Today, Warren Buffett released what’s likely his final letter to shareholders as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

Characteristically, it included his words of wisdom on investing and living a good life.

It’s hard to argue with Buffett’s long-time track record. He is one of the greatest investors who has ever lived.

And he is also good at distilling his investment wisdom into phrases that resonate with regular investors.

So you won’t be surprised to learn that I am a big fan of his. I don’t always agree with Buffett, though.

I can't recall a time when I thought he was straight-up wrong. But I can think of a few quotes of his that don’t apply to every situation.

Here are three of his timeless bits of investing advice that are far from universal.

"If you aren't willing to own a stock for 10 years, don't even think about owning it for 10 minutes."

Like a lot of Buffett's wisdom, this one is very much framed by his investing style. Remember, he runs an insurance company and takes a long-term perspective on investing.

I think this approach makes a ton of sense for almost every investor. But it isn’t the only way to make money.

I have a long-term investing strategy that takes a similar approach to Buffett.

A decade is a long time. But if you wouldn't hold a stock for at least three to five years, you are unlikely to make the kind of returns I look for in my investing strategy.

My trading strategy, however, is much different. We want to generate consistent, smaller returns in trading.

You may not make two or three times your money, but you could knock out 20 +8% returns. And that adds up!

That’s all to say Buffett's advice is excellent for long-term investing, but there are many ways to bake a cake.

Here is another one.

“Activity is the enemy of investment returns.”

I love this quote, and it applies to much more than just investment returns.

Broadly speaking, his advice is true again for investing. But it doesn't make any sense at all for trading strategies. 

In fact, the opposite is true for trading. If you want to be a successful trader, you need to be very active.

This is why one of my favorite sayings is, "Trade a lot or don't trade at all."

Now for our final Buffett quote.

“Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can’t buy what is popular and do well.”

This one is where I come closest to straight-up disagreeing with Buffett.

I don't disagree with the first two parts. Most people only start paying attention to a stock after everyone else is talking about it.

It would be great if you could find those ideas first. But it’s not always easy to do.

My big problem is with the final part of his statement — and I strongly disagree.

Think of the most significant stocks of all time. Companies like Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, etc.

You could have bought these stocks after they had already gone up significantly and still made life-changing money.

Many of Buffett's returns across the last few decades have come from his ownership of Apple.

The truth is that every stock that goes up tenfold must have gone up twofold, threefold, and fivefold first. For significant returns, the trend is actually your friend.

Buffett’s approach will always have a place in the market. But every investor has to adapt those ideas to their own style.