Why I told one woman to leave her husband & make millions | Ask Mr. Wonderful #17 Kevin O'Leary

[Music] Everybody tell you what I do about music on all my social media. One of the big problems is rights; music rights. So you don't want to rip anybody's music off. That's so uncool and often acquiring rights takes a long time. So if you're ripping out a lot of social media, like Ask Mr. Wonderful this episode, maybe it's better to record your own music. And, you know, piano, maybe guitar, whatever. So what I've done is I've built a little home studio in here. Very simple monitor amp. I've got a junior Fender blues, which is a great little, you know, recording. So a little, you know, bluesy kind of thing, reverb on it. Over here a 24-track, very inexpensive now, and a drum machine, because you need something to kind of get in the groove with. So I'm gonna record sort of a little something like that. Maybe some kind of an uplifting kind of, you know, bridge between questions or whatever where we need some drums. So I'm gonna just let you hear the drums instead of a little track. I've chosen little volume. [Music] [Music] That's gonna do. So you got foot pedals here, you turn them off and on. So what we want to do is we want to lay down those drums and maybe do it at the same time recording the track. People just do a couple of stereo tracks. So what I got to do for that is I got to put the phones on, because I don't want to have the drum beat bleed into the mics that are recording the Fender blues amp. Because I like the real sound. I don't want to go into the board directly. I don't know if you guys, what you do when you record, but I don't like a guitar directly in your board. I want to go through an amplifier with that little dirt. I like the dirt of the, you know, the tubes. That's a tube amp. So what I got to do here is put on the phones to hear the drums, leave one ear open so I can hear that. Yap! All right, so I'm gonna turn off the monitor for now. So here we record this and we'll play it back afterwards and listen to it. [Music] All right, here we go. [Music] [Applause] Yeah, that's the one!

Everybody, welcome to another episode of Ask Mr. Wonderful, and this one I'm really excited about. Why? Because it's about love! It's Valentine's Day! What can I say? So we got all kinds of questions. Now remember, I've got a position about this. I love love! Nobody loves more than I love love! Love just is fantastic, and it's a fantastic time of your life. Falling in love is one of the great human experiences. However, having said that, love and marriage and family are also about money. You know, the number one reason for people's divorce is not indiscretions; it's attention to financials. That's what hurts. Financial pressure is what breaks up marriages, you know? Not infidelity. Over half the marriages that fall apart between five and seven years happened because of tremendous financial stress. So you want to avoid that. We're gonna be talking about that today, but I don't want to take away from Valentine's Day. You know I love Valentine's Day, no question about it.

So let's get going with the questions here. Who do we have first? I've got John. John, what do you got?

Hi, Mr. Wonderful! Thanks for your awesome and interesting program! I'm enjoying the new Mr. Wonderful Unplugged on YouTube. For Matt, I'm John. This question is about nuptials, as in pre and post. I'll start with a quick backstory: I got married nine years ago, and we now have a six-year-old daughter. Because we hadn't taken the time to write up nuptials in one form or another, it gradually became a source of energy-draining dysfunction, which sapped years of our time, productivity, and happiness. We're now in the process of divorce. My question is this: twofold: isn't such family dysfunction a flag for business partners and investors? And - do you require entrepreneurs to have nuptials in place with their spouse? Thanks for your thoughts!

You know, this is a really good question; that's a bit of a Debbie Downer on Valentine's Day, you know? But you got to talk about money! What can I say? Prenups show post-nupts. Let's start with the great thing about a prenuptial agreement: it forces the truth out. You've got to be thinking about the future. You want to find out something about somebody that's really important before you marry them, and that's why a prenuptial agreement really helps. It gets you both to the table; it has you talking about money. Something's very important in marriage.

I know you're your fork, and say, "I don't need a prenup. I love this woman so much! I love this man so much! I love a significant person so much! Whoever you're coupling with, I don't care. But what I do care about is your money, and frankly, I'd rather see you get a prenuptial agreement. Because basically, you're joining two people together. And I've always said it makes you in a prenup agreement discuss your future plans about what you can do in finance. What are your goals? You're gonna buy a house in the next five years? You're planning on having kids? What about their college? All that stuff! And you really want to find out about your significant other. Have they been bankrupt before? What's the history? The family? Is a brother a compulsive gambler? Has somebody been to jail? I know this is tough love stuff, but frankly, you got to deal with it. That's what I'm saying, and a prenup forces all that stuff.

