Why Most People Stay Poor – A Raw Conversation With Robert Kiyosaki

You've said that we're, you know, we're in a war now. The dollar is crashing and that the 2026 year that we're in now is the biggest financial opportunity that you've seen. So what is going on?

When the price of oil goes up, civilization comes down. This war in Iran and Israel and America is a holy war.

Hmm.

It's Christians and Jews versus Muslims. If we tell the truth.

Yeah.

And so holy wars are not holy. Yeah. Yet oftentimes it's money and religion and politics that we fight for.

So what can people do out there today? You know, maybe they have $10,000 saved up and they're scared of what's going on in the world. Is this the time to take advantage and make investments?

If you're worried about your money. It's maybe your education's lacking. And both seers said that 2026 was going to be a rough year. So I'm going to get richer. But if you're not getting richer and you're afraid, it could be your education is failing you.

If this was like your last final message that you ever gave, what would you tell the world? Robert Kiyosaki, you're back for podcast number 3, and a lot has happened in the world since our last conversation.

So amen, amen, amen. I can't believe what's happening in the world, you know.

I know, and we, we got to talk about it today. So I mean, you obviously, for those if you don't know, Robert Kiyosaki, number one financial literacy author in the entire world for 30 years now, over 40 million copies sold, international speaker, and you've just changed literally probably 100 million-plus lives and generations and how they think about financial intelligence. And you were the biggest impact in my life and the reason that I was able to go build wealth. Um, and so you, you know, have millions of followers and there's so much going in. You've said that we're, you know, we're in a war now, the dollar is crashing, and that the 2026 year that we're in now is the biggest financial opportunity that you've seen. So What is going on?

Well, that's a big question, you know, because I just got back from Vietnam. I was a US Marine in Vietnam as a pilot, but I was also a student out there. So most my generation, the baby boomers, there were a bunch of hippies, you know, Woodstock and all this. And when I was 18 years old, I was in Vietnam and that shaped my life. So a lot of life, has to do in your formative years, if you know what I mean. So I kind of grew up in war, you understand that? And today when I see what's going on in Iran and Israel and America and oil, believe it or not, my college degree is in oil. I drove oil tankers. I'm a tanker officer. So that's what I went to school for. Then I joined the Marine Corps to go fight. And the battle in Vietnam was over oil. And people don't realize that oil is the basis of energy. Oil is civilization. And when the price of oil goes up, civilization comes down. So that this war, this is what, March 2026 right now. This war in Iran and Israel and America is a holy war. It's Christians and Jews versus Muslims, if we tell the truth. And so that's as a military officer and two tours to Vietnam, as we were talking on the way up here, Vietnam was started because there was Catholics murdering Buddhists. And so holy wars are not holy. Yet oftentimes it's money and religion and politics that we fight for. So this is a very— 2026 is a very spooky year. And I'm concerned personally, I'm gonna get richer, which we're gonna talk about. It makes no difference which way the economy goes, I'll get rich. But I'm prepared for it. So that's really what it's about. I'm very concerned about this war. I hate killing. I killed a lot of people. I was a pilot, you know, it was a sterile war. I just came in and you could shoot from the sky. So I just got back. I was there 2 weeks, 2 or 3 weeks ago, kind of making peace because war is terrible. It's horrible. And being a pilot, helicopter pilot, I had to pick up bodies all the time. And you see young men just blown to shreds. It stinks. The guts are torn apart and all this.

Oh my God.

