I Am a CFA. I Believe Grant Cardone Gives Horrible Financial Advice
I had never heard of Grant Cardone until I got on X and saw one of his ads. He was telling people to pull money out of their 401(k)s to buy real estate, not with a no-money-down strategy, just straight-up pull retirement funds.
That’s when I knew exactly what this was. Snake oil in a designer suit.
So we’re breaking down the hype. I’m going to walk you through why I believe Cardone’s financial advice is reckless, misleading, and designed to benefit him far more than anyone else.
Do you know this guy or any of his financial advice? You’ll want to read this before you follow any of it.
Table of Contents
Who Grant Cardone Really Is
Grant Cardone is a real estate promoter who became famous shouting about hustle, scaling, and thinking 10X. He’s got books, courses, speaking gigs, and a fund that pools investor money into apartment buildings.
He talks fast, sells harder, and says all the things that sound good when you’re tired of being stuck. He markets himself as a billionaire, but most of his business model seems built on selling content, not compound returns.
His company, Cardone Capital, takes in everyday investors and promises passive income, while quietly charging fees that eat into most of the profits.
He’s not a licensed advisor. He’s not bound to act in your best interest. He’s just a guy who figured out that telling people they can be rich too, if they just think bigger, pays very well.
Why You Should Listen to Me Instead
I’m not selling you anything. I don’t have a coaching program. I retired early, built a real portfolio, and I did it without riding the hype train.
I’ve held multiple securities licenses, I’m a CFA, and I’ve spent more than two decades in financial services, not on stage, but in the trenches, working with actual investment products and tax strategies that get results.
I started with $800, bought real estate smartly, maxed out my retirement accounts, and built a plan that actually worked. No one handed me anything. I didn’t grow up rich. I just figured out how to use what was in front of me, make it work, and keep doing it.
Unlike Cardone, I don’t need your money. I’ve made my own.
That’s why this critique isn’t just personal, it’s professional. I’ve seen the difference between advice that builds your future and advice that just builds someone else’s brand.
Pushing 401(k) Withdrawals for Real Estate Is Flat-Out Dangerous
Let’s talk about the worst advice I’ve seen Grant give: encouraging people to pull their money out of their 401(k)s to invest in real estate. That’s not just bad advice. It’s financially reckless.
You don’t need to touch your 401k to buy real estate.
I’ve bought real estate. I’ve built cash flow. And I’ve never had to gut my retirement accounts to do it. You can use no-money-down strategies, seller financing, or even house hacking, none of which require throwing away tax advantages.
The moment someone tells you to move your retirement into their investment, they’ve stopped helping you. They’re helping themselves.
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You Don’t Have to Reject Smart Tools to Be Self-Reliant
Grant likes to talk a lot about personal responsibility and self-reliance, and I get it, that’s a message I believe in too. You have to take ownership of your financial life. But where we part ways is what that actually looks like.
For him, it’s tossing out every traditional tool and betting on big real estate moves. For me, it’s using every smart advantage I can, including things like 401(k)s, HSAs, and low-cost index funds.
Being self-reliant doesn’t mean ignoring what works. It means understanding it well enough to use it better than anyone else. My plan involved living below my means, maxing out every retirement account available, and slowly stacking cash flow on the side.
It wasn’t flashy. But it worked. And it didn’t involve sending a wire to some syndicate because a guy in sunglasses told me it was the key to freedom.
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“Anyone Can Become a Billionaire” Is a Fantasy, Not a Plan
One of the worst messages Grant Cardone pushes is the idea that anyone can become a billionaire. It sounds exciting. It sells. But it’s complete fiction.
Becoming a billionaire isn’t just about hustle, it usually requires generational wealth, insider access, massive leverage, and a lot of timing luck. Selling the dream that your mindset is the only thing holding you back is just a clever way to keep you buying more programs.
I’ve never told everyone they could become a billionaire. I don’t lie.
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The 40/40/20 Rule Isn’t Real Life
Grant talks about living on just 20% of your income, saving 40%, and assuming 40% will go to taxes. Sounds disciplined. But for most people, it’s not realistic, and it’s not helpful.
Income levels, cost of living, and tax brackets vary way too much for that to be anything more than a soundbite. And honestly, it feels like one of those things said just to sound smart on a stage.
In the real world, building wealth isn’t about playing with round numbers. It’s about living well below your means, automating your savings, and making sure what you invest in actually grows.
I didn’t use arbitrary percentages. I just kept my expenses low and funneled everything else into assets I understood. Simple beats clever every single time.
Traditional Investments Aren’t the Problem, Bad Advice Is
Cardone trashes traditional investments like 401(k)s and savings accounts, saying they’re too slow or don’t build wealth. That’s false. Index funds inside a 401(k), especially with a match, are some of the best tools available.
They’re boring, and that’s exactly why they work. You don’t need every dollar working 24/7 in some flashy asset class. You need time, compounding, and low fees.
What he’s really doing is priming you to reject the safe path so he can pitch the alternative. His alternative. That’s why I’ll never tell you to abandon what works. I’ll tell you to use it better.
Retirement accounts are the bedrock. You build on top of them. You don’t blow them up just because someone said “cash is trash” on a stage.
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Selling Courses Is His Real Business, Not Real Estate
Let’s call it like it is: Cardone makes most of his money selling courses, books, and programs. That’s the real product. Real estate is just the backdrop.
He built an empire convincing people he had the secret, then monetized their belief in that secret. That’s not investing. That’s influence marketing with a real estate wrapper.
