Robert Kiyosaki, the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, is warning that the global economy is headed for a crash this year — and he's betting big on silver. Kiyosaki told his audience this week that the roughly $39 trillion in U.S. debt and a dollar that he says has been weakening since 1974 will trigger what he calls a 2026 bust. It's a playbook he claims has made him richer during past downturns in 1987, 2000, 2008 and 2022.
The 'Everything Bubble' prophecy
Kiyosaki ties his latest warning directly to his 2002 book Rich Dad's Prophecy, in which he flagged an 'Everything Bubble' fueled by central-bank money printing. He argues that the same forces that inflated stocks, bonds and real estate are now about to unwind violently. Most mainstream forecasters don't share his Great Depression framing — Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon expects a 10-20% equity drawdown, not a full-blown collapse — but Kiyosaki's base is listening.
Silver's dual role
Silver is Kiyosaki's preferred real asset right now. He started stacking the metal in 1965, when it traded in cents per ounce, and has called current prices near $85 too cheap. Silver isn't just a monetary hedge, he argues — it's a critical industrial metal used in solar panels, electric vehicles, batteries, and AI infrastructure. The market is running its sixth straight year of structural deficits, with industrial demand eating up roughly half of total consumption.
What others say about the market
Trader Vijay recently called silver near $75-80 too cheap, pointing to the lowest CME inventory since January 2025, and expects a positive surprise within six months. Research firm World of Finance and Associates set a ceiling of $88-92 for silver if macro shocks stay limited, but recommends waiting for a 50% correction before long-term buying. Kiyosaki has previously floated a $200-per-ounce target for 2026, a bet that would require a dramatic shift in industrial supply dynamics.
Kiyosaki's six-asset survival kit
Silver is just one piece of Kiyosaki's survival list for 2026. He also recommends gold, oil, food production, Bitcoin, and Ethereum as real assets that fiat money can't replicate. He plans to run the same playbook that he says made him richer during the crashes of 1987, 2000, 2008, and 2022: hold hard assets when paper markets crater. Whether the 2026 crash arrives as he predicts — or whether markets simply correct — will determine if that strategy pays off again.
