To understand wealth — not only how to earn it, but how to preserve and grow it — younger Americans can turn to the advice of those who have gone through a rags-to-riches success story and achieved financial freedom. Someone like Grant Cardone.
The multimillionaire real estate entrepreneur sat down for an interview on author Lewis Howes’ podcast, The School of Greatness, and shared the top lessons he would teach his kids about money (1).
The core of his philosophy is to avoid loss by virtue of consistency, noting that “you’ll be so rich when you need it” if you take a patient, long-lensed view on your money.
Here’s a closer look at Cardone’s biggest financial tips, and how younger Americans can adopt similar disciplines in order to generate more income.
1. Money is a people game
Cardone revealed that the biggest lesson he would teach his kids is that “money’s a people game.” This sentiment echoes the adage that “your network is your net worth.”
Put simply, meeting people and expanding your social circle — including those who are wealthier and more successful than you — can lead to more opportunities and, potentially, better financial outcomes.
You may have a tough time befriending a billionaire, but that doesn’t mean you can’t expand your circle of trust to include those with financial expertise. After all, a rock solid source of financial advice from an expert can help you develop a nest egg over the course of 30 years of investing.
What’s more, research from Northwestern Mutual shows that 64% of Americans who use a financial advisor say they feel financially secure versus 29% who go it alone (2).
That’s where Advisor.com can come in. The platform connects you with an expert near you for free.
Advisor.com does the heavy lifting for you, vetting advisors based on track record, client ratios and regulatory background. Plus, their network comprises fiduciaries, who are legally required to act in your best interests.
Just enter a few details about your finances and goals, and Advisor.com’s matching tool will connect you with a qualified expert suited to your needs based on your unique financial goals and preferences.
Finding the right advisor isn’t always easy — there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. That’s why Advisor.com lets you set up a free initial consultation, with no obligation to hire, to see if they’re the right fit for you.
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2. Don’t lose money
Cardone also echoed a famous quote from investing legend Warren Buffett: “The first rule of an investment is don't lose [money]. And the second rule of an investment is: don't forget the first rule. And that’s all the rules there are.”
Losing money while investing is difficult to recover from. For instance, if you lose 20% on a $1,000 investment, you’ll need a 25% gain in order to get back to $1,000.
Meanwhile, any dollars lost from investing reduces your ability to take advantage of opportunities that come along. Losing $200 on a bad investment is $200 less than what could have been better spent growing elsewhere. Having cash on hand is important if you want to be able to move quickly on an investing opportunity.
But sorting out the good from the bad can be tough on your own, or even with an advisor. If you’re not sure where to start, or want to stack the deck as much as you can, you may want to look for professionally curated stocks.
Moby offers expert research and recommendations to help you identify strong, long-term investments backed by advice from former hedge fund analysts.
In four years, and across almost 400 stock picks, their recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Moby’s team spends hundreds of hours sifting through financial news and data to provide you with stock and crypto reports delivered straight to you. Their research keeps you up-to-the-minute on market shifts, and can help you reduce the guesswork behind choosing stocks and ETFs.
Plus, their reports are easy to understand for beginners, so you can become a smarter investor in just five minutes.
If you’re not still not quite sure how to invest, or want to build up some funds first, you may want to keep your cash in a savings account that can help you fight inflation. However, most standard accounts generate low interest, meaning that your money loses value over time.
A high-yield account like a Wealthfront Cash Account can be a great place to grow your uninvested cash, offering both competitive interest rates and easy access to your money when you need it.
A Wealthfront Cash Account currently offers a base APY of 3.30% through program banks, and new clients can get an extra 0.75% boost during their first three months on up to $150,000 for a total variable APY of 4.05%.
That’s ten times the national deposit savings rate, according to the FDIC’s March report.
Additionally, Wealthfront is offering new clients who enable direct deposit ($1,000/mo minimum) to their Cash Account and open and fund a new investment account an additional 0.25% APY increase with no expiration date or balance limit, meaning your APY could be as high as 4.30%.
With no minimum balances or account fees, as well as 24/7 withdrawals and free domestic wire transfers, your funds remain accessible at all times. Plus, you get access to up to $8M FDIC Insurance eligibility through program banks.
3. Invest with risk in mind
Cardone also noted that “If you get 7% or 8% on your money every year” you can set yourself up over the long term. Provided, of course, “you don’t lose it.”
Investors need to balance risk and reward. However, they’re often susceptible to chasing rewards while exposing themselves to too much risk.
Another study published in Nature revealed that the probability of an investor’s bankruptcy increases with the frequency of their leveraged trades (3). Unfortunately, investors have accumulated more than $1.22 trillion in margin debt to trade stocks as of May 2024, according to FINRA (4). Margin debt refers to money borrowed to purchase securities.
Active investors also tend to seek out other relatively risky investments, such as leveraged exchange-traded funds and cryptocurrencies. Yet, they also know that a diversified portfolio ensures reduced risk of over-indexing on any one asset class.
And one of Cardone’s favorite picks for diversification is real estate.
For accredited investors looking to diversify beyond public equities, Bonaventure offers access to institutional-grade multifamily real estate investments in high-growth markets with a minimum investment of $25,000.
Bonaventure focuses on income-producing apartment communities, offering potential tax advantages through structures like 1031 exchanges and UPREITs, allowing you to build passive income and wealth while the company manages the properties.
Plus, Bonaventure has a fully-loaded resource center that teaches you everything you need to evaluate multifamily investments. Sign up today, explore your options and construct your real estate portfolio.
If a $25K but in is a little bit too much to get started, there are also services that let you scale up your real estate investing with time (and experience).
You can get into this market for a mere $100 minimum with Arrived, which offers you access to shares of SEC-qualified investments in rental homes and vacation rentals.
Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived makes it easy to fit these properties into your investment portfolio regardless of your income level. Their flexible investment amounts and simplified process allow accredited and non-accredited investors to take advantage of this inflation-hedging asset class without any extra work — no midnight maintenance calls over burst pipes here.
You can view their full list of vetted properties, selected for their income-generating and appreciation potential, and start investing today.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
Lewis Howes (1); Northwestern Mutual (2); Nature (3); FINRA (4)
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