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One of the most popular billionaires and Shark Tank investors, Kevin O'Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, appeared in an August 25, 2020, interview with CNBC Make It. During the interview, he shared various tidbits about his experience in the finance industry. O'Leary also shared his thoughts on common financial mistakes that people tend to make, which was not saving enough for their retirement.
O'Leary advised the public to set aside at least $100 weekly, a manageable amount for those earning $30,000 to $50,000, according to the Shark Tank judge. He emphasized the importance of prioritizing savings over nonessential spending.
"Put aside $100 a week. I'm big on this financial literacy. We teach everybody everything in high school. We don't teach them how to invest. The way to invest is to take $100 a week and put it to work," said Kevin O'Leary.
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Kevin further stressed the need for financial literacy, noting that schools teach various subjects but neglect investing basics. He also recommended using apps like Beanstox to invest weekly savings. By investing $100 weekly in a diversified ETF (exchange-traded fund), Kevin believes that individuals can potentially accumulate $1.2 million by their mid-60s.
Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary shares his top money tip and life-changing moment
Kevin O'Leary had previously advised against spending money on luxuries like coffee when struggling with debt. He explained the reasoning for this: if someone had student loans, credit card debt, or other interest-accruing debts, they should prioritize paying those off first. He suggested making coffee at home and taking it to work in a thermos.
"Coffee costs you 18 cents to make at home if you want to. Why would you spend $4 on something when you're paying interest on debt? The key is to get out of debt first," stated the Shark Tank investor.
According to him, the key is to get out of debt before spending money on non-essentials. Debt, especially credit card debt with rates as high as 21% and student loans with rates around 6-7%, needed to be paid off first; only then could one afford to spend money on luxuries.
Further in the interview, Kevin shared a life-changing moment when he got fired from his first job on the very first day. According to the Shark Tank judge, this experience taught him a valuable lesson. He was working at an ice cream store, and his boss told him to clean the gum off the floor before leaving. He refused, saying he was hired to scoop ice cream, not clean floors.
This resulted in a young Kevin being fired by his boss at the time. This incident taught him that there are two types of people: those who own the business and those who work for others.
"Then I learned in life, there's two kinds of people. There's the people who own the store, and there's the people that scraped it off the floor, and you have to decide which one you are, and I would prefer to own the store," said Kevin.
He clarified that he was not against being an employee, as it can be a secure and stable career path early on in life. However, he knew it wasn't for him. He wanted to work for himself and have the freedom to make his own decisions. According to O'Leary, this path may be harder, but for him, the freedom was worth it.
Kevin O'Leary can currently be seen in season 16 of Shark Tank on ABC.
