Kevin O’Leary isn’t interested in your excuses – especially those with a bow on them.
In a 2020 interview with CNBC, the Shark Tank investor didn’t just recommend setting aside money. He gave the order. “I don’t care if it’s your birthday present,” O’Leary said. “You have to invest 10 percent of your salary every two weeks.” Paychecks, birthday cards, side cash from scooping ice cream — it all counts. If it falls into your hands, O’Leary estimates that 10 percent of it will be eliminated and grown elsewhere.
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The concept is simple: build wealth through consistent, automatic investing. “When you are 21, 20, 18 or 19 and you start saving 10% of your income, you will [have] “By the time you’re 65, you’ll have more than $1,000,000 in income,” he said. But he didn’t stop there. “If no one is worried about your retirement, I hope you are too.”
What about those of you who are already talking about a tight budget or a rent bill? He’d heard it before – but he wasn’t buying it. “People say, ‘I can’t afford it! I can barely pay the rent!’ But that’s not true, you’re buying junk every day that you don’t need.”
Yes, he said “bullshit”. He means it.
People who have built empires on software and outspokenness don’t have much tolerance for unnecessary spending. “Am I going to pay $2.50 for a cup of coffee? I would never, ever, ever do that,” O’Leary told CNBC. “For something that costs 20 cents, it’s a waste of money.” Granted, this interview is a few years old—good luck finding a cup of coffee for under $3 in 2026—but the point stands. Inflation may increase your expenses, but the principle remains strong: make money from home, pocket your savings, and invest the rest.
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It doesn’t just stop at coffee. O’Leary said he also downsized his wardrobe. There wasn’t a closet full of impulse buys – just 20 black suits, 20 white shirts, 20 black ties. It’s more of a money mantra than a fashion statement: the less you spend on junk, the more energy you can put into it.
Where should this money go? O’Leary likes exchange-traded funds, especially for investors who aren’t ready to dive into individual stocks. “You should never put all your eggs in one basket, and you should never own just one stock,” he said. ETFs offer built-in diversification—covering everything from energy to technology to commodities. It’s an easier on-ramp for beginners and has the added benefit of nightly sleep stability.
