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Jason Hartman discusses the destruction of America\u2019s great middle class and how to avoid it. Let\u2019s not let the USA become a banana republic. Jason recommends the book War on the Middle Class by Lou Dobbs and his interviews with Rich Dad author Garrett Sutton and Jim Rogers and then he talks about and article received from Chris McLaughlin: Middle class down this decade.

The first decade of the 21st century will go down in the history\xa0books as a step back for the American middle class. Last week,\xa0the government made gloomy headlines when it released the latest\xa0census report showing the poverty rate rose to a 17-year high. A\xa0whopping 46.2 million people (or 15.1% of the US population)\xa0live in poverty and 49.9 million live without health insurance.\xa0But the data also gave the first glimpse of what happened to\xa0middle-class incomes in the first decade of the millennium.\xa0While the earnings of middle-income Americans have barely budged\xa0since the mid 1970s, the new data showed that from 2000 to 2010,\xa0they actually regressed. For American households in the middle of the pay scale, income fell to $49,445 last year, when\xa0adjusted for inflation, a level not seen since 1996. And over\xa0the 10-year period, their income is down 7%.

Unlike the richest Americans, middle class families have most of\xa0their wealth tied up in the equity of their homes, which took a\xa0beating in the recession. And high unemployment has left many\xa0people with little or no other income at all. At the same time\xa0that Americans had less cash to spend, they were also being hit\xa0with rising prices for some crucial items. Even accounting for\xa0inflation, it still costs more to buy a home, fill your gas\xa0tank, go to the doctor and put food on the table than it did\xa0only 10 years ago. And not only is it more expensive to live a\xa0middle-class life, it costs more to get there too. The price of\xa0a college education \u2014 still considered the ticket to higher
wages and a better lifestyle \u2014 has surged over the last decade,\xa0even in spite of the recession. Facing these burdens, the\xa0American Dream is undergoing stark changes, with fewer people\xa0choosing to buy homes and more young people postponing their own\xa0independent lives. The census data showed about 14.2% of all\xa0young people ages 25 to 34 are still living in their parents\u2019\xa0homes this year, compared to about 11.8% before the recession\xa0began in 2007.

Next Jason and Sara answer audience questions. Be sure enter sweepstakes for free tickets to \u201cMeet The Masters of Income Property Investing at:https://www.facebook.com/jasonhartman.com