Yahoo Finance T. Boone Pickens identifies the one trait you need to be successful
Legendary oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens singled out the trait that young people need in order to be successful.
“You’ve got to have a good work ethic if you’re going to be successful,” the 88-year-old investing legend said.
He added that you don’t have to have a college education in order to be successful though. There’s alternative sources of training for a variety of good jobs.
“[College] is not for everybody. But work ethic is. You’ve got to have a good work ethic if you’re going to make it.”
His best piece of financial advice is to always make sure to save money and invest it.
“Always, always, a part of what you make you save. You say, ‘well, I’m hand to mouth.’ You may be hand to mouth. But get started. Develop a savings for something. And put it in the market, but get some advice on where to put it in the market.”
Pickens also offered some other thoughts on the younger generation.
“The young people in the country — they are smart, no question,” he said. “[But] they spend too much time on their phones.”
Pickens is a popular Twitter user with a following of more than 141,000, but he thinks face-to-face communication is imperative.
“It’s too much,” he continued. “You say, ‘Well old man, you don’t understand.’ I may not. I think you lose communication with your age group. I think you need to have face-to-face.”
He said the younger generation will have to come up with the solutions for the country’s energy future.
Pickens has called America’s dependence on foreign oil the “greatest threat” to the US. Specifically, he has warned that America’s reliance on OPEC-imported oil threatens the country’s economy, environment, and national security. He told Yahoo Finance the US is better off than it was five or ten years ago because it’s currently importing less. Still, Pickens sees no reason for the US to use OPEC oil.
“Your crowd is going to have to pay for this is,” Pickens told Yahoo Finance, referring to the energy situation. “When you see that you’re paying, you’ll get a lot more interested in it. ”
Eight years ago, he kicked off The Pickens Plan, which aims to get the US to reduce its reliance on foreign oil by using natural gas and other American resources. The crux of the plan is to get heavy-duty trucks to switch to natural gas, which is cheaper and emits less carbon dioxide than oil.
“There’s no question that natural gas is cheaper than diesel. It’s abundant. Why not use it. I can see the movement happening because I watch these markets closely. But natural gas is going to replace diesel.”
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Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance.
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