At the 2025 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting, Warren Buffett and his successor Greg Abel summarized a set of long-term development principles for young shareholders regarding 'conduct, learning, career choice, and financial management.' The core essence is: Walk with upright and excellent individuals, maintain lifelong curiosity, hone professional ethics, engage in work you love, and adhere to a low-cost, long-term investment strategy.

1. Connections and character: Choose who to walk with

Choose friends like choosing a path: The direction of life often aligns with those around you; associating with better and more upright people will positively elevate you.

Kindness compounding: A positive circle can continually amplify the compounding effect of altruism and integrity; a negative circle will accelerate decline.

Stay away from a restless atmosphere: Do not blindly follow ostentatious success; focus on doing things steadily and cultivating character.

2. Knowledge seeking and reading: Maintain lifelong curiosity

Reading is a low-cost, high-return investment: Buffett's extensive reading of annual reports and classics during his teenage years laid the foundation for his investment abilities.

Record and reflect: Write down, reflect, and internalize what you read to deepen understanding.

Cross-disciplinary exploration: From business, history to psychology, multi-dimensional perspectives activate innovative thinking.

3. Professional ethics and contribution: Build a trustworthy core competency

First do the right thing, then pursue results: Berkshire's culture emphasizes integrity first.

Altruism-driven career perspective: Placing 'creating value for the team and clients' above personal gain will yield long-term rewards.

Reliability is the brand: Making colleagues and partners feel 'you can trust me' is a rare asset.

4. Choose a career you love: Money is not the primary driving force.

Interest brings lasting motivation: Work that you are willing to invest in even without a high salary can inspire continuous learning and creativity.

Refuse environments that violate principles: Short-term gains cannot compensate for the losses caused by long-term value conflicts.

'Side effects' are longevity and happiness: Love and a sense of meaning reduce career burnout and enhance quality of life.

5. Invest in yourself and simplify financial management

The best asset is yourself: Continuously enhance skills, health, and emotional intelligence; these have the greatest compounding effects.

Primarily low-cost index funds: For the vast majority, holding S&P 500 and other index funds long-term is better than timing the market.

Avoid high-interest debt: Credit cards and excessive leverage make compound interest work for the bank rather than for you.

Cash buffer: Maintaining ample liquidity allows you to seize opportunities during market panic.

6. Think long-term, adapt to fluctuations

Market volatility is the norm: Berkshire has experienced several short-term declines of 50%, yet still achieved excellent compound growth in the long term.

Emotional management is more important than prediction: Train psychological resilience to avoid disrupting long-term plans due to short-term panic.

'Good ball zone' concept: Patiently wait for high-probability opportunities; a few correct decisions can add immense value.

Summary

People: Walk with upright, wise, and better people than yourself.

Books: Maintain curiosity, read daily and record insights.

Things: Choose work you are willing to dedicate your life to, cultivating reliable professional ethics.

Money: Invest in yourself first, then use low-fee index funds + ample cash to cope with volatility.

Heart: Train emotional resilience, patiently wait for 'good balls' and strike decisively.

Virtue: Treat partners and society with an altruistic mindset, letting kindness generate compounding effects.