Benjamin Franklin on Sinking Great Ships
Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving.
— Warren Buffett
Buffett's advice is akin to the personal finance concept of "paying yourself first." Automatically transferring a set amount to a savings or investment account immediately after receiving your paycheck helps build financial security.
Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.
— Benjamin Franklin
If you place Franklin's precaution beside Buffett’s advice, you have a complete philosophy of financial security. First, carve out the surplus and invest it; then guard your spending money against the thousand expenses that masquerade as harmless but add up to be disastrous.
Great philosophers of all ages have pointed to restraint as the key to happiness, and ancient Rome is no exception.
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.
— Seneca
These oracles don't offer a shortcut to sudden wealth but a daily practice of restraint that over time leads to happiness and abundance.
If you're looking for an enjoyable, accessible, and fascinating book about Warren Buffett, check out The Warren Buffett Way by Robert G. Hagstrom. The latest, 30th, edition comes with forewords by three investment greats: Peter Lynch, Bill Miller, and Howard Marks.
One of the best books about Franklin is Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson. I highly recommend it.
Seneca's essays are collected in Seneca's Letters from a Stoic. Like so many of thge great classics, the Kindle version is just 99 cents. Look for the essay, "On the Happy Life."
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