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Some of us are more disciplined than others. Shortly after we are born, we start to learn the rules of life. Some of these rules we had to learn the hard way, through trial and error. Others we learned from our parents. Learning from others in this way is often easier, however, we seem to do a better job of remembering the lessons we learn the hard way. As investors, we have a choice. We can learn the hard way and hope that we’ll survive our lessons and not run out of money, or we can learn from the following three wise men.

Three wise men – Warren Buffett. Dennis Gartmen and Puggy Pearson — found very different methods to achieve financial success, but they all share a common trait — their success came by following a strict set of rules. In this article we’ll show you nine rules that three wise investors live by.

The World’s Greatest Investor

Warren Buffett, the “Oracle of Omaha ,” is considered by many to be the greatest investor ever. He is also known for giving much of his $40 billion fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is dedicated to bringing innovations in health and learning. Buffett is primarily a value investor that closely follows Benjamin Graham’s investing philosophy after having worked at Graham’s firm, Graham-Newman. (To read more about Buffett, see The Contenders For Warren Buffett’s Job and What Is Warren Buffett’s Investing Style? )

Buffett has several excellent investing rules. You can read about many of them in his company’s (Berkshire Hathaway ) annual reports, which are an excellent source of investing knowledge.

Here are three of Buffett’s rules:

• Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.

If you lose money on an investment. it will take a much greater return to just break even, let alone make additional money. Minimize your losses by finding quality companies that are temporarily selling at discounted prices. Then follow good capital management principles and maintain your trailing stops. Also, sitting on a losing trade uses up time, money and mental capital. If you find yourself in this situation, it is time to move on.