even a suspicion of fraud,

even if you can’t prove it,

and you’re not confident,

just give up.

It’s like dating,

even if the other person is very charming,

but has some moral issues,

and you think “he will change,”

don’t hold onto such illusions.

When you buy a company’s stock,

you always have good intentions,

thinking the other will change,

or improve in the future, etc.,

but these are uncertain.

I believe that in many cases,

after marriage, people tend to become worse,

not better.

Unless they meet a good person,

like you,

who can improve them,

but for a company, it’s impossible,

you can’t change that company.

Unlike Buffett,

who can buy the entire company and change management.

So in such cases, we are at a disadvantage,

and can only choose to give up.

Because we only need one or two companies,

so after spending time choosing a company,

you wait for the right moment when it dips,

and you spend a lot of effort and time,

to buy in.

Good companies are very similar to marriage,

you buy the company,

and only when the price drops do you buy in,

that’s when your fate and timing align,

so when the opportunity comes,

you buy in,

just like getting married,

you are truly married.

After marriage,

the most important thing is to hold on,

because you already understand it,

and finally waited for it.

So don’t easily say you want a divorce,

which means don’t sell stocks easily.

Because if you sell the stock,

you need to find another company,

study it, and wait again,

which costs time,

time is money,

and in the compound interest formula, time is the biggest factor.

So don’t sell the company you finally waited for,

just because of some bad news temporarily or some non-essential news,

and fear a sharp drop in stock price,

and sell it.

This way, you will never succeed,

and fail in the stock market.

What is the worst habit? Once you develop a habit of casually divorcing,

or casually selling stocks,

you will fall into a trap.

Short-term trading,

you keep selling,

then keep buying,

because after all the time and effort you spent buying,

it often results in no real gains,

and it’s easier to just buy randomly,

which leads to the so-called “start chaos and end with abandonment.”

You keep chasing prices,

and stop studying the companies,

because for you,

studying companies ends up being a muddled process and then selling.

That’s why holding stocks long-term requires keeping one eye open and one eye closed.

It has flaws,

but you can’t be as picky as before marriage,

or as before buying.

You need to be picky before buying,

so that you can hold.

The core of long-term stock holding is this:

you spend time,

you finally waited for this company,

you bought in,

unless the company’s fundamental operations truly change,

then you should sell,

or if the reason you bought it no longer exists,

then only sell.

In general, don’t easily divorce over minor flaws.

Because after divorce,

your cost is very high,

you spent time before,

and now you have to spend more time finding new companies,

waiting, and buying again.

This is the core reason,

which is why patience is so important.

Patience is crucial both in marriage and in investing,

so the principles of marriage and investment are very interconnected.

Today, I use marriage as a metaphor,

as a value investor,

the qualities we need are very similar.

So if you are a good investor,

you will become a good person in marriage,

and vice versa,

it will improve your character in this aspect.

So whether it’s Buffett,

or Munger, they are both good in marriage.

Although Buffett later divorced his wife,

it was because his wife had issues and left him,

Buffett himself did not do that,

and after divorce, their relationship remained good.

Munger’s marriage with his second wife lasted until old age,

they were in their ninety-something,

with many children.

So marriage and investment are the same,

be cautious and picky before marriage,

and after marriage, just keep one eye open and one eye closed.