Robert Kiyosaki blasts the US as an ‘economy of debt’ with the ‘worst crash’ yet to come. How to protect your wealth

“One day it will matter, and it will show up in confidence in U.S. markets,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said during an interview with Jim Cramer in January (5).

“If foreign buyers hesitate, we could see low inflation but elevated interest rates because deficits are high and financing becomes harder.”

But debt isn’t just a government problem.

The average American consumer is saddled with mortgages, student loan debt and credit card debt. Total U.S. household debt reached a record high of $18.8 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2025 (6).

Meanwhile, Bankrate’s 2026 credit card debt survey found that 61% of Americans reported carrying credit card debt for at least a year in 2025 (7). That’s up from 53% in late 2024.

And this isn’t debt from splurges. One-third of those currently in debt say they relied on their cards to cover everyday essentials like groceries, childcare and utility bills.

Even more troubling? Nearly one in five borrowers don’t believe they’ll ever pay it off, according to the same survey.

With average interest rates topping 19%, credit cards are now the highest-cost debt many Americans have — making it even harder to break the cycle.

Read More: Approaching retirement with no savings? Don’t panic, you're not alone. Here are 6 easy ways you can catch up (and fast)

Affordability crisis

As if that weren’t enough, Americans are also facing a full-blown affordability crunch.

A survey conducted by The Century Foundation found that nearly two in three Americans switched to cheaper groceries or bought less food to save money. Even more shocking, more than one in three revealed they skipped a meal in the past year (8).

The survey also found that nearly two-thirds of Americans think that the economy is not doing well — with 82% expecting the cost of living to rise further in the next two years.

Amid this tumultuous backdrop, you may want to take some steps to not only grow, but also preserve your wealth as well.

Shockproof your portfolio with gold

With markets rattled and uncertainty piling up, Kiyosaki advises investors to buff up their portfolios with alternative assets, rather than sticking to traditional stocks.

The famed author is known for his love for gold, which he famously refers to as “God’s money.”

Kiyosaki isn’t the only one who thinks highly of the precious metal. Amid increasing uncertainty, more and more experts are jumping on the gold bandwagon, propping up the yellow metal’s hedging properties.

Ray Dalio, the founder and former CEO of Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund in the world, said “gold is the safest money in this kind of environment," while speaking at a conference in Dubai (9).

The precious yellow metal has been one of the best-performing assets over the past year, with prices hitting the $5,000 mark last month. However, enthusiasm cooled recently after President Trump announced Kevin Warsh as his nominee for Fed chair.

Kiyosaki sees that pullback as an opportunity.

“When Walmart has a SALE poor people rush in and buy, buy, buy. Yet when the Financial Asset Market has a sale….a.k.a…..CRASH…the poor sell and run….while the rich rush in….and buy, buy, buy,” Kiyosaki tweeted on Feb 1 (10). He specifically mentioned gold, silver and bitcoin as potential buys during a dip.

In another post on X, Kiyosaki said he doesn’t care about the recent gold pullback, because he knows “the national debt of the US keeps going up and the purchasing power of the US dollar keeps going down (11).”

Open a Gold IRA

One way to hedge your portfolio with gold is through a gold IRA, which combines gold’s inflation-resistant qualities with the tax advantages of an IRA.

As one of the metal’s biggest advocates, Kiyosaki predicts gold prices will hit an astronomical $27,000 per ounce, according to an X post on Jan. 25 (12).

However, other estimates are not quite that bullish. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon suggested late last year that gold could reach $10,000 an ounce (13), while UBS recently raised its target to $6,200 for the end of 2026 (14).

You can open a gold IRA with the help of Priority Gold — combining the hedging properties of gold with the tax advantages of an IRA.

If you’re confused about how a gold IRA can add value to your portfolio, you can consult a precious metals specialist at Priority Gold to gain a better understanding. Plus, you can request a free wealth preservation guide to learn more.

Even better, you can get $10,000 in complimentary silver when you make a qualifying purchase with Priority Gold.

Invest in “people’s money”

Another asset Kiyosaki often champions is bitcoin — which he calls “people’s money.”

It’s worth noting that bitcoin has plunged by nearly 40% over the past year. But Kiyosaki claims the limited number of coins available makes it a worthwhile investment.

“There will be only 21 million Bitcoins. Fake Government money is unlimited….infinite. That means Bitcoin increases in value as the US dollar goes down in purchasing power,” Kiyosaki wrote on X (15).

For investors who can stomach the volatility, newer platforms have made crypto more accessible.

One option is Robinhood Crypto, which helps users to buy and sell crypto with as little as $1 without any trading fees or commissions. You can also access dozens of other coins if your faith in Bitcoin has been shaken.

Even better, Robinhood Crypto has the lowest trading cost on average in the U.S. — meaning you could get up to 3.5% more crypto compared to trading on other platforms.

Diversify like the ultra-rich

Investors with capital on hand, or the ultra-rich, are well-known for their ability to diversify. And some of them are turning away from the stock market.

Jim Rogers, renowned investor and co-founder of Quantum Fund, said, “I sold all my U.S. stocks recently, because I’ve seen this party before,” in an interview with Wealthion (16).

And he isn’t the only one.

“It’s likely there’ll be a 10 to 20% drawdown in equity markets sometime in the next 12 to 24 months, ”Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said while speaking at the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit in November 2025 (17).

Meanwhile, the Shiller P/E has soared past 40x, a level last seen in 1999, hinting that the decade ahead may bring below-average returns for those tied to the S&P 500 (18).

With these warning signs, diversification isn’t just smart — it’s essential.

A finer alternative

Billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates continue to invest heavily in stocks, but they also carve out a portion of their portfolios for assets that behave differently from the market. And there’s one asset in particular that’s globally recognized and at least partially divorced from U.S. markets.

The asset in question? Post-war and contemporary art, which outpaced the S&P 500 by 15% from 1995 to 2025 while showing near-zero correlation to traditional equities.

Until recently, this world was off-limits. Now, with Masterworks, you can buy fractional shares in multimillion-dollar works by icons like Banksy, Picasso and Basquiat. While art can be illiquid and typically requires a long-term hold, it offers unique portfolio diversification.