The only thing I'm not a fan of is the risks for those who might naively mix the two: ignoring valuation levels as a long term holder might, but then expecting decent returns in the short to medium term without considering valuation levels.

Agree - my BRK is in a vault, some of it over 25 years old - but now that I'm in the draw-down phase of my life, I do dabble in valuations a little bit.

I've mentioned before ( sutton writes on On Charlie Munger's centenary, and albatrosse ) my conclusion from both listening to Jim and admiring the albatross: "the trick seems to be: from a complex dynamic system extract a little, frequently, while at the same time not appearing to work at it very hard."

So, I sell for living expenses 4.5% of my currently-held BRK share pool annually, by selling 1.125% each Jan 1, Apr 1, July 1, October 1. But I will can't help trying to game the system a bit, typically taking the form of pre-selling a tranche (or two) when the P/B reaches levels Mr Buffett won't touch.

So with this atypical current run, I sold the Apr 1 tranche five weeks ago for $482, and the Jun 1 last week @ $522. I might even be tempted to sell the Oct 1 portion if it keeps on this way, say to $550 - $575.

But I'm certainly not counting on it.

- sutton