Warren Buffett first bought stocks in 1942, at the age of 11. This early investment marked the beginning of his long and legendary billionaire-making career in investing. At 11, I was probably still climbing trees somewhere.

I wasn’t reading the ! But we all begin investing at different times. Here are three investing ideas I wish I’d known from day one. Look for moats When I first started, I made a couple of costly mistakes, investing in companies that had no durable competitive advantages.

Or moats, as Buffett calls them. As with a medieval castle, a moat keeps rivals at bay. Here are some: A strong moat protects a company’s profits in the long run.

Therefore, the first question when considering an investment should always be, does this business have a moat? Sell investments In 1985, Buffett wrote: “ “. This is also something I struggled with. When my original investment thesis had proven wrong, I’d stubbornly hold onto a stock for too long, hoping for a turnaround.

Then I’d lose even more money. It’s better to sell up and move on when losing conviction in an investment. After all, to get back to even after a 75% drop, a stock would need to rise by 300%.

That might never happen. Valuation matters Finally, valuation is very important in investing. It’s not the be-all-and-end-all, in my experience.

Some of my best-performing stocks have been ‘overvalued’ when I bought them, according to traditional metrics. , for example, or . But valuation does matter.

.