This coming Friday I have to go to the United Arab Emirates, a day after I turn fifty years old. Why? Because I didn't plan well when I was twenty-two years old and failed to take proper investment action. As a result, twenty-eight years later, I am paying dearly.

Ever since I can remember, I have been a big fan of Warren Buffett. On April 27, in my post "Avoiding The Trip to Iowa", I noted that over the past twenty-five years Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway had an annual return on investment of 23.5%. Imagine, if at the age of twenty-two, I had invested $2,000 annually in Berkshire Hathaway and realized that kind of return, what I would be worth today! $3,866,777.

And if I did, I would not be traveling to Dubai on Friday to see a client, rather Gillian and I would be in southern France, enjoying our anniversary and birthdays.

Well, I still am a big fan of Warren Buffett and it is not too late to follow his lead. Here are the publicly traded companies in his portfolio:

United Health Group (UNH), Ingersoll Rand (IR), HR Block (HRB), Comcast (CMCSK), Nike (NKE), Petro China (PTR), Anheuser Busch (BUD), United Parcel Service (UPS) Suntrust Bank (STI), Tyco (TYC), American Standard (ADS), POSCO (PKX), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Wellpoint (WLP), General Electric (GE), Conoco Phillips (COP), Union Pacific (UNP), Walmart (WMT), US Bancorp (USB), M&T Bank (MTB), Burlington Northern Sante Fe (BNI), USG Corp. (USG), Coca Cola (KO), American Express (AXP), Wells Fargo (WFC), Proctor & Gambel (PG), Moody's Corp. (MCO), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Westco Financial (WSC), and Washington Post (WPO).

By the way, Warren just doubled up on Johnson & Johnson and moved into railroad stocks.

Rebekah, don't sell your JNJ!

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive