Podcast Summary: Mick Unplugged

Guest: Grant Cardone
Title: Why Saving Money Doesn’t Work
Host: Mick Hunt
Date: August 18, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of "Mick Unplugged" features legendary entrepreneur, real estate mogul, and 10X author Grant Cardone. The conversation riffs on how traditional advice about saving money is fundamentally flawed, why your “because” trumps your “why,” and explores the mindsets and practical habits that have propelled Grant from a troubled past to a global figure in business and investing. Listeners are given hard truths about reputation, obscurity, wealth creation, the limits of saving, and the power of taking action and scaling by acquisition.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Futility of Saving Money

• Grant Cardone’s Core Argument:
  • Money saved loses value over time due to inflation, making it a losing strategy.
  • "If I had a 1958 hundred dollar bill and pulled it out today...it's worth nine bucks. I can't save it. I'm losing money. You can only spend it, waste it, or invest it. That's it. And the first two don't work." (Grant, 00:00; 29:06)
• Reframing Financial Action:
  • Focus on collecting and investing, not saving.
  • "You don't need to make money. You need to get money." (Grant, 26:20)

2. Discovering and Living Your “Because”

• Beyond the ‘Why’:
  • Mick frames the 'because' as the deeper motivator behind success.
  • Grant offers his two becauses:
    1. Lack of guidance in youth leading to a hunger for mentorship.
    2. Spiritual drive to discover his God-given potential:
    • "I am in pursuit of my potential that God gave me. So, you know, I don't like to settle." (Grant, 04:11)

3. Reputation & Personal Branding

• Legacy from Family:
  • Grant and Mick’s family members both drilled in the value of protecting their name.
  • "My dad told me, hey, man, protect your name..." (Grant, 06:11)
• Evolving Legacy:
  • Now, Grant’s name is an active verb in his mentee’s companies ("Cardoning").
  • "What you don’t know is that in my company, your name is an action...we are cardoning, or we are in our cardone zone." (Mick, 09:42)

4. Obscurity vs. Rejection: The Real Entrepreneurial Danger

• Obscurity is worse than rejection:
  • "Rejection is nothing compared to not being seen at all. Be careful what you don't like. If you're being rejected, at least you were seen." (Grant, 12:22)
• Overcoming Obscurity:
  • Importance of networking, visibility, and making oneself unavoidable in the marketplace.
  • "Who you know is very, very important. Who knows you is like a hundred times more important..." (Grant, 15:02)

5. Outgrowing Your Circle

• Leveling Up Requires Letting Go:
  • "If there's 10 guys in a circle, only one's getting out...The other nine are not going to come." (Grant, 17:50)
  • Even family and old friends may hold you back, consciously or not.
• Surround Yourself for Growth:
  • Conferences and new environments expose you to higher levels and new standards.

6. The Only Way Up: Investing, Not Earning

• Passive vs. Earned Income:
  • "I am never going to improve the quality of my life or living standards from earned income ever." (Grant, 31:29)
  • Emphasizes living off passive income from investments, not wages or business cashflow.
• Grant Cardone’s Money Rule:
  • Take 20% to live, invest 80%.
  • "For 40 years, when I get a hundred dollars, I take $20 and live off of it. And 80% of it, I invest." (Grant, 29:50)
  • Passive income (from investments) pays for lifestyle; earned income is always reinvested.

7. Credit, Debt & The Myth of Debt-Free Living

• All Money is Debt:
  • "Every penny you have...I'm not going to have any debt...You live in a country that's $36 trillion of debt..." (Grant, 32:13)
• Only Use Debt for Investments:
  • Never carry debt for consumption. Use it only for assets that generate passive income.

8. Scaling By Acquisition Not Startups

• Buy, Don’t Build:
  • Best way to scale is by buying existing businesses, not starting from scratch.
  • "Go buy 10 of your laundromats...you can literally buy these companies for no money." (Grant, 35:08)
  • Example: Buying Streamline (now 10X Health System) and scaling it through acquisition and systems.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the importance of being seen:
  • "You can have all the whys in the world, but if you don't figure out how to get other people to know who you are, you're not going any place on this planet." (Grant, 14:00)
• Cardoning as a verb:
  • "We are cardoning, or...in our cardone zone. That means you can’t mess with us." (Mick, 09:42)
• Grant’s simple framework for financial freedom:
  • "Don’t save money. Don’t even try to, because you can’t." (Grant, 30:45)
  • "I literally have no money on me today." (Grant, 30:41)
• On family holding you back:
  • "The ones you love the most will hold you back the most. They will, bro. They don’t even know they’re holding you back." (Grant, 22:13)
• On mastering skills:
  • "I got better because I shared it more." (Grant, 09:03)

Important Timestamps

• 00:00: Grant opens with why saving money doesn’t work
• 02:44: Grant shares his personal ‘because’
• 06:11: Discussion on reputation and how family values shaped them
• 09:42: "Cardoning" as a company mindset; personal branding as action
• 11:17: How to overcome obscurity and become known
• 15:02: Importance of building relationships—“who you know” vs. “who knows you”
• 17:47: Letting go of your old circle to level up
• 23:22: Life and business lessons about leaving people behind and leveling up
• 26:10: Grant reframes “make money” as “get money”
• 29:50: Grant’s 80/20 investing rule
• 32:13: All money as debt and why earned income should never pay for consumption
• 35:08: Scaling by buying businesses, not building from scratch
• 37:58: Grant’s closing advice: focus, write your goals, surround yourself with excellence

Closing Advice from Grant Cardone

"You can do anything you want to do. You can't do everything. Write your goals, focus on the target, and get other people around you or at least study other people that have achieved bigger targets. Don't listen to the people in the back seat." (Grant, 37:58)

Core Takeaways

• Stop thinking saving money is progress—invest instead.
• Visibility (overcoming obscurity) is a bigger challenge than rejection.
• Your “because” is the driving force for lasting success.
• Let go of relationships and circles that don’t support your growth.
• Acquire businesses to scale more efficiently.
• Live from your investments—don’t increase lifestyle from earned income.
• Set goals morning and night, and when disappointed—keep your vision bigger than any setback.

Recommended Action for Listeners

• Reflect on your real “because” behind your ambitions.
• Audit your circle—who’s supporting your next level?
• Start investing 80% and living on 20%, even in small amounts.
• Seek ways to acquire and scale existing ventures.
• Chase visibility relentlessly. If you’re not being seen, you can’t make an impact.

For more actionable strategies and mindsets, follow Grant Cardone and subscribe to Mick Unplugged for weekly inspiration toward relentless growth and modern leadership.