I’ve always had a problem with that model. If you’re rich because you sold the idea of being rich, that’s not proof your strategy works. That’s proof you can sell.
I didn’t retire early by selling a blueprint. I did it by following one.
Multiple Income Streams Shouldn’t Come With a Sales Pitch
One of Grant’s better talking points is the idea that you need multiple income streams. No argument there. I built mine with rental income, dividend income, and investment growth, nothing crazy, just consistent.
But what he turns it into is something else entirely. His version usually ends with you buying access to a program, or jumping into a high-risk business model you don’t control.
I’m a big believer in simplicity. You don’t need seven income streams. You need a few that are steady, low-cost, and scalable without your time. That’s what real freedom looks like.
Not grinding every waking hour trying to 10X your way to burnout because someone told you millionaires never sleep.
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Owning Your Home Isn’t Dead Money, It’s Just Not His Business Model
Grant loves to say owning your primary residence is a waste, “dead money,” he calls it. That’s easy to say when your income depends on pushing real estate syndications. But for most people, owning a home offers stability, equity, and insulation against rent spikes.
It’s not about flipping houses or running numbers on cap rates. It’s about having a paid-off roof that no landlord can take away.
I bought my first property at 20. I lived in some of them, rented others out, and built equity the whole time. Was every house a cash flow machine? No. But I gained control and long-term wealth.
A primary home might not pay you each month, but done right, it becomes one of your biggest assets, and one of the few that’s both emotional and financial security.
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His Hedge Fund Works Great, For Him
Cardone Capital is set up to benefit one person, and it’s not the investor. He encourages people to take penalty-laden withdrawals out of their retirement accounts to fund these investments.
Then he charges high fees, management fees, performance fees, acquisition fees. The more money you send in, the better he does. You? Maybe you get a return. Maybe you get diluted.
The model is clever. Convince people they’re missing out on real estate, then offer to let them in, but only on his terms. If you’re thinking about investing in real estate, there are ways to do it that give you more control, lower fees, and actual ownership.
Sending money into a syndicate without understanding the structure is a great way to lose sleep and returns.
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Aggressive Scaling Isn’t a Strategy, It’s a Gamble
One of the biggest differences between how I built wealth and how Grant talks about it is in the pace. He promotes aggressive scaling, massive borrowing, fast acquisitions, going bigger every time.
That might make sense if you’re managing hundreds of millions with a full staff and unlimited access to capital. But most people aren’t there. And that approach turns small mistakes into financial disasters.
I scaled too, slowly, methodically, and with risk management in place. I used leverage when it made sense, then paid it down. I didn’t care about bragging rights or unit counts. I cared about freedom.
That’s the part he doesn’t talk about, freedom is the goal, not the portfolio size.
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Thinking Big Doesn’t Mean Risking Everything
Grant loves the “think big” mindset. He’ll say things like, “Big deals are safer,” and push people to go all-in. The pitch sounds good. The logic doesn’t hold.
Bigger deals have more moving parts, more risk, and require more sophistication, not less. But when you’re selling seminars, it helps to make it sound like the only thing between you and your dream is the size of your ambition.
I think big, too, but I think strategically. I took calculated risks, built in safety nets, and always had a backup plan. That’s what allowed me to retire early without looking over my shoulder.
Thinking big doesn’t mean betting it all. It means building something strong enough to stand when things don’t go your way.
Fees Eat Wealth, And His Are Brutal
Cardone’s funds and programs are expensive. He charges multiple layers of fees that quietly eat away at investor returns. And most people don’t realize how much those fees compound over time.
High expense ratios, performance fees, acquisition cuts, they all add up. And they don’t just reduce returns. They transfer your upside directly to him.
This is why I’m such a fan of index funds. The fees are low, the growth is steady, and no one’s taking a cut every time your money grows. Real wealth isn’t about gross returns. It’s about what you keep.
If your strategy bleeds fees, you’re not investing. you’re donating.
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Real Diversification Beats One-Track Hype
Cardone talks about real estate like it’s the only asset worth owning. He dismisses stocks, bonds, even savings accounts. But building wealth isn’t about choosing sides. It’s about using the best tools available, and those tools change depending on your stage of life, your goals, and your income.
I didn’t retire early because I only bought houses. I did it because I used 401(k)s, index funds, real estate, and compound interest, all working together. I didn’t chase every trend or swing at every pitch. I built a system that ran without drama.
Real diversification is boring. That’s the point.
No Professional Credentials, No Fiduciary Duty
Finally, and arguably the most important point, Cardone isn’t a CFA. He’s not a CFP, CPA, or licensed financial advisor. He has no fiduciary duty. That means he’s not legally required to act in your best interest, and that should matter more than people realize.
When someone tells you to cash out your retirement and trust their system, you better hope they know what they’re doing. With Cardone, there’s no regulatory oversight, no ethical standard, and no professional code backing it up.
I held actual licenses. I still hold the CFA charter. That came with exams, audits, and an ethical code that means something. I don’t say that to flex. I say that because advice should be held to a standard. His isn’t.
Let’s Stop Pretending This Is Real Financial Advice
The problem isn’t just that Grant Cardone gives bad advice, it’s that he packages it like it’s the only way to win. Real finance isn’t built on charisma or confidence. It’s built on discipline, consistency, and time.
You don’t need to risk it all or think ten times bigger. You need to stay ten times more consistent. The truth is, if someone’s always selling, they’re probably not building.
Follow what works. Ignore what sells. That’s the real play.
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