Do you feel stuck? Like, no matter how hard you work or how much you save—you’re still trying to keep your head above water? This isn’t uncommon these days. A lot of you we talk to have told us this is exactly how you feel and that something needs to change.

A question that comes up a lot is: “Does money make you happy?” Well, we certainly think so. This doesn’t mean you can’t have a nice life with a small income job, or maybe some of you even aspire to live off-the-grid with as little possessions as possible—that’s totally cool. But this article is for those of you, like us, who are determined to live the American Dream as the middle class becomes a memory of the past. And, yes, that’s exactly what is happening at this moment—and it’s happening quicker than you might think. At this rate, it’s possible the middle class will be the minority by 2030—with the wealth gap between the rich and poor greater than ever.

But this isn’t a doom-and-gloom article. Although we do believe the average person is going to struggle—even suffer—the next few years, the ones who work hard and work smart are going to thrive. You’re in a position to make more money than you’ve ever made, and you may not even realize it.

We’re not going to be shy—this guide is about making a lot of money and joining the upper class. We don’t believe money is the root of all evil. Money is energy—energy to provide the best for your family, create the business you’ve always dreamed of, buying the boat you’ve always wanted, or maybe you just want to sleep at night knowing that you never have to worry about money again.

Why should you listen to us? Because we’ve dedicated our lives to interviewing the most successful business owners and entrepreneurs we can find, and there are patterns—believe me. When times get tough, they don’t lose money—they get wealthier—and we’re going to explore why.

On a final note, we promise this article will focus more on the solution than the problem—but before you can position yourself to take the necessary action to build wealth, you must have a clear understanding of the problem…

The Problem

Between 1970 and 2021, the middle class’s share of total U.S. household income fell from 62% to 42%— while the upper class’s share rose from 29% to 50%. The poor are getting poorer, and the rich are getting richer… but, why exactly?

Inflation

For those who are unaware: Inflation is when prices for essentials like job materials, fuel, or groceries keep rising—making your money buy less over time. How bad is it? Well, since 1973, prices have surged by about 600%—while the average person’s wages have stagnated, forcing many families to rely on two incomes just to get by. For you housing contractors out there—consider how lumber prices have nearly doubled over the past decade, with costs spiking from around $300 per thousand board feet in 2015 to over $600 in 2025—making projects far more expensive and squeezing profit margins.

What causes inflation, you might ask? Because the government, through the Federal Reserve, keeps printing more-and-more money to cover the country’s massive, ever-growing debt. We don’t have time right now to get into the nitty-gritty details but take our word for it—there is no end to this money printing, and inflation is unlikely to slow down—let alone, stop.

Wealthy people understand that inflation is theft. It quietly erodes the value of our hard-earned savings and wages without our consent. But don’t worry—later in this guide we’ll discuss some strategies to stay ahead of inflation and preserve your hard-earned money.

A.I.

In a recent interview on the Diary of a CEO podcast—Geoffrey Hinton, often referred to as “Godfather of A.I.,” recommended that you become a plumber—not a doctor or lawyer, but a plumber—as A.I. revolutionizes the way we live.

And, yes, we mean “revolutionize”—think self-driving trucks, robotic factories, curing diseases, global surveillance, a rewired economy with new trading systems, and much more. And we’re not talking the far future—we’re talking about the near future.

Goldman Sachs estimates that A.I. could displace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs globally by 2030—starting with the jobs most vulnerable to automation like accounting, law, banking, medicine—just to name a few. However, those of you watching with some sort of trade or skill shouldn’t need to worry anytime soon, but more on that later.

Housing and Living Costs

Rising housing and living costs are crushing the average American. Home prices are at an all-time high, with the median home costing around $460,000 in 2025—up from $290,000 ten years ago. Then there’s the whole healthcare fiasco—family health insurance premiums now average $24,000 a year, up 22% in a decade. Car and truck loans are also choking budgets—with average monthly payments hitting $740 in 2025, up 23% from a decade ago. The bottom line is that life isn’t getting more affordable for middle-class Americans—we’re cornered into a position where we must make more money… but how much longer can we keep this up—when does it end?

