Warren Buffett says 'monkeys' could do as good a job investing as Wall Street financial advisors (2024)

Legendary investor Warren Buffett calls investing a "simple game" that financial advisors have convinced the public is harder than it really is.

Speaking at Saturday's Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting, Buffett slammed Wall Street financial advisors for "catching the crumbs that fall off the table of capitalism" and said that in most cases, "monkeys" could provide better investment returns simply by throwing money at American companies.

"You can have monkeys throwing darts at the page, and, you know, take away the management fees and everything, I'll bet on the monkeys [over the advisors]," he said.

Buffett pointed out how since 1941, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has increased from $100 to more than $30,000, and said that most people need only put their money into "an American business" and let it grow.

"It's amazing how hard people make what is a simple game," Buffett said of advisors. "But of course, if they told everybody what a simple game it was, 90% of the income of the people that were speaking would disappear."

Buffett has long recommended that investors put their money in low-cost index funds, which hold every stock in an index, making them automatically diversified. The S&P 500, for example, includes big-name companies like Apple, Coca-Cola and Amazon.

Buffett previously told CNBC that for people looking to build their retirement savings, diversified index funds make "the most sense practically all of the time."

"Consistently buy anS&P 500low-cost index fund,"Buffett said in 2017."Keep buying it through thick and thin, and especially through thin."

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