Barbara Corcoran’s unconventional financial advice rejects the idea of ‘saving for the future’

Barbara Corcoran is one of Shark Tank’s longest-running sharks, with an estimated net worth of approximately $100 million. But she’s also one of 10 kids from a working-class family. By age 23, she’d held more than 20 jobs. By 52, she sold her real estate company for $66 million. 

Corcoran knows how to build wealth. Her financial strategies are bold and unconventional. They buck traditional financial wisdom and—full disclosure—they can be also risky. 

But could they help you build wealth?

1. Don’t Bother Saving Money

“I’ve never saved a dime my whole life,” Corcoran told CNBC Make It in 2023. 

Rather than letting her money sit idly in a bank account, Corcoran immediately identifies the best way to spend anything she earns, often investing it into something with the potential to grow her wealth.

Of course, investing all your earnings is risky. No one knows when an unexpected expense or income loss is coming and you’ll need to live on your savings. 

But consider the root of Corcoran’s advice: How much money can you safely risk investing in yourself or a business venture you believe in? How much money could you reasonably put into a stock or other fund with the potential to grow at a higher rate than your savings account?

2. Be The Highest Bidder—On Valuable Assets

“I am always willing to overspend on any property that’s good,” Corcoran said in an interview. Overspending on anything might sound counterintuitive, but Corcoran is specifically referencing quality assets with high growth potential.

Corcoran especially believes in using this principle for real estate investments. She says that if you’re willing to spend more than anyone else on a property you know is quality and be patient, you will eventually make that extra money back and then some. 

3. Put All Your Eggs in One Basket

“One piece of advice people hear all the time, and I just don’t believe it, is ‘Diversify. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,’” Corcoran told CNBC Make It. Diversification is investing in different areas so you don’t lose everything from a downturn in one area of the economy.

In Spring 2025, you might hesitate to even put all your literal eggs in one basket, but Corcoran’s advice here is about investing in areas where you have expertise rather than diversifying just for the sake of it. Corcoran has historically focused all her money in real estate, where she can constantly leverage her knowledge and experience to evaluate current and potential investments.

Corcoran isn’t alone in this view. Warren Buffett famously called diversification “protection against ignorance.” His late Berkshire Hathaway cochair Charlie Munger also referred to the practice as “diworsification.” Both investors made billions by focusing their investments in industries where they were already experts. 

Focused investments can lead to outsize returns—but also outsize losses, so the expertise piece of Corcoran’s advice is vital. 

Don’t just toss all your money into one thing you don’t understand,” she said. “Stick to what you know.” 

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