Warren Buffett Talks Money & Happiness on CBS SUNDAY MORNING, 1/20

Billionaire Warren Buffett says as a child he knew he wanted to be rich because that would give him independence, he tells Rebecca Jarvis in an interview to be broadcast this weekend on CBS SUNDAY MORNING WITH Charles Osgood (9:00 AM, ET).

Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, is one of the five richest men in the world and considered to be one of the smartest investors of his generation. He says he knew in Elementary school he wanted to be rich. "I like to be independent," he tells Jarvis. "I want to be able to do what I want to do every day. And money lets you do that."

Buffett drove Jarvis around his hometown of Omaha, Neb., stopping at key locations from his childhood such as the Rose Hill Elementary School, where he spent his early years teaching himself about finance. He says he doesn't need fancy clothes or food. In fact, Buffett tells Jarvis he frequently eats at a local McDonald's restaurant and he doesn't have an iPad or an iPhone.

He also says he was lucky, admitting there are things beyond our control that often decide someone's future.

"The womb from which you emerge determines your fate to an enormous degree," he tells Jarvis. "Just in my own case, I was born in 1930. I had two sisters that have every bit the intelligence I have, every bit the drive... but they didn't have the same opportunities. I was a man. And I was white. So if I'd been black, my future would have been entirely different. If I'd been a female, my life would have been entirely different."

As for the country's future, Buffett says that it's easy to get discouraged by what's happening in Washington. "But I will tell you what is right about America just totally dwarfs what's wrong about Washington," he says. "And 535 people are not going to mess up 315 million over time."

Jarvis' interview with Buffett will be broadcast Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 on CBS SUNDAY MORNING (9:00 AM, ET) on the CBS Television Network. Rand Morrison is the executive producer.

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