Charlie Munger’s Life Advice: Let Go of Things That Don’t Matter | Final Interview with CNBC 2023

[Transcript]

BECKY QUICK: I think another thing you’ve said is, “Whatever you are, wealth and age will make you more so.”

CHARLIE MUNGER: Yeah. Sure.

BECKY QUICK: You’ve given away a lot of your money.

CHARLIE MUNGER: Yeah, but not like Warren. More than half of the Munger money has already been passed to the descendants. So I've made exactly the opposite. It’s a smaller amount of money, but I made exactly the opposite decision for the majority of our money. The majority of his money he gave away. Now, he didn’t exactly give it away. It goes to Buffett foundations that go on for another 100 years. That's not exactly giving it — it's not exactly like wasting it. It’s having some significance.

BECKY QUICK: Is there anything left on your bucket list? Anything you’d like to do?

CHARLIE MUNGER: Well, that’s an interesting question. I am so old and weak compared to what I was when I was 96 that I no longer want to catch a 200-pound tuna. It’s just too goddamn much work to get it in. It takes too much physical strength. So I don't want any — I would have paid any amount to catch a 200-pound tuna when I was younger — I never caught one. And, now, if given the opportunity, I would just decline going. I won’t even go out after them. There are things you give up with time.

BECKY QUICK: You’re pretty active. You’ve got a busy social schedule. You’re on Zoom. You have breakfasts and lunches —

CHARLIE MUNGER: Well, I like it that way. That’s my ideal of a proper old age for me. And I didn’t plan it, it just happened — and, when it happened, I welcomed it. I am very good at recognizing unfair advantages. I got unfair advantages in old age the way I got unfair advantages in not-old age. And when they came, I just grabbed them. Boom, boom, boom. The one grab I never made was for a third wife. (Laughs) Too late.

BECKY QUICK: Why?

CHARLIE MUNGER: It’s too late. There are people for whom it’s a necessity. They’re so much more comfortable in marriage than they are outside of it that they really need it to be human. It’s just the way they’re put together. And, for such people, I recommend the 100-year-old dating app — but you’ll find that if you put in there, not many 100-year-olds want it. They’re just lying there.

Source: https://youtu.be/H5Oom5Rjp_Y?si=ZEkkZkAN6WyOWcl9

 

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