We still fly. We still get our job done. And the people I gave the most credit to was I'd pick these guys up on the battlefield of Vietnam and I'd fly to the hospital. There was a TV show called M*A*S*H. These field hospitals. And these young women would come out, nurses, and they would drag these bodies off the aircraft. And you go, "Wow." All you could do is like this and fly off. But we were fighting to serve our country. And the same thing is going on in Iran. But it's really about oil. Yeah. Because Vietnam was about Armand Hammer. You may not know who he was, but Armand Hammer was Occidental Petroleum. It's always about oil. So if you understand that it's religion masked with oil and money, and when the price of oil goes up, the poor and middle class get poorer. That's the ultimate thing I'm concerned about. Because I get richer because I own oil wells, but I don't like it that my friends and family is getting poorer. Mm-hmm. Because the price of oil goes up, price of food goes up. That's my concern.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think, you know, Elon Musk said that in the future he sees the currency being energy, right? And oil is energy and it's the lifeblood of everything because we are energy. That's what we're made of. And that's what it takes to operate AI especially. And so we see Trump going into Venezuela and, you know, doing all of that stuff there. And it sounds like it's a big energy war in addition to, of course, the holy war that you talked about. And so for those who are watching the video or our podcast, oil, if the price of oil goes up, you just said everything inflates, right? Because for your food to get to the grocery store, there's oil involved. There's oil for the machinery equipment. There's oil to get it to the store.

Fertilizer is oil too.

Yeah, everything. And so that creates inflation. And so that prevents interest rates from being able to come down and try to get lower because lowering interest rates is also inflationary, right? And so oil is just such an important factor. And just like you said, you own the oil wells and so you get richer. So what can people do out there today who are, you know, maybe they have $10,000 saved up and they're scared of what's going on in the world? Is this a time to take advantage and make investments? In stock or in silver, gold, Bitcoin, real estate, or, you know, what can they do when they're afraid right now?

Well, if I could take it a bigger picture, the reason I have tremendous respect for you is every time I call her up, you know what I mean? She's hot, gorgeous, but I also borrow money from you.

Yeah.

And she's smart with money. So, The thing that I would say to people is, if you're worried about your money, it's maybe your education's lacking. And that's my whole shtick is what the school teaches about money. You see, it really shouldn't make any difference. There could be a war, no war, I'm gonna get rich. They control the oil, no oil, I'm still gonna get rich. But if your education is lacking, You're afraid today. And I sent you this video of Nostradamus, who was 1500, and Edgar Cayce, which was 1940. And both seers said that 2026 was going to be a rough year.

Yeah.

And Edgar, I mean, Nostradamus was 1503, he said about 2026. Edgar Cayce said this in 1943. About 2026. So I'm gonna get richer. But if you're not getting richer and you're afraid, it could be your education is failing you. And that's why, you know, I'll say it up front, every time I talk to you, you're in class. You know, our friend, Jo Polish, is always, you're always, she's always studying. And I think that's what it's gonna take is you gotta keep feeding this. You know, otherwise you don't feed this. So that's why I have tremendous respect for you is that, and on the drive up here, we're looking at a couple of deals, right? So she's telling me about investments I don't know anything about. But anyway, it's about your education. And you're always studying, Hannah. I'm always studying. That's the difference.

Oh, and I love, that's why we always can talk so all the time, like nonstop. And because you love to teach and educate and learn.

I love learning.

Yeah, same. There's a couple points I want to make that you've taught me. One is it's skills that make you rich, not money, right? So, so that's the one. And then what was the other one that I was just going to say that now I'm forgetting? Oh, your, your net worth is your network. And so you have been amazing at building this incredible network and this incredible team around you. Just like you said, you know, I'm analyzing and underwriting commercial real estate and we're helping with financing and things like that. You've just known this is what I do best. This is the skills I'm developing so I can make more money. And then I'm able to build this incredible team around me who can go out and they're all specialists and experts. And you don't have to— I think that's a misconception that so many people have is they think, how do I have to do it all? And really it's who, not how, right? Having the skills to be able to go build that, those networks of the specialists who could, who can go help you and implement and, um, make you big returns.