These are what we believe are the three most significant factors contributing to the fall of the middle class. Of course, there’s more—but this article isn’t about the problem, it’s about the solution…

The Solution

The Great Depression of the 1930s crushed the United States with mass unemployment, social unrest, a housing crisis, and a stock market crash—leaving everyday families struggling to afford food, shelter, and basic necessities. It was a nightmare.

But did you know that some Americans thrived during the Great Depression? There were average people who built massive wealth despite the odds. One of our favorite success stories is George Jenkins, a former Piggly Wiggly clerk who quit his job in 1930 to open his first Publix grocery store in Winter Haven, Florida. Imagine how many haters cautioned him that he’d fail in such an unstable economy. He didn’t listen. Instead, he obsessed over customer service and finding ways to lower prices. His business soared, and over time, he became a billionaire.

Take a moment to ask yourself… Are you going to be someone who quits when times get tough… or are you going to thrive? For those of you—like us—who believe failure is not an option, let’s discuss strategies to prosper during these volatile times…

Mastering High-Income Skills

If you’re skilled in a trade, congratulations, you’re already ahead of the pack. With A.I. disrupting jobs, fierce competition flooding various industries, and the lack of skilled tradesmen available—your skills are more valuable than ever. Ten years ago, trades were often overlooked for college degrees—but soon—owning a plumbing, electrical, or HVAC business might be more likely to propel you into the upper class than a career as an attorney or real estate agent.

So, what are some of the most profitable skills to acquire? When it comes to using your skills to work for someone else—some of the highest-paying skills are elevator repair, heavy equipment operator, HVAC technician, power-line installer, and plumber. For those planning to own your own business—some of the most profitable skills are a construction management firm, plumbing and HVAC service company, custom home building, asphalt and paving company, electrical contracting, and landscaping company.

Of course, there are plenty of other skills to make a living with—these are just some of the most lucrative. As a rule of thumb, try to focus on a specific niche—like smart home installations, luxury bathroom remodels, energy-efficiency retrofits, or high-end flooring installations.

Building Multiple Income Streams

You’re probably thinking… “I don’t have time for a second job.” We know it’s hard for some of you to hear this, but you need to make time—at least if you want to secure a position in the upper class. A lot of the successful entrepreneurs we’ve interviewed had a side hustle at one point in their career, or they even started their business in the afterhours of their day job. They made it happen, even with a family in some cases.

So how do you “make time?” Easier said than done, right? The solution to this catch-22 to be more efficient. Take a thorough look at your schedule and habits: Are you failing to put systems in place? Could you delegate more of your responsibilities to an employee? Is an hour-long phone call necessary or can it be an email or text? Maybe you’re even spending too much time on social media? If you’re willing to get honest with yourself, there’s likely at least one area of your life to carve out more time for a second income stream.

So, what are some good side hustle ideas you may want to consider? We’ve addressed this in a different article, but here are some quick ideas: Maybe you have the skills to offer minor handyman work at people’s homes? There’s also gutter cleaning, junk removal, furniture delivery, scrap metal collection, construction clean-up, and offering towing services with your truck—the list goes on-and-on.

Can you create a second stream of income without sacrificing too much of your time? Sure. If you’re not willing to give up more of your time, you can leverage your finances to set up passive income instead. If you’ve got savings or steady cash from your current business, put that money to work—like renting out your trucks or equipment when it’s not being used, storage space rental, flipping real estate, affiliate marketing, or you could even sell an online course—teaching a particular skill you have.

Leveraging Technology

Yes, I know we mentioned earlier how A.I. is going to have some negative impact on the job market and businesses. That being said, it doesn’t mean you can’t leverage technology to improve your business and build wealth. We’re all about working your butt off, but we believe in working smart whenever and wherever possible—in this case, using technology to your advantage.

There are all sorts of ways to leverage technology for your business—like using drones for site surveys, social media for marketing, and doing virtual training for your employees—but, lately, we’ve taken more notice of Jobber. We haven’t just become an official partner of theirs, but we’ve come to learn that business owners we already know are already using their software.

With Jobber, you can send invoices directly from your phone and let Jobber automatically chase unpaid invoices for you. It also streamlines scheduling by optimizing routes to save travel time, keeps your team coordinated with real-time updates, and boosts your Google ratings with automated review requests. After doing our research, including an in-depth demo of the software, we believe Jobber is the best way to leverage technology to improve your home service or construction business.

