Charlie Munger's bad news for young people: It's harder to get rich today than in the past

• It's harder for young people to get rich today than it was in the past, Charlie Munger says.
• Warren Buffett's right-hand man blamed fiercer competition in his closing keynote at Zoomtopia.
• Munger flagged home prices, portfolio returns, taxes, regulations, and valuations as challenges.

Charlie Munger has some bad news for young people dreaming of becoming wealthy. 

"It's going to be harder for the present generation to get rich because there's more competition," Warren Buffett's business partner and Berkshire Hathaway's 99-year-old vice-chairman said at this year's Zoomtopia conference, according to an Oct. 12 blog post on Zoom's website.

However, Munger noted there are some positives to a long journey, and advised people to adopt the same habits that helped him succeed.

"It took a long time to get ahead," he said. "I will say, in retrospect, I'm glad it took so long because it was interesting." 

"You have to get better and better or you will lose. Try harder, work harder and you'll do better," Munger added, suggesting people spend less than they earn and invest their savings.

His closing keynote at the Zoom annual conference was not streamed online. Insider spoke to six people who attended the event, and learned that Munger blasted crypto, warned AI hype might be overblown, and discussed poker, donuts, and staying connected with family.

The legendary investor has previously said it's more difficult to get ahead than it was in the past.

"It's going to be way harder for the group that is graduating from college now," he said during Daily Journal's shareholder meeting last year. "For them to get rich and stay rich and so forth, it's going to be way harder for them than it was for my generation."

Munger flagged the much higher cost of buying a house in a nice neighborhood of a city like Los Angeles, and the likelihood that a diversified stock portfolio will earn slimmer returns in the years ahead than it did during his lifetime.

He pointed to steeper company valuations, greater government hostility to business, and the prospect of higher taxes as three key challenges for investors during Daily Journal's meeting this year.

Buffett's right-hand man doubled down on his view during Berkshire's shareholder meeting in May.

"I think value investors are going to have a harder time now that there's so many of them competing for a diminished bunch of opportunities," he said. "So, my advice to value investors is to get used to making less."

Buffett disagreed, giving young people at least a glimmer of hope. He argued that investors can get ahead by taking a long-term view, looking for opportunities off the beaten path, and taking advantage of other people "doing dumb things."

This story was originally published on October 18, 2023.