Well, just look at it this way. You know, like I said, with this war on, and I went to school for oil. My first job was with Standard Oil. My first protocol was Valdez, Alaska, where the oil spill was. I didn't hit the reef. The other guy hit the reef. But it's your network of friends. So just last week, my friend Kenny McElroy calls up and he did a refi, refinance of a apartment houses. So he gave me $1.6 million tax-free. And that, well, how can you get $1.6 million tax-free? Education, it's debt. So we borrowed out the equity. He gives me this money. I don't need the money, I need a deal. So I call my friend Mike Maselli, who was my oil guy, and I gave Maselli the $1.6 million so I can own parts of his oil well. So again, it looks like it's money, but I met those guys at seminars. You know, I'm looking for people who are active learners, not worriers. You know, I'm worried about this, I'm worried about that, or, you know, the love of money is the root of all evil. Good. So you are your friends. That's what it comes down to. Your network, your net worth. Who are your 5 closest friends? So Kenny gives me $1.6 million. I call Masali up and said, "It's yours." So that pumps another, I think, $200,000 into my pocket a year. Now $200,000 a year is not a lot of money, but it helps pay a few bills. And then we're looking at that deal with the Streetman deal. It pumps like how much?

281.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But those are my network, my friends. You are my friend. And I call you, I say, "I need some money." You go, "We'll get you the money." Yep. Okay, so, and it's, and you know I'm good for the money. And if you don't have the money and you're worried about the future and 2026 worries you, It could be your education is lacking.

Yeah.

And what are you going to do about it? You know, hope that Trump saves you or the Republicans will save you or Democrats will save you or God will save you. I mean, you got to save yourself. Get educated.

Yeah, it's so important because that's it. It's like if you have $1,000 in your bank account, we've been there. You know, you've been bankrupt or living in your car.

I've never been bankrupt. I've had no money, but I've never been bankrupt.

Oh, okay. Yeah, you had no money or gone through really tough times in your, when you first started businesses when you were young, right? When you had trying to start businesses and be successful. Like, we all go through failures and that's how we learn and we have to improve our skills and our education to be able to go be successful in the next endeavor that we do. And so it's like investing in yourself, right? If you don't have a lot right now, invest in yourself, invest in your skills so you can go solve problems out there and be valuable and therefore make money and then make the right investments to be able to continue to grow.

Right. When I came back from Vietnam, my poor dad, you know, he was my father, he wanted me to fly for the airline 'cause I was a pilot and get my PhD. And I said to my poor dad, I said, PhD stands for poor, helpless, and desperate. You don't learn anything about money in the PhD programs. I hate to tell you that. And my rich dad says, "You need the skills." He was my best friend's father. I said, "What's the skills I need?" He says, "Number one, you gotta sell." Good. "Number two, you gotta raise capital. Number three, gotta learn how to use debt." And so one dad is saying, "Get your PhD." Other's saying, "Learn how to sell, learn how to raise capital, and learn how to use debt." That's education. Which one are you gonna choose? And there's guys like Dave Ramsey, he's a friend of mine. He says, live debt-free. Well, if he truly understood the dollar, the dollar is debt because that's why America is the biggest debtor nation in world history. We're at $39 trillion. We're bankrupt. So what does that mean to you listening to this podcast? I'm gonna get richer, or you can get poorer. It could be your education.

And how do people get richer from us being in debt, for those who are watching?

Because the dollar's debt. In 1971, when Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard, you know, I was flying in Vietnam, but I was a carrier pilot for the US Marine Corps. And Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard August 15th, 1971. And my rich dad says to me, he says, "Watch out, the world's gonna change." But then I said, "What does that mean? The dollar's coming off the gold standard." So my copilot and I said, "Well, let's go find some gold." So being Marines, we're not the brightest guys on earth. We're pretty dumb. And we're both lieutenants, you know. I said, "Well, let's go find some gold." So I said, there was only one problem. The gold mine we found was in Vietnam, was in enemy territory. You know, North Vietnamese had overrun it. And we said, "No problem. We'll just get in there real quick." So we flew behind enemy lines to go buy gold. And we walked through this little village, you know, we parked the helicopter, walking through the village, we said, "Where's the gold mine?" Vietnamese are going, "What the hell are these guys doing here? They're gonna shoot these guys in a few minutes." And I walk up to the gold booth and the woman says, and gold was $35 an ounce. But when Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard, it already hit $50. So I said, well, I'm behind enemy lines. Maybe I can get a discount. She put us in our place so fast. She says, the price today is $50.

