Grant Cardone doesn't mince words when it comes to the middle class. The real estate mogul thinks aspiring to middle-class life is less of a dream and more of a financial trap.

"The middle class is mythology. It's like 250 million people considering themselves to be in the middle class," he said in a Fox News interview earlier this year. "They are really suffering with inflation… my encouragement to the middle class is get out of it."

The Old Playbook Doesn't Work Anymore

Cardone's take is that the middle class has been following a formula that's fundamentally broken: save your money, earn a college degree, buy a house. None of these moves create real wealth anymore, according to him. "The American middle class has been left behind because they've been saving money and doing the right things and it's not working," he told Fox News.

His alternative? Stop letting cash sit idle in a savings account. Instead, "actually put money to work" through investing and leverage the same tax strategies that wealthy people use to build and protect their fortunes.

This isn't just theory for Cardone. His perspective was shaped by experience. When his father died when he was 10, his mother had to make every dollar count just to keep the family afloat.

He once explained his middle-class philosophy to his daughter in blunt terms: "My daughter says, 'So Papa, what is the middle class?' I said, 'What do you think it is?' She's like, 'I think it's people that are poor that think they're rich.' I said, 'You got it.'"

Cardone remembers growing up in a neighborhood where people felt financially secure simply because their cars and homes were paid off and they were doing marginally better than the neighbors. "And you're okay until you're not okay," he said.

He believes the middle class is shrinking every year, squeezed by taxes and inflation. "Every four years we get to elect somebody that promises to take care of the middle class," he said. "When the truth is, the politicians need to tell us the truth: Hey, there is no middle class in America. It's gone."

Rent, Don't Buy. Invest, Don't Save. Bet on Yourself.

Cardone has repeatedly argued that college debt, homeownership, and traditional savings strategies keep people financially stuck. Rather than sinking money into a mortgage or student loan payments, he pushes people to invest in themselves and their businesses.

"If you're an entrepreneur, you need incentives, rewards to take those risks," he told Fox News. "Let me make that money and let me not be overtaxed because I'm profitable. I'm just going to reinvest the money and expand and hire more people."

The core principle? Never settle. Cardone says he's intentionally relocated to different cities multiple times throughout his life to stay uncomfortable and maintain momentum. That mindset helped him build a massive real estate portfolio and attract millions of followers across social media.

Whether you agree with his methods or not, Cardone's message is consistent: the conventional middle-class path is outdated, and escaping it requires rejecting traditional financial wisdom in favor of strategies that prioritize growth over security.