Imagine you’re going to a conference where Warren Buffett, the richest person in the world, will be on stage. And let’s suppose there will be 30,000+ other attendees at this conference.

Would you sit in the front row for the rare opportunity to shake hands (and perhaps take a photo) with Warren Buffett?

Or would you rather sit strategically close to a microphone for the even rarer opportunity to ask him a question? And if you decided to ask a question, what question would you ask him?

Warren Buffett — the richest man in the world (personal net worth over US$62 billion)

Tim Ferris, author of the New York Times –, Wall Street Journal — and BusinessWeek Bestseller “The 4-Hour Workweek” opted for the later when he attended the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting. And even then, he couldn’t leave things to chances… so he really prepared for the encounter.

When he finally had the change to ask a question, his:

“If you were 30 years old and had no dependents but a full-time job that precluded full-time investing, how would you invest your first million dollars, assuming that you can cover 18 months of expenses with other savings? Thank you in advance for being as specific as possible with asset classes and allocation percentage.”

Read Tim’s notes from the event on his blog for Buffett’s response to Tim’s question, as well as responses to question from other attendees.