That's crazy.

Anyways, but you know, that's how I learned. Marines aren't the brightest guys. But that's how we learned. I said, "Oh, gold is money." Yeah. Gold is God's money. It was placed here by God. Silver is God's money. It was placed here by God. Not religious, but just—

Right.

It's real. The dollar is fake. And 99% of the people on earth go to school to work for fake money. Fake money. They print it. Why would you work for it and save it? Why would you work and save fake money. It's ridiculous.

Yeah. And you started buying gold when he took it off the gold standard.

Not only that, I bought the gold mine on top of it, took it public. And then I, my first gold mine was in China. I took it public in 2004 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. I'm a capitalist. That's what I do. I raise money.

Yep.

So I took it public. We struck gold in China and the Chinese said, oh, thank you very much. They took it. And people are saying, oh, I love my credit card bills high. So try somebody stealing your mine, you know, but that's how I learned.

What do you think for those out there? Um, cause you know, I know some, uh, people I look up to a lot, they invest in gold mines or own, and you own gold mines and then others invest in physical gold, right? So what do you feel is, the difference between investing in the gold mine versus the gold? And do you think you should have both or allocate more in one versus the other?

That's a very good question because you shouldn't start a gold mine unless you're an entrepreneur. If you're not an entrepreneur, let's say you're just a doctor or a lawyer or a schoolteacher, just buy the gold.

Yeah.

But entrepreneurs are stupid, as you know. Yeah, yeah. They always say, "Oh, there's a gold mine, I can make more money." Yep. And so when I lost the China deal, it was in Dalian, China, I said, I guess I won't do business in China anymore. And then so I said, well, how can I find, you know, a more stable country? And my friend called me, he said, I have a gold mine in Utah. I said, oh good, lots of Mormons in Utah. I like that, you know? So I took the second gold mine public from Utah. We took it on New York Stock Exchange. Why I say that is I had to learn how to raise capital. So how do you make enough money to buy a gold mine? You gotta take it to the stock exchange. But that's all part of my rich dad's education. My poor dad would never think of taking a company public through an IPO and all that stuff. It wasn't part of his— he's a PhD, went to Stanford. Highly educated poor man.

You know what I mean?

It's your education. So I can now say it again, every time I call Hannah Hammond, she goes, "I'm at a seminar." I said, "Good for you." That's how we learn. But that's also how we meet our network of friends. Like Joe Polish, man, that guy is a, he's an animal, that boy.

I know he is.

He is aggressive, boy. He's entrepreneur of entrepreneurs.

Yeah.

I love the guy, you know, but love him. He drives a lot of people nuts also. But those are your friends. Yeah. Who are your friends?

Exactly. Yeah. And they connect you to other great friends. But yeah, I think you're the one that got me— I mean, I literally followed your playbook. I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad at 13 years old, learned public speaking, capital raising, and how to sell, right? Sales. And then also started investing in assets, started investing in gold and silver and commodities and learning skills.

Yeah.

And so I've literally just followed your playbook from the time I was 13 years old.

It's fun too, isn't it?

It's so fun.

Yeah.

And it's not that hard, right? It's simple in nature. You just have to be disciplined and dedicated and continue to improve your skills and learn from the mistakes that you make and continue to buy assets with and use debt as leverage in a smart way, in a disciplined way. So it doesn't take you down because you have said that debt is a loaded gun. And it is. And that's where, you know, when you talk about Dave Ramsey versus Robert Kiyosaki, they're two different principles. Well, the Dave Ramsey principle is for those who are irresponsible and can't use debt in a mature way.

Dave Ramsey's best advice for people with no financial education, he and I agree 100% of that. Debt will kill you if you don't know how to use it. That's why he says live debt-free. Great advice, Dave. But if you're gonna join my world or our world, you gotta have the skills.

Yeah, exactly. And when you have the skills, debt is a beautiful part of the American dream.

And it doesn't mean don't make mistakes.

Mm-mm.

I've been hammered so many times. But we're talking about these, you started reading the Bible, right?

