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Updated: April 13, 2026
As Americans are barely getting by because of inflation, tariffs, and a cost-of-living crisis, saving for retirement can feel like the priority lowest on the totem pole.
But multimillionaire serial investor and entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary says saving is more important than ever before.
“What piece of advice do I give my kids over and over and over again about money?” the Shark Tank star questioned in a recent Instagram video. “Don’t spend it. Save it. Invest it. Let it compound. That’s the gift the market gives you.”
O’Leary’s golden rule of investing is straightforward. He says to take 15% of every dollar you earn, whether it’s from your paychecks, side hustles, or birthday money from grandma, and put it directly into the market.
“Just let it compound,” he said.
For the average American worker who makes $68,000 per year, that simple rule will pay off in the end, he argued.
“If you make $68,000 a year, the average salary, and you do this your entire life, just 15% of your paycheck, you’ll end up a millionaire at retirement at 65,” O’Leary said.
Does Kevin O’Leary’s math check out?
Most national estimates place the average American salary at roughly $66,000 to $69,000 per year. Assuming O’Leary’s estimate of $68,000, the numbers would break down as follows.
Assuming O’Leary’s 15% rule, an American making $68,000 per year would save about $10,200 per year, or $850 per month. Invested consistently over a 40-year career, say from age 25 to 65, and assuming the S&P 500’s historical average return of roughly 10%, that $850 monthly contribution would grow to approximately $5.3 million by retirement.
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Is Kevin O’Leary’s 15% savings rule realistic?
What do other financial experts recommend for retirement savings?
How much would saving 15% actually generate?
Why are Americans struggling to save adequately?
Even using a more conservative average return of 7% would still put the average American in millionaire status, with a final portfolio worth around $2.2 million.
While the math works on paper, it’s becoming more unrealistic for average Americans to save that much money each month.
For workers in the $50,000–$79,999 income bracket, 55% report feeling behind on retirement savings, and this group is among the most likely to lack adequate preparation. The overall personal saving rate as of mid-2025 sits at just 4.4% of disposable income, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, meaning someone earning $68,000 saves roughly $3,000/year toward retirement, on average. Among 401(k) participants specifically, Vanguard data show the median total contribution rate (employee + employer) is about 11.5%, though this applies primarily to those with 401(k) access.
For a household earning $68,000 before taxes, take-home pay is about $52,000 to $54,000 after federal and state taxes, leaving just $3,600 per month for other expenses.
According to RentCafe, the average rent in the U.S. is $1,740 per month, leaving just about $1,860. Then tack on groceries, which Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows can be as high as $400 per month for a single person. (Now we’re down to about $1,460.)
Then there’s student loan payments (averaging $434 per month) and utilities (about $300 per month). That only leaves $726—not enough to meet the 15% of earnings saved that O’Leary suggested.
Even if we assume 15% of the average American’s take-home pay of about $52,000, that means they’d have to invest $650 per month (still making them a millionaire by age 65), but that leaves just $150 per month in discretionary pay.
O’Leary argues, though, that younger generations need to stop spending on unnecessary items.
“The best piece of advice I can give anybody: Don’t buy stuff you don’t need,” he insisted. “Invest it instead.”
What other investors say
O’Leary’s advice largely mirrors the advice of index fund investing long shared by Warren Buffett, who has repeatedly said the average investor is best served by putting money in a low-cost S&P 500 index fund and leaving it alone.
“Put 10% of the cash in short-term government bonds and 90% in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund. (I suggest Vanguard’s),” Buffett wrote in a 2013 shareholders’ letter. “I believe the trust’s long-term results from this policy will be superior to those attained by most investors—whether pension funds, institutions, or individuals—who employ high-fee managers.”
Suze Orman, financial advisor, author, and podcast host, has also said Americans need to prioritize saving or investing at least 10% of their earnings each year—particularly given longer life expectancies and rising health care costs in retirement. She’s even argued that 70 should be the new retirement age because Americans aren’t financially prepared enough.
“You likely have plenty saved up to breeze through 15 years or so of retirement. But, people, if you stop working in your sixties, your retirement stash might need to support you for 30 years, not 15,” she wrote in 2017.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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- Kevin O’Leary Says A 20-Year-Old Can Retire Wealthy If They Invest $1K In An Index Fund And ‘Forget About It’ For The Rest Of Their Life
Jeannine ManciniMarch 8, 2026 2 min readA lot of financial advice gets complicated fast. Charts, timing the market, chasing the next big thing. “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary thinks a 20-year-old with just $1,000 can skip all of that.In a YouTube Short, O’Leary laid out what he believes is one of the simplest paths to building long-term wealth.”What’s the smartest thing a 20-year-old can do with $1,000? This is so simple,” O’Leary said. “Put it into the stock index and forget about it for the rest of your life until you retire.”The long game, not the quick winO’Leary pointed to broad market index funds, particularly those tracking the S&P 500, as the foundation of the strategy.”The stock market, an index like the S&P 500, grows at anywhere from 10 to 12% per year, every year of your life,” he said. “There are some years where it goes flat, but if you look at the last 100 plus years, it’s delivered almost double-digit returns the majority of the time.”Trending: A single bad hire can set a startup back years. Here are the 5 hires founders most often misjudge — and whyThe idea is not to trade, react or chase trends. It is to start early, leave the money invested and allow decades of compounding to do the work.But O’Leary emphasized that the initial $1,000 is only the starting point.The real wealth builder is adding to itThe part many people miss, according to O’Leary, is consistently contributing more money over time.”So, that is how you retire wealthy,” he said. “You take the thousand and you add a little bit more every week, generally 50% of your salary, and you retire with over a million dollars when you’re 65.”Starting at age 20 and continuing through retirement age dramatically changes the math. Even modest weekly contributions can snowball over four decades thanks to compounding returns.”Start at 20, end at 65,” O’Leary said. “It works.”The message is simple but powerful. The earlier someone begins investing and the more consistently they add to it, the less they have to rely on market timing, risky bets or sudden windfalls to build wealth. Over time, patience and discipline can do the heavy liftingImage: ShutterstockUNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets.
