Fox News star Maria Bartiromo reportedly earns $10 million a year and is worth tens of million more.
And she says the secret to getting there is a lesson she learned saving up for an ice cream cone as a little girl in Brooklyn.
The Fox Business anchor and host of Sunday Morning said the financial habits her mother drilled into her as a child in Dyker Heights set the foundation for everything that followed.
“Every time I wanted to buy something, my mom would ask, ‘How are you paying for it?'” Bartiromo said. “She made me save up, even for something small like an ice cream cone from the Mr. Softee truck. That lesson stuck with me for life.”
Her mother Josephine grew up during the Great Depression and spent her life, as Bartiromo said previously, “like a little squirrel, saving her nuts.”
When Bartiromo entered the workforce, she applied her mother’s life advice directly to her savings.
“When I started my career, I put money in my 401k and I was advised — my mother told me — ‘match it 100%, whatever your company puts down, match it,'” Bartiromo said. “And that’s how I got to my first $1 million. I’ll say it. That’s how I got to become a millionaire.”
She’s been preaching the same discipline ever since.
“The No. 1 thing to do on your road to becoming a millionaire is very simple: join your company’s 401(k) plan. Put as much money in there as you can, early on, and make sure you do not touch it,” Bartiromo said.
The advice is especially pointed given how few Americans are actually following it. Nearly half of all Americans aren’t saving for retirement at all, according to the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.
“Start small, but start early,” she said.
Beyond saving, Bartiromo has one other piece of advice she gives consistently: don’t chase the paycheck.
“Don’t follow the money. Follow your passion — the money will come when you are truly doing what you love,” she said.
Of course, her multimillion dollar paychecks don’t hurt, either.
Maria Bartiromo: "When I started my career, I put money in my 401k and I was advised, my mother told me, 'match it 100%, whatever your company puts down, match it.' And that's how I got to my first $1 million. I'll say it. That's how I got to become a millionaire." pic.twitter.com/kBuwar7iaR
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 30, 2026