Yeah.

What did it say about what life was about?

Pain and suffering is our greatest gift.

Amen.

Yeah, and it's, I've been reading scripture every day 'cause I believe in God and I love the Lord and I've always had a close relationship with God. And I've also wrestled with God much of my life. So I can't say always had a close relationship, but always had a relationship. And I recently started studying the Bible.

Good for you.

Because I study all the time and I realized that I had never studied the Bible. And I pray to God and have this relationship with God, but I don't read his word, right? And so there are so many incredible lessons in the Bible personally and in business. Like, it's an amazing book and with amazing lessons. And it says in there, like, a common theme through the daily scripture that I read in the devotion is your pain and suffering is your greatest gift.

Yes.

And it is required for you to become who you are meant to be.

Yes, it is required.

Mm-hmm. And that God will never put a vision in you or a desire in you or give you something on your shoulders that you cannot withstand. And get through.

Yes.

And I thought earlier in my life when it was so painful and I felt so much suffering and I couldn't see how to get to the other side, and I hated God and I wrestled with God and I felt like he didn't answer my prayers and he wasn't there for me and I was all alone, um, in this world. And, you know, I got to the point where I didn't want to live anymore. And now on the other side, I was literally I was literally in the shower last night, probably TMI, but I was just like, thank you, God. I was reflecting on how beautiful my life is and how I wake up every day and I get to spend time with people like you who are changing the world, who have changed my life. I get to help speak to millions of people and help inspire them and believe in them and give them the education and the tools that they need to have a beautiful life and just wanna inspire people that it is beautiful on the other side and you just have to keep going and that you will notice at some point that all of your pain and suffering truly is your greatest gift. Because if you don't have it, like if I didn't go through what I've gone through, I wouldn't have empathy for other people. I wouldn't feel love. I wouldn't be able to make an impact on other people's lives. I wouldn't have connection. And so all of that was required to get to where we wanna go. And I know that you've gone through deep, dark suffering in your life.

It's been painful spiritually, mentally, physically, and financially. And we're always learning, you know, always learning, always making mistakes. And so that's the difference. I feel for the people, 'cause AI's coming on, right? Artificial intelligence. And there's so many people who are sitting there worried, and I would be worried, they're gonna lose their jobs.

Right.

Because they're gonna be replaced. What do they do about it? Nothing. What do you do? And so not everybody should do what you do, what I do. Entrepreneurship is a tough game, very tough game. But you better start getting some skills. And the skill of just sitting there, not doing anything, it's the worst thing you can do. So attend seminars, YouTube is fabulous, got lots of flakes on YouTube. A lot of talking heads and mouths, but there's some good information in there, good teachers on there. So that's why your education is your key out of this mess we're in right now.

What do you think AI is going to do to the economy in the foreseeable future? Like the, the person who's about to go $200,000 in debt to become a lawyer?

I don't know. I mean, uh, What happened was when we opened up China, it wiped out the working class. So our factories, when it was, I think it was Clinton, one of those guys, they let China join the WTO, the World Trade Organization, and our factories moved into China. So that's why the Rust Belts like Ohio and Indiana and all that, the factory workers of America got crucified. So that's what happened when they opened up China. AI is going to take out the lawyers and attorneys and those doctors. Already you don't need to be a doctor because AI can do the analysis just as well.

Right.

And you go, that can't be. I said, well, it's already here. And I was talking to this one guy, he was stretching me, you know, the stretch is all new technology because I'm an old man. And he's afraid AI is going to replace him. I said, no, I don't think so. I don't think AI can stretch me yet. Yeah, that was a— but he's— the people that know something's coming, right? That's what I'm saying.

Well, and Elon Musk says that in 3 years, robots will be able to do better brain surgery than doctors, which is insane, right? And then he also said— and the CEO of Claude, I think it's Claude Darío is his name or something. He believes that within the next year to 3 years, I think he said, foreseeable future, unemployment will be at 20%.

Yeah.

