Mark Cuban drove a rusty old car and lived on mac and cheese in pursuit of his ultimate goal to retire early
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Mark Cuban’s big childhood dream wasn’t to be a millionaire — it was to retire by 35.
He lived as frugally as possible in his 20s to make this dream a reality, including driving “the worst possible car” with a hole in the floorboard, living on mac and cheese, and sharing his space with five roommates.
Speaking to Spanx founder Sara Blakely for Money.com, Cuban said, “You’ve got to have discipline in how you spend your money, first of all. When I was getting started, I used to read this book, “How to Retire at 35.” The whole premise of the book was that if you could save up $1 million and live like a student, you could retire. I believed heavily in that book. It was a big motivator for me.”
Say what you will about his lifestyle in early adulthood, but this commitment to frugality is exactly what paved the way for his financial success.
Cuban wanted financial independence, stat. He said, “I was determined to save money. I was determined to be able to retire. It wasn’t like I thought, “Okay, I’m going to be super-rich.” I valued time more than anything. I wanted enough money to be able to travel, have fun, and party like a rock star but still live like a student. That was my motivation.”
The key to making that happen was planning and saving for retirement right from the start.
To make those dreams a reality for yourself, you need to know what your financial goals are in the first place. FinancialAdvisor.net is a free online service that helps you find a financial advisor who can help you create a plan to reach your financial goals. Just answer a few questions and their extensive online database will match you with a few vetted advisors based on your answers.
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Cuban wasn’t born rich. He had to build his bank account, dollar by dollar, much like Blakely.
In the interview, she states, “What I did was start small, think big, and scale fast. I didn’t ever get ahead of myself on spending. I only spent what I absolutely needed to… I have that mentality on everything. If I can save money here or there, I’ll do it.”
One of the easiest ways to save is to take advantage of the higher rates on certificates of deposit. A certificate of deposit is a low-risk savings account that could earn as much interest as a high-yield savings account, possibly more. However, to earn that higher rate, you’ll have to park your money in the account for a certain period of time.
Cuban said, “If you can find a way to save, if you can find a way to invest inexpensively in the market, you can start to build your net worth.”
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Once you have your short-term cash set aside, you can invest in the stock market for greater returns. Of course, bear in mind that with the possibility of a better payout also comes greater risk.
If you invest wisely and consistently, you improve the odds of better earnings. Cuban notes that he’s a big fan of low-cost, diversified stock index funds. These tend to charge much less than other stock funds, which means you can keep your hard-earned cash working towards that retirement goal.
If you’re looking for easy-to-understand stock advice, you can become a wiser investor in just five minutes thanks to the team of former hedge fund analysts and experts at Moby.
Moby’s team spends hundreds of hours each week sifting through financial news and data to provide top-tier stock and crypto reports to keep you up-to-date on what’s moving the markets.
Their superior research can help you reduce the guesswork when selecting stocks and ETFs. In four years, across almost 400 stock picks, Moby’s recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average.
Diversifying your portfolio is also key to weathering the ebbs and flows of the market. One way to invest in gold that also provides significant tax advantages is to open a gold IRA with the help of Thor Metals.
Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, which combines the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold, making it an attractive option for those looking to potentially hedge their retirement funds against economic uncertainties.
To learn more, you can get a free information guide that includes details on how to get up to $20,000 in free metals on qualifying purchases.
If you prefer a passive approach to investing that can take place in the background while you spend on everyday items, then Acorns might be for you.
One way you can make your purchases productive is with Acorns is an automated investing and saving platform that simplifies the process of setting aside extra funds.
Every time you make a purchase on a credit or debit card, Acorns will round it up to the nearest dollar, and put the rest into a smart investment portfolio.
Plus, Acorns lets you customize how you save. With an Acorns Silver plan, you get access to Acorns Later, a retirement investment account with a 1% IRA match on new contributions. With Acorns Gold, you get a 3% IRA match on new contributions and the ability to customize your portfolio by selecting your own stocks.
For a limited time, sign up here for a $20 bonus investment to get you started on the right foot.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
