No 'Pretender Spenders' Allowed in My Club If you ever want to be a real baller, you have to get wealthy.
By Grant Cardone Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Ballers throw money around -- because they have lots of it. I'll define a baller as a person who is living large. Sometimes it's difficult to know who is really a baller and who is faking it. You see a guy in a Lambo and he may be a baller, but he may be just trying to be a baller. There is a big difference. The truth is, you can have a Lambo and not be a baller. Many guys throw money around when they don't really have that much of it, or it's all on credit. My friend Victor Young, who owns a Lamborghini car dealership on the west coast of Florida, came on my show Power Players recently and said, "Seven figures is enough to make you worried, eight figures is starting to get comfortable, but it's not until you get to nine figures that you start to feel like a player on solid footing."
Whether you need seven, eight or nine figures to be a "baller" is up for debate, but the truth is you have guys spending $500 at a club on the weekend who make less than $500K in a year. It's ridiculous. If you aren't at least a millionaire, don't pretend to be a big shot. The pretender spenders try to impress everyone by picking up dinner, buying the bottles, buying the big car. Look, if your only car is a convertible you are a pretender. Ballers don't roll like this. That convertible will be their fourth or fifth car, they are all paid and they've got multiple garages.
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A real player is not trying to impress people with sports cars, designer clothes and VIP tables. The wealthy don't try and impress people they don't know. They seek freedom, not friends. The wealthy are not trying to say "look at me and what I have have." When it looks like they are throwing their money around, it's all relative. When the wealthy spend money on ridiculous things like cars, boats, planes and homes, the truth is that no matter what poor investments they make, they can afford to waste money. That is the freedom I'm talking about, when you can spend money like it doesn't matter.
Related: 5 Habits of the Wealthy That Helped Them Get Rich
The fake baller is a middle class guy who is faking it. The wealthy person's extravagance is nothing compared to their discipline. The money they are spending is miniscule from the abundance they've created. Wealth won't make you happy, but living paycheck to paycheck won't either. Wealth provides you with options. If you ever want to be a real baller, you have to get wealthy.
To do this, you are going to have to do more than just "save" money. You've been told your entire life to save your money. It's impossible to create real wealth saving. You can't show me a wealthy person who has ever gotten wealthy because they saved their money, or because they are bargain hunters who clip coupons. Your mom and dad said save your money. The wealthy don't get wealthy like that But you will still need to save. Let me explain.
If you put your money in the bank you might get 0.25 percent, that's 40 years to earn 10 percent on your money. The banks don't pay anything today. Money that sits in the bank, or in your house, always seems to find an emergency to go fund. If you get more money in, more money goes out. You get a pay raise, you start spending more money. That's why when I was 25 I started a sacred savings account where I parked my money so I couldn't touch it. How many old people have you heard about with a million dollars they never even enjoyed?
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They saved money their whole life but they never went "all in" so their money could grow into ample wealth enough to really live life.
What you need to do is this -- you need to save to invest. Start saving today. Don't be spending like you're a baller. Save everything. Once you have over $100,000 saved, then you can start looking to make an investment. Don't diversify. Put all your eggs in one basket and watch that basket. If you can increase your income enough to start saving a substantial amount each month, and you have the discipline to do this with enough persistence to accumulate over $100K, then you will have earned the right to make an investment. From there, if you're smart, wealth is only a matter of time and adding income streams.
Get on my Playbook and I'll teach you everything you need to know to get you a million dollars, and one day you can be a straight up baller. Pay the price today so you can pay any price tomorrow. No pretender spenders allowed in my club.
