Grant Cardone, a well-known entrepreneur, real estate investor, and author, has long championed the values of hard work, financial education, personal responsibility, and tax avoidance. As the founder of Cardone Capital and the author of several bestselling books, Cardone’s influence in the fields of business and personal finance is significant. His approach to parenting, particularly regarding money, offers insight into the principles that have guided his own career. In a recent interview and social post, Cardone talks about his perspective, saying, “No freeloaders in the Cardone household. It’s my job to teach my kids the value of a dollar.”

This philosophy is not limited to words. Cardone has described how his children are actively involved in his businesses, taking on roles in sales, marketing, and event support. For example, his daughter reportedly has a contract with the company and is expected to make thousands of client calls each year. Instead of receiving traditional allowances, Cardone’s children earn their income through work. Cardone says, “And no, they don’t get to keep the $50K, it gets invested into Cardone Capital and they get to keep their monthly cash flow.”

By investing their earnings in Cardone Capital, his children are introduced to the principles of passive income and long-term wealth building at an early age. The monthly cash flow they receive is contingent on the performance of these investments, reinforcing the idea that money should be put to work rather than simply spent. “No allowances, no handouts. If they want something, they can have it, as long as they can afford to buy it themselves with the money they earn from their real estate investments,” Cardone said. 

From $50,000 in Taxable Income to $0? 

The strategy is also a popular tax reduction strategy amongst business owners. There’s no age at which a person may file a tax return, meaning even someone as young as eight can earn income and file taxes. The IRS simply says the work must be age-appropriate, reasonably paid, and actually completed. For business owners, like Cardone, this means someone with children could pay their kids the single filer's standard deduction rate of $15,000 per year to clean shops or make calls, and their kids would each earn $15,000 per year completely tax-free. The parents can manage this money and put it towards a college fund, a tax-deferred IRA, or even just children's expenses. This means the business owner is effectively reducing their business's taxable income by the wages paid to each child ($15,000) and keeping that money in the family without paying any taxes on it. For someone with several children, the savings could add up fast. In Cardone’s case, he likely pays them the $50,000 per year because that’s about the limit where he can likely pay no taxes for his kids.

The contribution limit for a 401(k) plan is $23,500 for 2025. When Cardone contributes this money to his kids' 401(k), it further reduces the $50,000 taxable income to just $11,500, between the contributions and the standard deduction. He can further contribute $4,300 to a health savings account and another $7,000 per year to a traditional IRA. This means, once it’s all said and done, his kids only have a taxable income of $200 per year, instead of $50,000, and they get beneficial tax statuses from their retirement accounts.

If they’re structured as contractors and have their own businesses through this arrangement, they could write off certain expenses incurred while working for their sole proprietorship and reduce their taxable income to $0.

This approach reflects Cardone’s broader belief that financial independence is achieved through effort and smart investing, not entitlement. The expectation is clear: his children must earn and manage their own resources if they wish to enjoy certain privileges. Cardone’s authority on these matters is rooted in his personal history. Growing up in a modest household, he learned early the importance of respecting money — a lesson that became foundational after the loss of his father. These experiences shaped his views on scarcity, abundance, and the necessity of financial discipline.

In the context of today’s debates about generational wealth and entitlement, Cardone’s methods stand out. By requiring his children to work, invest, and live within their means, he aims to prepare them for the realities of the market and the responsibilities of wealth. His career, marked by the transformation of modest beginnings into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, lends credibility to his approach.