Every year, I eagerly wait for Berkshire Hathaway to release its annual letter to shareholders. In it contains nuggets of wisdom that gives you insights on how Warren Buffett built his Berkshire Hathaway empire from scratch from a failing textile maker in 1965 to a Fortune 500 company today. He also shares the mistakes he made along the way like acquiring Dexter Shoes Co. for US$433 million in Berkshire Class A shares in 1993 which folded just eight years later.

Buffett candidly lays out all these stories in his letters and explains them in a way that even an eight-year-old (albeit one who’s interested in investments) can understand. That’s why I highly recommend you read his letters too!

With that, here are seven things I learned from Warren Buffett’s 2018 letter to Berkshire shareholders:

1. Buffett changed the way he opened his letter this year and has moved away