Can the Warren Buffett method still help me get rich in 2023?

Doing something for decades gives investors experience and perspective. Super-investor Warren Buffett has been buying stocks for years – and it’s helped him become a billionaire.

I use some of Buffett’s methods when choosing stocks to buy. But how will that work in 2023, a very different era than when he started buying stocks?

Times have changed

A lot has changed since Buffett bought his first stock in the 1940s. He has reminisced about the few offers that were available early in his career that have long been lost.

In the first decade of the investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway, the market value per share increased by an average of 18.9%. In the most recent decade, the figure was a more modest (but still impressive) 15.5%.

But the changes seen in the last few decades can be beneficial as an investor. For example, early in Buffett’s career, if he wanted to find certain information, he had to dig it up in the public library. Now I can access a world of corporate and financial information online for free. That can help me get the information I need to make investment decisions.

In addition, Buffett said that he thinks it is easier to generate large profits when investing smaller amounts. That’s music to the ears of private investors like me!

Invest like Buffett

Not only that, but the approach that made Buffett rich continues today, I guess.

For example, consider what may be the biggest investment of his career, Berkshire’s stock Apple. That valued the company at $31bn but was worth $161bn at the time of Berkshire’s latest annual letter. While Buffett owns stocks that show bigger percentage gains, in pure cash terms, Apple has been the best part of his career, so far.

But Buffett only started buying Apple shares in 2016. The company conforms to classic investment principles. It is in the business sector that is likely to see strong demand in the future. The brand and its installed user base give it a strong competitive advantage, helping Apple make huge profits.

While customer trends and industry technology have evolved over the decades, I think Buffett’s approach to finding great stocks remains true.

Invest to build wealth

So can using the Buffett method help me become rich in 2023 and beyond? The answer to that depends on a few things. First, does the approach still work? As I said above, I think it works.

Secondly, I need to invest money. Simply identifying great stocks using the methodology will not help me improve my financial position unless I give them money.

I don’t have huge funds to invest like Buffett. But I can start with what I have and hope that, over time, I can grow wealth by following his time-tested investment methodology.