Ask 10 people what it takes to be rich and you’ll get 10 different answers. Kevin O’Leary has had his ready for years, and he doesn’t hedge.
The “Shark Tank” investor and O’Leary Ventures chairman says life changes at one specific number. He’s also picky about where that money sits, and it’s not where many wealthy people keep theirs.
The number comes with a catch
“5 million. Liquid. Liquid,” O’Leary said during an appearance on “The Iced Coffee Hour” podcast in 2026.
“I tell everybody this,” he said. “You should strive very hard, if you’re an entrepreneur, to have $5 million in T-bills, not in anything else, just T-bills.”
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“Making 3.82% this morning, you know you’ve made it and you’ve safeguarded your family for the rest of your life if you can get $5 million liquid in T-bills,” he continued.
That word “liquid” does a lot of work. O’Leary isn’t counting home equity or a stake in a private company. Plenty of the richest people on the planet have most of their fortunes tied up in company stock, and that’s a very different kind of rich.
Treasury bills are short-term government debt that matures in a year or less, and they’re backed by the U.S. government. Nobody brags about them at dinner parties, which is pretty much the point.
Kevin O’Leary says having $5 million liquid makes you rich.CHANDAN KHANNA / Getty Images
What $5 million in T-bills actually pays
At the 3.82% rate O’Leary cited, $5 million would throw off about $191,000 a year before taxes, without touching a dime of the principal.
That rate won’t sit still, though. The Treasury sells bills at weekly auctions, so the income rises and falls with short-term rates.
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O’Leary has pitched the idea as a family safety net rather than a get-rich play. The goal is a pile of money that keeps paying no matter what the stock market does that week.
How that stacks up against everyone else
O’Leary’s bar sits well above what most Americans picture. Respondents said it takes a net worth of $2.3 million on average to be considered wealthy, according to Charles Schwab’s 2025 Modern Wealth Survey. Feeling “financially comfortable” took $839,000.
O’Leary’s number is more than double the wealthy benchmark, and his only counts cash parked in Treasuries.
Smarter ways to work toward the number
Your state can’t touch the interest. T-bill interest is exempt from state and local income taxes, so in a high-tax state a lower-looking T-bill yield can beat a higher bank rate once taxes come out.
The tax bill can also wait. A T-bill’s interest is taxed in the year the bill matures, so one bought late in the year that matures in January pushes that income into the next tax year.
Staggering maturities helps too. When bills come due at different times, cash shows up regularly, and a rate drop doesn’t reset the whole pile at once.
Then do the math honestly. Leaving out home equity and money in retirement accounts that come with strings attached gives a much clearer picture of how liquid someone really is.
Five million dollars sounds like a finish line. O’Leary’s point is that it only counts if it’s sitting somewhere boring. Anyone thinking about moving a big chunk of money into Treasuries should talk with a financial advisor first.
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