Buffett's biggest secret may not be his ability to invest at all. But he lived long enough. Many people study how Buffett selects stocks, reads financial reports, and judges moats every day, but they overlook the cruelest fact: More than 99% of Buffett's wealth is earned after the age of 50. Even more exaggerated is that at the age of 60, his net worth was only about $3.8 billion, but now he is worth about $140 billion. That is to say, if we roughly calculate based on today's wealth scale, over 97% of his existing wealth was accumulated after the age of 60. So Buffett's biggest secret may not be 'being able to invest' at all. But he lived long enough. What does this mean? This means that if Buffett passed away in his 60s, he would still be a very talented investor, but he is unlikely to become the "stock god" worth billions of dollars and revered by the world today. Buffett's success has at least hit three super dividends that are difficult for ordinary people to replicate: Firstly, he started investing at the age of 11. At the age of 30, others were still buying cars, buying houses with leverage, but he has been letting compound interest run for almost 20 years. Secondly, he lived long enough. The most abnormal aspect of compound interest is not in the first 20 years, but in the last 20 years. Assuming a $1 million annual growth rate of 20%: 30 years later, it will be 237 million US dollars, In 40 years, it will be 1.47 billion US dollars, In 50 years, it will be 9.1 billion US dollars, After 60 years, it will directly become 56.3 billion US dollars. You will find that: The first 30 years are like hard work, and the next 30 years are like cheating. Thirdly, he was born in one of the most suitable countries in the world for long positions in the past 100 years. The rise of the United States after World War II, dollar hegemony, globalization, technological revolution, consumer upgrading, and decades long bull market in the US stock market If Buffett had been born in a country with long-term wars, hyperinflation, and a collapsing capital market, do you think he would still be the Buffett he is today? So I have always felt that: Attributing Buffett's success entirely to 'investment ability' is itself a survivorship bias. Of course, he is definitely a top genius. But a more complete formula would be: Top level capability, extremely early start, ultra long lifespan, US national shipping, no mid way inventory explosion. Without one, there may not be the Buffett of today. And the real significance of this matter for ordinary people is not making you study how to replicate Buffett's 20% annualization every day. You are most likely unable to copy. There are only three things that ordinary people can truly replicate: Buy high-quality assets early, don't mess around, live longer. Many people always want to double in a year. But what really sets the gap between ordinary people and the rich is often not which year they earned 100%, but rather: One person made compound interest run for 40 years, while another person tossed it around for 40 years. So when it comes to investing, the ultimate outcome may not be who is the smartest. But who got on the car first, who never got off the car, and who lived to the day when compound interest really went crazy.