"The rich don't save money."
Robert Kiyosaki, author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad," has once again issued a warning, declaring that "the biggest economic crisis in world history has begun." He argued that with U.S. national debt swelling to record levels, now is the last chance to protect assets, and that investors should increase their exposure to "hard assets" such as gold, bitcoin and ethereum.
"U.S. National Debt Is the Biggest Risk"... Kiyosaki Says Buy Real Assets
According to Yahoo Finance and Kiyosaki's posts on X, formerly Twitter, on the 26th local time, he identified the U.S. fiscal situation as the greatest risk factor for the global financial system.
Kiyosaki took issue with the fact that U.S. national debt, which stood at about $9 trillion during the 2008 global financial crisis, has now swelled to nearly $40 trillion. Based on U.S. Treasury figures, national debt stood at approximately $39.64 trillion as of the 22nd, more than four times the level during the financial crisis.
He argued that the U.S. government continues to add massive amounts of debt over a short period, and that such a fiscal structure is difficult to sustain over the long term. "Assuming you spend $1 per minute, it would take about 32,000 years to spend $1 trillion," he said, emphasizing the scale of the debt. He also warned that economic cracks are appearing around the world, and that if the asset market bubble bursts, the baby boomer generation approaching retirement could be hit hardest.
In particular, he cited as a factor increasing the risk the shift since the 1970s in U.S. corporate retirement pensions from defined benefit (DB) plans to defined contribution (DC) plans such as 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts (IRAs), which transferred responsibility for managing retirement assets to individuals.
"The Rich Don't Save Money"... Emphasizes Gold, Bitcoin, Ethereum
Kiyosaki argued that in this environment, one should accumulate assets with limited supply rather than hold fiat currency.
He defined gold, silver and bitcoin as "hard assets" whose supply cannot be arbitrarily increased by governments, describing them as the most effective means of responding to inflation and currency depreciation.
He also revealed that he has been collecting silver since 1965 and gold since 1971, and has been expanding his asset holdings by adding bitcoin since 2012 and ethereum since 2022. Referring to a past case in which the U.S. government restricted individuals from holding gold, he added that he keeps his gold and silver in vaults outside the United States.
He also presented real estate as a key defensive asset. His explanation was that it can generate steady cash flow through rental income even amid an economic downturn, and that since rents rise along with prices during periods of inflation, it can help retirees defend their assets.
He maintained strong optimism about cryptocurrencies as well. He predicted that bitcoin, with its total issuance capped at 21 million coins, can serve as "digital gold" that compensates for the weaknesses of fiat currency, and that ethereum will become key infrastructure for the decentralized finance (DeFi) and stablecoin ecosystem.
Kiyosaki also maintained his existing forecast that, in the event of a sweeping reorganization of the financial system, gold could rise to $35,000 per ounce, silver to $200, bitcoin to $750,000 and ethereum to $95,000.
Repeated Crisis Warnings... Some See His Predictions as Missing the Mark
However, there is no shortage of opinions in the market that his forecasts are difficult to accept at face value.
For years, Kiyosaki has consistently warned of stock market and real estate collapses and a repeat of the Great Depression, but actual market trends have often differed from his expectations. Recently, U.S. stocks have continued to rise on the back of expanded artificial intelligence (AI) investment and expectations of interest rate cuts, and the financial system did not collapse at the time he had predicted.
The assets he recommends also carry risks. Critics point out that investors need to take a cautious approach, since gold and silver do not generate their own cash flow such as dividends or interest, while bitcoin and ethereum require accepting high price volatility.
Nevertheless, Kiyosaki repeatedly emphasized the importance of diversifying assets by utilizing various real and digital assets rather than relying solely on government-issued fiat currency. Some in the market assess that, apart from his strong crisis rhetoric, an asset allocation strategy that prepares for rising national debt and inflation risk is itself a topic worth considering for investors.