In the United States. Yeah. So that's pretty scary numbers. And it's— we're just in this— everything's changing, you know, the empire is changing. And you had said a tweet on X that I want to read it word for word. I think I wrote it down. Oh, I can't find what it was. But you said that AI is not coming for you, right? AI is coming for a lot of jobs, but it's not coming for you because you don't have a job.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, because I have assets. You know, my apartment houses, guess what? AI can do all they like, but you still have to have a roof over your head. And AI can come after You know, they can be electric cars, but I own silver mines and silver goes into electric cars and gasoline goes into gasoline cars and gasoline goes into fertilizer. So, do you know what I mean? It's a matter of education. It doesn't have to be afraid, you don't have to be afraid of it. But if your education's lacking, and your friends are lacking, you're in trouble. If you lack the skills, you're in trouble. So that's why I'm serious when I say, you know, you and I were talking about what's it gonna take for me to get to buy this, you know, what's a health place in Tucson?

Behavioral health facility? Yeah. Yeah, that you're looking to purchase?

So I see Hannah Hammond Hammond about how to get the money for that. 'Cause you know how to raise capital. Yep. And I'm the guy that's going to get on the sign the dotted line. I want, I want your money so I can get debt to buy the property.

OPM.

OPM.

And you cash flow.

And you can't do that. That's bad. And all this.

Yeah, it's debt. Debt is beautiful when you use it and leverage it. And that's what allowed me, you know, I got my first loan to buy real estate when I was 18 years old and the cash flow on the property wasn't that significant at that time. But due to inflation, and the government printing more dollars, the asset value went up, rents went up, everything went up. And then sure enough, I look back a few years later, I'm like, oh, I'm cash flowing a couple thousand dollars a month on my tiny $20,000 investment, $25,000 investment, and I've made half a million dollars in appreciation in my sleep. Right? So like, that's how financial freedom is built through buying assets and using debt and using leverage because if you just go to the stock market, I would have had to pay, you know, the full amount of cash for that, have no tax strategies and have no dividends to live off of.

Right.

Yeah.

And that again is your education. And if you're afraid of the future, it's because your education is lacking. If I could just say that much. So what are you going to do about it? You know, hope that Trump stops bombing Iran and Hopefully a Democrat will win. And hell with those guys. What are you gonna do about it? So that's why you're always getting educated. I'm always studying. And the other thing I'm, which I say to people is if you can see the future, you'll get rich. So if you can see what's coming, you can prepare for it. But if you can only see through today, and you can't see the future, you're finished. Like we were talking about, you know, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus are now bankrupt because the future is online shopping. And they're bankrupt. So these huge malls are going under right now, financially. Office buildings are going down right now. So thank God I don't own any of those. I just own things that the average person, needs, like a house, apartment houses. They're very, very simple. I think no matter how much AI rages on, people have to have a roof over their heads and a bed. So it's pretty, I can see the future. You'll need a roof and you need a bed, you need a toilet. I'll provide that.

Be in the path of growth and see the future. And I always love the quote too is, "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful." And so I think right now is a time where everybody's afraid, right? There's a lot of fear out there. And you even post about it all the time is the greatest, you know, crash is here. And the greatest— with that lies also the greatest opportunity.

Right.

Right. And so when everybody's afraid and people, normal investors, they— or people just in general, if you have, you know, $10,000, $50,000, $100,000 or $1 million in the bank account or wherever you have it, And there's announcements, you know, every time you turn on the news, it's, oh, there's war, there's bombing, or gold dropped 20% in a day, or silver dropped here, or AI is gonna wipe everything out, right? That puts so much fear into the world. And the natural thing for people to do is freeze, right? And it's to just hoard their money, sit on cash, which is continuing to lose value, and not take advantage of any of the opportunity that is out there, or, they don't time things properly, and then all of their money's deployed in assets, and all of those assets drop in value, and then they don't have the cash to take advantage of the opportunity. And so cash is not trash in a crash.