Private Equity

If you’ve already got a successful business, why not consider cashing out big and turning that sweat equity into a seven-figure payday? That’s where private equity comes in. These firms are financial whales that have the money and resources to scoop up a home service business to scale it fast and dominate markets. We’ve interviewed several business owners who’ve had substantial interviews from private equity firms.

So why wouldn’t someone like Tim want to sell their business to private equity and get out with a fat stack of cash? Well, selling to private equity means loss of control—firms may impose operational changes, cut costs, or shift focus to short-term profits—altering the company culture you built. Or maybe the firm wants to load the business with debt to finance the deal and charge hefty management fees? In Tim’s case, he’s got big plans of his own—recently franchising his roofing business, offering to help aspiring roofers to make solid money. Give him a shout if you’re interested.

There are also successful business owners like Robert who are simply in love with the business they built—it’s their baby—and they are super careful about who they’re going to pass it on to.

The bottom line is that you can get rich from a private equity firm, but make sure it’s what you truly want before you turn over the keys to your operation.

Diversified Investments

Whether it’s upgrading your equipment, buying an additional truck, or building an app for your business—a lot of you are already investing back into your business. This is great, but it might take more than that to build true wealth and usher you and your family into the upper echelon. One of the best ways to achieve this is by diversifying investments.

Investing in the stock market, real estate, and gold is a solid way to invest—we get it—but we couldn’t do this article without talking about Bitcoin. Yeah—we said it—Bitcoin.

We could do an entire guide on Bitcoin, but we’re going to keep it really short here… Jack Mallers puts it perfectly: “No man should work for what another man can print.” Bingo. We’re all on a hamster wheel, working our butts off, for money—money that is losing value as we speak. As we mentioned earlier, the government is recklessly printing money—debasing our currency. Bitcoin fixes this: There’s no CEO of Bitcoin that can be corrupted—there will never be more than 21 million in supply—and, yes, it’s volatile, but if you’re patient the price of Bitcoin continues to increase over time. We like gold too, but Bitcoin is simply the best hedge against inflation—period.

Connecting with the Right People

“It’s not what you know, but who you know.” We’ve all heard that, and maybe it’s frustrating to hear at times—but it’s true. It doesn’t mean you can’t succeed on your own, or that you need to schmooze your way into pretentious social circles—but connecting with the right people is essential if you want to elevate yourself from the dying middle class. At the very least, and I’m sure we’ve all been guilty of this at one time or another, stop hanging out with toxic friends who discourage you from your dream—even if it’s your best friend from high school or even a family member. You’ve only got so much mental bandwidth. If you want to be successful—you simply don’t have the time or energy to tolerate drama or any distraction, for that matter.

So what can you do about it? The motivational speaker Jim Rohn said, “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with,” and we couldn’t agree more. Bring the body and the mind will follow—fake it till you make it—do whatever you have to do to be around successful people. Maybe this means going to trade shows, local business meetups, spending time on online communities, or finding a mentor—whatever it takes. We know all of this is easier said than done, but—if you are sincere—you will make valuable connections if you are persistent.

A perfect example is a young residential contractor we heard about, who dreamed of getting big commercial jobs but lacked the skills and confidence. He didn’t let that stop him—he hustled, found a mentor, and learned how to bid on million-dollar projects. Now, he’s banking six figures and crushing it.

A Final Thought

The business owners and entrepreneurs that we see fail almost always use the same excuse… They didn’t have the resources—whether it was a lack of money, not having enough trucks, materials costing too much money—or whatever the excuse might be. But the guys we see who succeed always managed to find a way—whether it was getting a loan, borrowing a truck from a friend, bargaining for cheaper materials—whatever was necessary. The problem is never a lack of resources… it’s lack of resourcefulness. “But the system is rigged,” you say. Yes, we agree. It probably always has been, and—unfortunately—always will be. It’s really tough out there right now. But why let that stop you from becoming a huge success? What have you got to lose by trying your best? We believe you’ve got the skills and grit to build generational wealth for you and your family.