Tony Hawk reveals the investment that became his 'saving grace'

Tony Hawk is telling all about his investment at the age of 17 that saved him from later struggles.

The pro skateboarding legend, 56, made an appearance on SoFi's Richer Lives podcast where he took a trip down his high school memory lane.

"I was making good money," Hawk said as he spoke of his father's advice back when he was in the senior year of high school.

"And he said, 'I really think you should invest in real estate.' And what I heard was, 'You can have your own place, party house,'" Hawk recalled.

At the time, his father had to co-sign for the house, but Hawk—who was 17 of age at the time—now recounts that he had his father's blessing and ended up living in it with roommates around the same age, with some also still in high school.

"My parents were always out of town, so my house was the party house by default," said Hawk.

The same party house then became his "saving grace" when his career slowed.

"I ended up buying another property, kind of getting underwater with my expenses. I had a big ramp set up there. That was the dream, but I just really was in over my head," Hawk admitted.

He explained that he "took out a second mortgage on the house to start a skateboard company, of all things, and then ended up selling the house for what I owed [and] moved back into the house I bought when I was in high school."

By this time, Hawk had become a father to his first son, Hudson Riley Hawk, now 32, with his then-wife, Cindy Dunbar. He began cutting back on expenses and taking on side jobs, including editing and consulting work.

Hawk also holds on to a valuable lesson he learned from the "wake-up call."

“The baseline was, ‘Don’t live beyond your means.’ I thought that I wasn’t. I just kept kind of being in denial that, ‘Oh, I’m not making as much as I’m spending,' " said Hawk. "And then at some point, I definitely was not making as much as I was spending and I still had all these expenses."