Be Resilient, Avoid Debt and Gambling to Succeed in Life: Tom Russo

Veteran investor Tom Russo says children need to build resilience, debt can be devastating, and older people have some advantages when it comes to beating the market.

Russo is the managing member of Gardner Russo & Quinn, an investment firm with a $9.3 billion US stock portfolio as of September 30, per its latest 13F filing.

The father of two told Business Insider that teaching resilience to kids starts with letting them fall on the playground, so they can learn to get back up and keep going.

They have to experience pain and discomfort as “those moments happen all the time in life,” he said. “The greatest lessons are learned when trying to work yourself out of something that doesn’t go well. And the worst thing to do is to avoid those from happening when they naturally would.”

Asked how young people can get ahead at a time when AI threatens to take jobs and many feel priced out of the lives they want, Russo cited Warren Buffett’s warnings about credit-card debt as a “chain across your back” that gets tighter and tighter until it chokes you. Russo added that “buy now, pay later” options pose a fresh threat, as they tempt people into spending money they don’t have.

Russo also cautioned against gambling too much, saying it’s a “loser’s game to begin with” and “probably isn’t going to develop your thinking and wisdom and reason.”

The market veteran, who turned 70 this year, ruled out retiring anytime soon. While young investors might have more time and energy to travel and dig deeper into prospective investments, older ones “develop judgment, and you’re a little less impetuous, and a little more patient, and probably a little bit more asleep,” he quipped.

Russo is far from the first investor to continue working past retirement age. Buffett, 95, will step down as Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO before the new year, but intends to continue writing Thanksgiving letters to his shareholders and remain involved in the company as its chairman.