How To Get Rich, According to Mark Cuban

In 2008, billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban wrote a post on how to get rich.

In 2011, this same billionaire re-posted it again as the economy continued to go south.

That same year Business Insider syndicated it, a handful of other major media ran with it, and then the highly regarded financial outlet, Budgets Are Sexy, smartly covered it too 😉

As I sit here in the wee beginnings of 2016, I’m left to ponder: does his advice still relate today? Does this billionaire still have his billions, and therefore any smart person should listen up and take notes? Has money really changed over the course of the last 8 years?

I think we know the answer to these, but just for giggles why don’t we re-share them here and see what we’ve got 😉 And for those who don’t know who Mr. Cuban is, you can check out his wiki here, but in a nutshell he’s a wildly successful entrepreneur who owns a number of businesses (Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, Magnolia Pictures), and is routinely featured in cult shows such as Shark Tank, Dancing With The Stars, Entourage from back in the day, and in fact my new favorite rap song out right now: $ave Dat Money.

See if you can spot him! (NSFW, but very clever!)

Now let’s see what these nuggets are…

We’ll start with my favorite clip from the whole article:

“There are no shortcuts. NONE. With all of this craziness in the stock and financial markets, there will be scams popping up left and right. The less money you have, the more likely someone will come at you with some scheme. The schemes will guarantee returns, use multi-level marketing, or be something crazy that is now “backed by the US Government.” Please ignore them. Always remember this: if a deal is a great deal, they aren’t going to share it with you.”

BOOM! Very much still accurate! Especially on the scheming and “getting in” on a great deal scenario – something I’ve never forgotten since first hearing that. If the deals were so great, why are they always talked about by those not wealthy themselves??

Another one:

“So what should you do to get rich? Save your money. Save as much money as you possibly can. Every penny you can. Instead of coffee, drink water. Instead of going to McDonalds, eat Mac and Cheese.”

True true… not the most fun way to save up money, but yes – all still valid 🙂

“Cut up your credit cards. If you use a credit card, you don’t want to be rich. The first step to getting rich, requires discipline. If you really want to be rich, you need to find the discipline, can you?”

Raining even more truth up in here! Haha… I’ll politely disagree on not wanting to be rich if you use a card *ahem*, but by and large – yes. It’s all about that discipline (that discipline, that discipline…).

Let’s keep going…

“If you can, you will quickly find that the greatest rate of return you will earn is on your own personal spending. Being a smart shopper is the first step to getting rich. Yeah you have to give things up and that doesn’t work for everyone, particularly if you have a family. That is reality. But whatever you can save, save it. As much as you possibly can. Then put it in 6 month CDs in the bank.”

Side 1 of the whole wealth game eh? Expenses. With the other one being “bring in more money,” of course. I don’t know about the whole CD thing, but still sound advice overall.

“The first step to getting rich is having cash available. You aren’t saving for retirement. You are saving for the moment you need cash. Buy and hold is a suckers game for you. This market is a perfect example. Right at the very moment when cash creates unbelievable opportunity, those who followed the buy and hold strategy have no cash. They can’t or won’t sell into markets this low, that kills the entire point of buy and hold. Those who have put their money in CDs sleep well at night and definitely have more money today than they did yesterday. And because they are smart, disciplined shoppers, their personal rate of inflation is within their means. Cash is king for those wanting to get rich.”

Have I mentioned he doesn’t have a fondness towards the stock market? 🙂 I’ll let you decipher for yourself whether you find this to be accurate or not, but personally I’d have 1/3rd the amount of money as I do now had I been sitting on the sidelines with cash the whole time… Regardless, hoarding it is a lot better than spending it so whichever strategy you choose you’ll reach the finish line much sooner than later.

“The 2nd rule for getting rich is getting smart. Investing your time in yourself and becoming knowledgeable about the business of something you really love to do… Before or after work and on weekends, every single day, read everything there is to read about the business. Go to trade shows, read the trade magazines, spend a lot of time talking to the people you do business with about their business and the people they buy from.”

Yep! The more you know the better shot at succeeding! And the more hustle you’ve got inside you the better as well. (See: 50+ ways to make money on the side if you’re needing ideas)

Lastly,

“This is not a short term project. We aren’t talking days. We aren’t talking months. We are talking years. Lots of years and maybe decades. I didn’t say this was a get rich quick scheme. This is a get rich path.”

Daaaayum. Tell ’em Mark!

So all very much accurate even 8 years later… Even if some are a bit more questionable 😉

Highly advise checking out the whole article if you can as he goes into a lot more with the hustling mentality and what to look for when getting into businesses too. Perfect for anyone starting out in the “get my $hit together” camp 😉 And his no B.S. talk is really refreshing! If only others would keep it as real! (They don’t because they get tons of haters in the process, but I guess if you’re worth billions you don’t really care, do you?)

Also came across this article when trying to dig up the original one: Mark Cuban’s advice for whoever wins the $1.4 billion Powerball lottery. Lots of what you’d expect, but there were a few lines in it that caught my attention:

• “If you weren’t happy yesterday, you won’t be happy tomorrow. It’s money. It’s not happiness.”
• “Tell all your friends and relatives no. They will ask. Tell them no. If you are close to them, you already know who needs help and what they need. Feel free to help SOME, but talk to your accountant before you do anything and remember this, no one needs $1 million for anything. No one needs $100,000 for anything. Anyone who asks is not your friend.”
• “You don’t become a smart investor when you win the lottery. Don’t make investments. You can put it in the bank and live comfortably. Forever. You will sleep a lot better knowing you won’t lose money.”
• “Be nice. No one likes a mean billionaire. :)”

Good food for thought whether you like him or not!

NOW GO OUT THERE AND START $AVING DAT MONEY! 🙂

SOURCE https://budgetsaresexy.com/mark-cuban-tips-get-rich/