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The week's question
In December 2024, in the thread "Re: BRK: Why Not XOM?", BreckHutHigh asked the members: "What about the long road trips with kids?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
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Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
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Author: Johncleven   😊 😞
Number: of 21944 
Subject: Re: Can't belive I did that
Date: 08/29/24 3:44 PM
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No. of Recommendations: 24
My situation: I started buying BRK.B shares when I was 23 years old in 2012 at $79 per B share. At the time I had a low-paying job, $80k in student loan debt and a deeply negative net worth. I stumbled upon Mr. Buffett's annual letters and was completely smitten. I was absolutely convinced that at 1.1x BV, Berkshire B shares were a better allocation of capital than paying off said student debt ahead of schedule.

So I plowed everything I could into B shares in a taxable account. I bought as many as I could, and then I bought more. BRK.B was generally around 75% of my little portfolio from 2012-2018. Due to the debt, BRK.B was actually more than 100% of my net worth until around 2017.

I never sold a share from age 23 to age 35 today and that crazy little bet I made is now worth nearly $200,000.

However, I did sell some CCs recently and those shares are almost certainly going bye-bye. This will be my first ever stock sale but I don't mind being forced to part with those 100 shares at favorable prices and using the proceeds to: wipe out ALL my remaining debt, take care of some long neglected home improvements, and buy myself a nice modern road bike.

Yes, I need to pay those pesky 15% LT cap gains taxes but I'm fine with it. I suspect the tax situation when I'm 65 in 2054 will be less favorable than today anyway.

Weighted avg returns on my BRK.B has been approx 16% annualized vs 5% interest on the student loans.

The prospect of lightening up just a little at this valuation feels pretty good actually. Plus I still have a few hundred B shares left so I can continue to lurk on these boards from time to time haha.
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This community has written 21,448 posts about Berkshire Hathaway. The article-length ones it recommended most:
BRK: Why Not XOM? · 62 recs · 2024
Second quarter comments · 60 recs · 2023
Berkshire's Profit Contributors · 57 recs · 2023
Summary of 2Q 2026 · 54 recs · 2026
3Q Summary · 53 recs · 2024
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