So yes! A prenup! Now, once you have a child, you have formed a family that is actually a business, because you've got to support it. You have to finance; you have to be the financial pillar. I don't care who's working; somebody's got to work. Maybe both of you work! But at the end of the day, you've got to support the family. One of the great strengths of families and why they were founded was to gather food and sustain each other. And in today's modern society, that includes having a job and having some free cash flow.

So at the end of the day, you've got to consider that. And we, you know, really postnuptials are forced by the court at the end of the day if you have a family and a child to support. By the time you go through the ringer of divorce, which I find so troubling, you're gonna have to deal with supporting that child into adulthood. But I don't wish that on anybody! Think about money before you couple; it's important! It's always sitting at the table. And remember, I love love, but I love money too, and so will you. It takes the stress out of marriage. If you're well-funded, you don't have to fight about money; you can fight about something else. But remembering that money is the reason that most marriages fail, you want to get it out of the way, and you want to really think hard about who you're marrying. Love that question, John! Let's move on.

You know, I don't want to be negative on Saint Valentine's Day. Come on! I want to be positive. Let's get a nice question here! All right, we've got—by the way, I'm on Miami Beach, and the helicopters are flying by with all the ads on the planes too! But I love the sound of that outdoors. This is, well, this is going to be interesting. Stacy, let's go!

Hi, Mr. Wonderful! This is Stacy. I'm an expat living in Hong Kong. Here's my question for you. My fiancé and I have been engaged for about three years, and we finally picked a date. One thing we've been fighting about is the registry. We've lived together for about three years now; we don't need anything for the house, but we do need money. Now, my fiancé thinks it's tacky to ask for money from guests. What do you think? Thank you, Mr. Wonderful!

Oh Stacy, ha ha! I'm so happy! You know I'm really, really happy to hear you want to buy crap for the house! You want to get money? That makes a lot of sense! In a marriage, you want to save some money, retire debt, everything else. I've got a solution for you—it's one of my Shark Tank companies: Honey Fund! Honey Fund is a wedding registry online service used by hundreds of thousands of couples just like you. I know this is shameless promotion, but frankly, it's gonna solve a problem for you.

Here's how it works: your guests coming to your marriage or even those that want to just gift you something because you're having your special day go to honeyfund.com and buy from a wide range of offerings there. But here's the secret sauce, the special is Jeunesse equi: you don't have to take the gift; you can take the cash! Yippee! I yukai yay! Solves problems for everybody! That's why Honey Fund's so popular! Your guests get to gift you something that they think is heartfelt, and you take the cash instead! Isn't that wonderful?

Now that was a great question, and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy. Anyways, thank you! Sarah mine golus is the CEO of Honey Fund. I'm glad I get to talk about it because she's done a wonderful job helping people just like you, Stacy. So check out honeyfund.com because I love love! Great question! Let's move on.

Next on the hit parade is Bethany! Ah, all right. Hi, Mr. Wonderful! My name is Bethany and I have a question that I'm hoping you can help me out with. I was recently offered a promotion at my current workplace. It's a really good promotion. They'd be promoting me to VP, and I'd be making about double what I am now. The problem is that it would result in me working more hours at work, which is something that I'm okay with, but my husband basically said that if I took their promotion, he would leave me, which is obviously not something that I want. He thinks that it would be a lot better for a family if I stayed home and raised our children. So my question to you is: what should I do? I take the promotion. Is a lot more important for family? Is there something that I can say to my husband to kind of sell him on my point? So thanks for taking the time to listen, and I love watching you on YouTube!

Bethany! Kim! Are you kidding? That's outrageous! Because you're moving ahead and you're advancing; he's jealous! That's what it sounds like to me. Listen! If you are the breadwinner in the family, then you should march on and take this opportunity and provide for your family! Come on! What's the matter with him? That's complete—I’m really pissed to hear that! That's ridiculous! You're a couple; you work together. You solve problems like this knowing that marriage is really confounded with financial problems for many, many people. Here you are doubling your income! Yeah, you gotta work a little extra harder, but you're doing it for both of you!

