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For investors who are looking to get rich, or at least improve their financial situation, finding an investment guru with a positive track record can be crucial.
But for many, the list starts and ends with two names: the late Charlie Munger and his partner in capital Warren Buffett, the former CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
Buffett’s own investing wisdom — from his stance on the S&P 500 to investing in companies that produce something tangible — has been internalized by many. But Buffett isn’t the only one who built Berkshire into a financial juggernaut.
Munger too left behind a trove of wisdom for retail investors to follow.
In one of his final interviews, he appeared on the Acquired podcast and noted that (1), “you only have to get rich once. You don’t have to climb this mountain four times. You just have to do it once.”
However, he did say that earning that first $100,000 is the hardest step. Here are a couple of investing insights that can help you start climbing towards the summit.
Many investors’ retirement accounts are focused on markets, and conventional wisdom recommends a 60/40 portfolio split between stocks and bonds.
Employer-sponsored 401(k) plans can be a great place to start. But they might not be enough, given that the retirement rule of thumb is to have at least 10 times your annual income for your golden years (2). With a salary of $70,000, that means at least $700,000. If you were to use the 4% rule for retirement, which states you can safely draw 4% out of your retirement account per year after adjusting for inflation, that amounts to just $28,000 for your first year — before accounting for Social Security benefits. Meanwhile, Munger often recommended consistency over aggression when it comes to investing. Playing the long game, and starting now, is essential for getting to that first $100K.
As such, it could pay to look for steady wealth-building vehicles, bolstered by your risk tolerance applied across a 30 or 40 year investment horizon. But the first step to doing so is finding the right brokerage platform to set up your investment account.
Then, once you’ve chosen your retirement account provider, you’ll need to select your investments.
Stock picking is notoriously risky, but there are ways to make safer bets and benefit from the wisdom of experts.
For example, platforms like Moby — founded by former hedge fund analysts — provide stock research and insights tailored for everyday investors. Moby’s team of experience analysts deliver up to three stock picks per week, and in plain language without needless financial jargon.
Even better, over the past four years, Moby’s stock picks have outperformed the S&P 500 by an average of 11.95%, helping more than 5 million users identify promising investments before they take off. Plus, they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can try before you buy.
Public markets show just one side of how wealth is created. Many of the biggest and most successful tech companies remain privately held for years, growing behind the scenes and building incredible value long before the IPO bell is rung.
Venture capital is where the early bets on future giants are placed. But, for decades, venture capital has been one of the few remaining tables in finance where retail investors can’t get a seat.
Fundrise finally disrupted that dynamic a few years ago by launching a venture capital product with two goals. One: build a portfolio of the most valuable private tech companies in the world. Two: make it available to as many people as possible, with investments starting at just $10.
Today, Fundrise manages billions of dollars in private market assets and their venture capital product is designed specifically for investors like you who want to get in early on transformative technologies like AI.
While investing in companies is a natural place to put your capital, there are plenty of other inflation-hedging assets that are worth your consideration. Munger is among those known to spread their wealth over distinct asset classes and across markets.
For instance, Munger’s other company, Daily Journal, has exposure to foreign markets according to form 13F holdings data from Valuesider (3).
And in 2023, Munger told the Financial Times that one of his top money-making investments was in a real estate venture that owns apartment buildings in California and New York (4).
But you don’t have to be a billionaire to invest in this kind of real estate.
Munger’s wealth benefited from investing in apartment complexes, which is a form of multifamily real estate investing. Due to the presence of multiple tenants, your investment can be at least somewhat protected through multiple sources of rental income.
If diversifying into multifamily rentals appeals to you, you could consider investing with Lightstone DIRECT, a new investing platform from the Lightstone Group, one of the largest private real estate companies in the country with over 25,000 multifamily units in its portfolio.
Since they eliminate intermediaries — brokers and crowdfunding middlemen — accredited investors with a minimum investment of $100,000 can gain direct access to institutional-quality multifamily opportunities. This streamlined model can help reduce fees while enhancing transparency and control.
And with Lightstone DIRECT, you invest in single-asset multifamily deals alongside Lightstone — a true partner — as Lightstone puts at least 20% of its own capital into every offering. All of Lightstone’s investment opportunities undergo a rigorous, multi-stage review before being approved by Lightstone’s Principals, including Founder David Lichtenstein.
How it works is simple: Just sign up with your email, and you can schedule a call with a capital formation expert to assess your investment opportunities. From here, all you have to do is verify your details to begin investing.
Founded in 1986, Lightstone has a proven track record of delivering strong risk-adjusted returns across market cycles with a 27.6% historical net IRR and 2.54x historical net equity multiple on realized investments since 2004. All told, Lightstone has $12 billion in assets under management — including in industrial and commercial real estate.
As such, even if multifamily rentals don’t appeal to you, Lightstone could still serve you well as an investment vehicle for other real estate verticals.
Another way to invest in real estate is through home equity. The $34.9 trillion U.S. home equity market has long been one of America’s most reliable wealth builders — but until recently, it’s been hard to access. You either had to buy a property yourself or compete with institutional players.
Homeshares is changing the game by allowing accredited investors to gain direct exposure to a portfolio of owner-occupied homes in top U.S. cities through their U.S. Home Equity Fund — without the hassles of buying, owning or managing property.
The fund focuses on homes with substantial equity, using Home Equity Agreements (HEAs) to let homeowners access liquidity without taking on debt or interest payments. This creates an attractive, low-maintenance investment vehicle for retirement savers, with a minimum investment of $25,000.
Experts recommend adding alternative assets, such as real estate, to your retirement portfolio. Unlike stocks, they aren’t tied to market swings and can reduce concentration risk, while also providing a hedge against inflation as home values rise.
And remember, you don’t need to be a billionaire like Munger in order to take advantage of the real estate market. You also don’t need $25,000 in the bank to get going. Even $100 will do.
You can tap into this market by investing in shares of vacation homes or rental properties through Arrived.
Backed by world-class investors, including Jeff Bezos, Arrived allows you to invest in shares of vacation and rental properties, earning a passive income stream without the extra work that comes with being a landlord of your own rental property.
To get started, simply browse through their selection of vetted properties, each picked for its appreciation potential and any income-generating power. Once you choose a property, you can start investing with as little as $100, potentially earning quarterly dividends.
But alternative assets like real estate aren’t the only way to diversify your portfolio, and potentially accelerate your path towards your first $100K.
These days, the S&P is trading at its highest price-to-earnings ratio since the dot-com boom. In fact, nearly everything feels priced near all-time highs, including equities, gold and crypto.
But Vanguard’s projection over the next 10 years is an annualized return between 3.9% and 5.9% (5) — much lower than the 13.6% it’s delivered over the last decade (6).
That’s why billionaires have long carved out a slice of their portfolios in an asset class with low correlation to the market and strong rebound potential: post-war and contemporary art.
In fact, fine art tends to be a solid investment over time as its value comes from an appreciation for craftsmanship and history. Compared to the stock market, this can make art — especially famous pieces — a long term way of storing value.
And now, this rare asset class is more accessible than ever for retail investors.
More than 70,000 investors have taken advantage of art through Masterworks since 2019. Now you can own fractional shares of iconic pieces of art by Banksy, Basquiat, Picasso and many more.
Masterworks has sold 25 artworks so far, yielding net annualized returns like 14.6%, 17.6%, and 17.8% among assets held for longer than a year.