No. So how do you deploy it? So it's a really, it's a great time to be alive as opportunity, but you're afraid if your personal education is lacking. So you can say, well, hope the Republicans win, hope the Democrats win. It's what are you gonna study next? So when I came out of Vietnam, like I said, my poor dad says, "Go back to school, get your PhD." I said, "For what?" "And go fly for the airlines." I said, "For what?" And my rich dad says, "You better learn how to raise capital, use debt, and how to invest in real estate." That's what rich meant to me, was my education choices. So I joined Xerox because they taught me how to sell. I took a class on real estate and the challenge with real estate, could I buy it for nothing down? That was a challenge. So my first property I bought with a credit card, just paid for it. And so that's where debt made me rich. But it's education. Choose your education, choose your teachers wisely. I was on stage with Charlie Kirk and the professors came after us.

I remember.

Holy mackerel. And they're the— So my opening chapter of my next book is Who Shot Charlie Kirk? I think it was one of those characters. School teachers, they're threatened because AI is going to replace them too. YouTube's already replacing most of them. So the only reason you need to go to school is to get that piece of paper, bachelor degree, accountant, attorney, so you can get a job. But AI is going to take all that away anyway.

I know.

So, I mean, these teachers are psycho right now.

Yeah, the whole education system, in my opinion, is pretty much worthless. I mean, unless you're training to be a doctor, you know, things that are very specialized, but it's scary to even think that AI is going to threaten those highly specialized careers. And then you, you, some of these doctors spent millions of dollars to become a doctor, right? To become a surgeon. And I think that school has to be massively reformed. And there's really no point in going to college unless it's just for a social Yeah, you wanna, so like you wanna socialize and be around people and build a friend, friends or community. But you can put all of that time into learning AI and learning skills and learning how to solve problems for entrepreneurs and for companies and make, find the inefficiencies in markets or in processes. And you solve for those inefficiencies with AI and you can make, I mean, there's young kids becoming millionaires with AI right now. And there's the other people that are just still trying to get their A in their math class to learn 2 2, and they're never gonna have to use that again in their entire life.

I know.

Yeah.

The world is so different, but people are still saying to their kids, go to school, get a job, and look for job security. I call them false gods. There is no job security. You have a PhD, it doesn't protect you. So there are false gods that we have in our minds. Well, if I get this, you know, if I have a job, I'm safe. Not safe. So the thing is, what happens if you don't have a job? Can you still survive and thrive? That's freedom, you know? So anyway, that's why I'm concerned. That's why I teach. That's why I go around the world teaching. And that's my opposition too. People don't like what I say. But please invest in your education. What do you want to learn? What skills do you need?

Do you know? What do you think public education, if they had to teach, add one thing into their education, What do you think that thing should be that every single student should learn?

Well, I hesitate being religious or political, but this guy Obama, who came from Hawaii, he does— he did more damage to America, and Biden didn't help at all. And, you know, Trump is hated by a lot of people for good reason. I wrote two books with Trump. He's a good man. But what Obama did was he created student loan programs 'cause he believes in education. But he also created DEI, diversity, equity, inclusion, wokeness, and all of that's Black Lives Matter. That's damaging our country. You know, woke, you go broke. Woke is for losers. We're victims, you know? I wouldn't do that. I'm a US Marine. We're not victims. We can fight back. So that's why I went to military school. But this guy Obama and then Biden, you know, Trump put the wall up, Biden brought the wall down. You know, just watch what a person does. So now we have immigration problems all across America. I'm not being political. I'm saying, watch what they've done.

Right.

And people hate Trump, but this guy, the Khomeini, whatever they are, you know, he, and he took out Chavez and all these guys are dictators.

The New York, are you talking about the New York guy?

No, no, that's Mondame is the mayor of New York, but Trump hit Chavez of Venezuela.

Oh yeah. Yeah.

Because of oil. And he's bombing Iran because of oil. And that's the Ayatollah and all that stuff. But really, it's a holy war. It's Christians and Jews versus Muslims. So, you gotta be very careful.

How do you win that war?