What's the name of that guy? I'm gonna call him up; this is ridiculous! Do not take that answer. Don't let him threaten love and separation because of your success! You guys have to work this thing out. That is absolute crapola, and by the way, there are many, many families today where the other, the significant other, the wife or the husband do a switch because they find themselves in a career path that's faster. One stays at home if you're gonna have kids—you got to support them—and the other goes and works, or you both work harder and save more because one's creating more wealth away. You're doing—you stay on track, girl! You keep going! Come on! D'un! Never let somebody browbeat you out of a jump! I'm pissed!

I know! I know it's Valentine's Day, but I'm pissed! That question really pisses me off. Tell your husband Mr. Wonderful's pissed off, and that's not good! That's absolutely outrageous! I got to calm down! Oh my goodness! Anyways, go girl! Go get the money in advance! You're gonna end up the CEO of that company one day, it sounds like to me! What? Never mind! Okay, let's move on! Calm down! Calm down!

All right, here we have Ben. Ben, what do you got?

Hey, Mr. Wonderful! I'm wondering if you think that couples should split bills equally. My partner and I make significantly different amounts of money, and it always becomes really awkward when we have to talk about finances. So I'm just wondering your thoughts.

Ben, great question! You know, I wrote a book about all these kinds of things called Men, Women, and Money. You should check it out! But I'm gonna tell you what I said in the book because it's one of the biggest issues! You know when you get coupled up; you really got to start thinking about finance. I want both partners to have their own bank accounts and then have a third that they share. I always want people to have financial dependency so they keep their own bank accounts; they keep their own credit ratings.

I don't care for your whole life; you have to have your own credit rating because you never know what happens in marriage; stuff happens! So you got to keep your own credit rating! Whether you're the man, the woman, or the significant other, it doesn't matter to me. But regarding the costs of living together—the rent, the things you buy, the food, entertainment, travel, vacations—you got to share! And that's why you have the third account: you fund it equally! Particularly if you're both making the same amount of money, you fund it equally and you put a credit card on there—a separate credit card for that account that, when you're spending together, you can track.

I love to do things separately, but that joint account pays for all the things you do together. But you keep your own dough, and you decide what the amount's gonna be! It's a 2000 each, a moon 3,000 instruments, whatever it is, you work it out, and that's the joint account. But you keep your own credit rating, that's number one! Always, always important!

I've loved these questions! But I got one more thing I want to talk about me, and this is really important. This is not about money. If you've been with somebody for a long time or even if it's just started dating and you really like them and you're thinking about them, the most important thing to do is write them a handwritten note, a card. Even if you have to make it yourself, even wouldn't have any money—just the thought that counts. It's more powerful than taking them out for dinner or buying them flowers.

You can do that too, but a handwritten note expressing exactly how you feel, even if it's on a piece of paper, fold in half. Now I go a little higher end because I love a company I’m involved in, and this is another shameless promotion, but it's for Love Pop cards. I love these cards! Let me show you something! Ready? Boom! Look at that! Isn't that cool? That's a dragonfly—considered very lucky in many cultures! This is the card I'm gonna give Linda, my wife, on Valentine's Day.

There's this little thing you pull out, and you write your note on it, put it inside. Now people say, "What, you're giving your dragonfly?" Yeah, I love it! I love this dragonfly! I just love the way it folds up in the card and goes, yeah, kaboom! I think she'll love it! It's beautifully made! But they make all kinds of Valentine's cards too—the schmaltzy ones I don't like! But I like dragonflies; what can I say?

Anyways, check out lovepop.com for your Valentine's card! But whatever it takes, get something written down and hand them that note! Even if you don't buy a card, it comes from the heart and it really, really is powerful. It's that one day to make your memories mean something very special! Say something about what you loved about your significant other in the last year! Put it down in writing, hand them the card with the date on it and the year; they'll keep it for the rest of their lives! Trust Mr. Wonderful on this one; it's the most important thing you can do this Valentine's Day! Love all of you! Keep the great questions coming, and remember: la moda! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! I love love! [Laughter] [Music]