Crystal Mayer

Sat, Jun 21, 2025, 6:01 AM3 min read

Real estate guru and founder of 10X, Grant Cardone, believes you should never play with money. While speaking with Mike Thurston on his podcast, “First Things THRST,” the businessman explained how he became a millionaire despite adversities early on, including addiction. He believes you have to respect money, noting, “The way you treat money is how the money is going to treat you.”

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Respecting money, however, may be easier said than done. He warns listeners against letting money consume them, explaining that while he “takes money very seriously.” He added that he pays attention to money and respects it, but stops short of getting consumed by it.

Here are four key ways that you, too, can respect money and help to grow your wealth.

When asked by Thurston if he had a theory about the amount of income that should be set aside, Cardone said he follows the “40/40/20 Rule.” In essence, he explains that if “40% goes to the IRS,” then 40% should get stored and you should live off of 20%. He makes the distinction between storing and saving the 40%, noting that the stored 40% should be placed in an investment that earns passive income.

Cardone also believes that individuals should “operate like a corporation.” According to the investor, individuals can operate like corporations by taking advantage of tax hacks. This can be done most effectively by moving “earned income to some investment that pays you passive income.”

The experts at Pacific Life agree that income can be used strategically to build wealth. They offer four strategies for boosting wealth through earned income, including increasing savings, diversifying your investments, creating generational wealth, and working with a financial professional.

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Cardone also recommends saving everything. During the podcast, he told Thurston that instead of spending his money, he would save it. Despite making a decent income, he wasn’t enticed to take a trip or buy new things.

Another way to respect money is by becoming financially literate. Cardone described becoming a master in his field. He said that he went from hating his job as a car salesman to training others in the industry and working his way to the top 1%. He also said he did this by going all in.

“I take money very seriously, because I think the way you treat money is the way it will treat you,” he said.