Kevin O’Leary: Top 2 Financial Rules From My Mom That I Still Follow
Written by
Gabrielle Olya
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Molly Sullivan
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“Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary has built his wealth through entrepreneurship and savvy investing, but he credits his mother for setting him on the right financial path. There are several money lessons his mother taught him throughout his lifetime that still shape how he approaches finances today.
Here are two of the financial rules O’Leary learned from his mom that he thinks everyone should follow.
Keep Your Own Financial Accounts — Even in Marriage
When you get married, you may want to merge all of your finances — but O’Leary learned from his mother that this is not the smartest approach.
“My mother taught me a lot about financial independence,” he told GOBankingRates while discussing his partnership with HelloPrenup, an online prenuptial agreement platform. “She was married twice but kept a secret account from both of her husbands her entire life.”
O’Leary said that his mother started saving 15% of her pay when she was very young and kept that money completely sequestered during her marriages.
“She helped my brother and I through school [with that money],” O’Leary said. “She really believed that in a marriage, both spouses should have their own financial identity. They should never give that up because you don’t know it’s going to happen in marriage.”
Invest In Fewer, High-Quality Items That Last
Another lesson O’Leary learned from his mother was to buy a few quality items versus spending money on things that you don’t need or that will fall apart quickly.
“My mother would only buy two Chanel suits a year, period,” he said. “They’re very expensive. She’d save up for six months to buy one of these suits.”
While these suits were a big investment, they held their value over time.
“When she passed away, I became the executor for her estate,” O’Leary said. “All of that Chanel stuff — some of it from the ’70s and ’80s, and even some jackets from the ’60s — there was a catfight in my family between the women that wanted that stuff.
“The vintage high-quality clothing is so valuable if it’s well made versus the crap that you buy that just falls apart,” he continued. “So buy good stuff and keep that in good repair, and it’ll serve you well forever.”
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