Charlie Munger’s life advice to Buffett years ago: live your obituary

Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, who died Tuesday at age 99, once offered what turned out to be sage advice to his buddy and investment legend Warren Buffett: live life backwards.

Munger years ago told the somewhat younger Buffett, 93, how he should live his life, according to CNBC’s Becky Quick, speaking on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” Munger told Buffett, “he should write his obituary the way he wants it written, and then live his life accordingly,” Quick said. “Look at things, and live backwards.”

In a recent, unaired interview conducted earlier in November, Munger told Quick “it’s not a bad idea” to start at the end. “I’ve written my obituary the way I’ve lived my life, and if you want to pay attention to it, it’s alright with me. And if they want to ignore it, that’s OK with me too. I’ll be dead.”

Philosophizing on the vagaries of advanced age, Munger said, “I am very good at recognizing unfair advantages, and I got unfair advantages in old age the same way I got unfair advantages in non old age. And when they came, I just grabbed them: boom, boom, boom.”