The average retired worker collected roughly $2,079 per month from Social Security as of March 2026, a figure that barely covers basic living expenses in most major metropolitan areas, according to the Social Security Administration.
For the more than 56.8 million retired workers and their families who depend on those monthly deposits, the program functions less like a retirement bonus and more like a financial lifeline that keeps the lights on and the refrigerator stocked with groceries.
Grant Cardone, the private equity fund manager and multifamily real estate investor who oversees billions of dollars in property assets, is not among those who plan to count on the program when he stops working full-time.
Cardone told GOBankingRates that he sees Social Security as an unreliable promise from a government that may not have the resources to keep it, and he is urging Americans to take their retirement income into their own hands.
Cardone calls Social Security an unreliable retirement promise
Cardone, whose firm, Cardone Capital, manages a multifamily real estate portfolio valued at billions of dollars across the United States, framed his skepticism in blunt terms, calling the program a cash-flow promise he does not believe the federal government can honor over the long term.
His concern is grounded in federal projections, because the Congressional Budget Office estimated in February 2026 that Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund will be depleted by fiscal year 2032, roughly one year sooner than the 2025 Social Security Trustees Report had estimated.
If Congress fails to act before that date, automatic benefit cuts averaging 28% would take effect in the years following insolvency, the CBO projected, with cuts of approximately 7% in 2032 itself rising to a 28% annual average from 2033 to 2036.
A typical couple retiring in 2033 would face an $18,400 annual cut in benefits in that scenario, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget calculated.
Social Security’s financial outlook has deteriorated over the past year
The program’s funding challenges stem from decades of demographic shifts, as the ratio of workers paying payroll taxes to beneficiaries collecting checks has fallen from more than five-to-one in 1960 to less than three-to-one today, the Bipartisan Policy Center reported.
Recent legislation exacerbated the problem, with the Social Security Chief Actuary’s August 2025 analysis finding that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed on July 4, 2025, moved the retirement trust fund’s projected insolvency from early 2033 to late 2032, the Tax Policy Center reported.
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That law created a $6,000 standard deduction for seniors aged 65 and older, cutting into trust fund revenue by an estimated $168.6 billion over 10 years, while the Social Security Fairness Act added nearly $200 billion to the shortfall by expanding benefits for certain government workers.
The Urban Institute projected that once the trust fund becomes insolvent, monthly benefits for a median-income retiree would drop by nearly $500 in 2022 dollars, and 3.8 million more seniors would fall into poverty.
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Cardone’s retirement strategy centers on rental income over stock portfolios
Cardone argued that traditional stock market investing carries risks that most retirement savers underestimate, telling GOBankingRates that he questions whether major technology companies will survive long enough to sustain someone through a 30-year retirement.
He pointed to the shortening lifespan of publicly traded companies, citing Innosight’s projection that the average S&P 500 company’s tenure will fall to fewer than 12 years by 2027, and he predicted that at least 90% of current artificial intelligence companies will ultimately fail before today’s pre-retirees collect their first Social Security check.
“If you’re banking on real estate to be your retirement account or your entire source of retirement income, it’s really going to be about how many units you have…The most important number in real estate is the number of people who pay you some cash flow,” said Grant Cardone, CEO of Cardone Capital and Cardone Training Technologies.
His preferred alternative is income-producing multifamily real estate, which he described as an asset class that generates monthly rental income regardless of what happens in broader financial markets, with the number of units an investor controls mattering more than total property value.
Financial planners see merit in Cardone’s concerns but warn against concentration risk
Cardone acknowledged that property management becomes increasingly burdensome as investors age, and he proposed partnership structures in which older investors provide capital while younger partners handle day-to-day operations, an arrangement that preserves rental income without the hands-on burden.
Dean Deutz, a private wealth consultant with RBC Wealth Management, offered a related perspective, explaining that pre-retirees with significant property holdings need to evaluate which assets to keep and which to sell while they are still in their 60s, because those decisions shape income throughout retirement.
However, Cardone’s heavy reliance on a single asset class runs counter to the diversification strategies most financial planners endorse, and J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s 2026 Guide to Retirement found that households with more guaranteed income spend up to 44% more in retirement, underscoring the value of dependable and diversified income streams.
John Worth, Executive Vice President, Research and Investor Outreach at Nareit, noted that real estate investment trusts offer the benefits of commercial real estate, including steady dividends and inflation protection, without requiring investors to manage physical buildings or handle maintenance emergencies.
Congress has a narrowing window to prevent automatic benefit cuts
The program has been rescued before, as it was months away from insolvency in the early 1980s before Congress passed the Social Security Amendments of 1983, which gradually raised the full retirement age and implemented revenue measures that sustained the system for more than four decades.
Cardone’s bet against Social Security reflects a broader unease among high-net-worth investors and everyday workers alike, but financial professionals stress that the answer for most Americans is not to abandon the program but to build additional income streams alongside it to cushion against potential future benefit reductions.
Whether through rental properties, diversified portfolios, or tax-advantaged retirement accounts, the underlying message from both Cardone and the financial planning community is the same: depending on any single source of retirement income, especially one facing a documented funding shortfall, carries risk no one approaching retirement should ignore.
Related: Social Security worries are rattling workers and retirees