Religions and politics and all this. Just choose your teachers wisely. But when Obama— today, our kids are the most highly in debt, 'cause thank you, Barack Obama. Thank you for DEI. Thank you for Black Lives Matter. Thanks for being victims. Thanks for being woke. I don't like that. I mean, I don't care who he is, but that's a loser's mentality. Do you know what I'm saying?

I agree.

Choose to win. Choose what you want to learn. So our education system now is indoctrination, not education. So indoctrination means you're taught to be a victim. So they love to say, George Floyd and all this stuff. Well, this racism, I know that. I'm Japanese. My family was interred during World War II. We know racism, not good, but we're not victims. And Barack and a lot of the Blacks prey on the victim mentality. So when I was watching the last March Madness with the basketball, I didn't see too many white people on that court.

Right.

And if you really were equality on a basketball team, you'd have fat people, short people, Japanese, you know, you have to have 4 fat people on that basketball court and 2 midgets.

That's it.

There was hypocrisy. Yeah. I said they go out on the field, those black guys are the the best in the world. They're magicians. They deserve to be on the court. Do you know what I mean? They deserve to be on that court because they're the best. And I suggest that all people be the best, whatever their field is. You know, I'm terrible at basketball because I can teach, I can foul people, but I can't hit from outside. So basketball's not my game. I'm terrible at golf. That's not my game. Making money is my game. I like it. So that's part of our lessons, why I respect you so much, is you're always learning. And I think we've always gotta be perpetual students today. And choose skills that add to your ability to survive as this world goes more tumultuous. Like before I went to Vietnam, you know, we had to learn how to fly. And we had to learn how to shoot. We had to learn how to crash. I crashed 3 times in Vietnam. I'm alive today because we practiced crashing. Oh, that's terrible. Dying is worse. Like I told you the stories when I picked up those bodies in the field, my fellow Marines. It's tragic. But then I see the nurses in the MASH units in the hospital, field hospitals. And they come running out, they're dragging these bodies torn to shreds. I mean, they stink. Guts and urine and crap. And these young women are dragging these bodies off. All I could do is go, "Chew." And they go, "Chew." We serve our country. Be of service, not victims. That really upsets me.

Me too. Yeah. Yeah. We can't accomplish anything if we can't take accountability for everything.

Be strong, be brave, be smart, be trained, and serve our country, serve our people.

Yeah.

You know? Yeah.

And that was always, you know, coming from not having any handouts and just be all the excuses, right? That's why I hate it too, is that victimhood. You just, you can't create anything And more and more people are becoming more and more victimized as time goes on. And it's becoming like celebrated.

It's a whole industry. Woke is victimhood.

Yeah.

Go woke, go broke.

Yeah. I mean, we live in the United States. Like if you are an able-bodied human in the United States, there is no excuse that you cannot be successful.

That's what I'm saying.

Like zero excuse.

Yeah.

And I mean, it really bothers me. It gets my blood boiling because there are so many victims out there and we have unlimited resources. Education is free. You can learn from anybody for free anytime.

Talk about YouTube.

Exactly. That's what I'm saying.

Great teachers and bad teachers on YouTube.

Yeah. AI is there. You can learn from any great leader. I was able to learn from you back in the day before AI, you know, by reading books and by studying and pouring my, my heart and soul into what I was doing. And yeah, it's just, if you, it bothers me. And I think now with AI and coming for jobs and all of these things, it's really scary because there's gonna be a push for more, you know, socialism or there's gonna, it's just gonna be interesting to see how this all plays out because if AI really does take a bunch of jobs and there's no need for a lot of people's roles anymore, then we, there's gonna have to be universal basic income. You know, people are going to have to be supported. And so it'll just be interesting to see how it plays out on the capitalists who are going to continue to drive business and drive revenue and create massive trillions of dollars of wealth versus the people that are just going to be, you know, taken care of and continue to be victims. So I don't know. I don't know where this world is heading, but I'm always on the side of optimism. And I always, just like you, when times are turbulent and when crashes are coming, like, you're investing, right? Crash is here, things are dropping, you're buying more. You're buying more gold, you're buying more Bitcoin, you're buying more silver, you're buying more real estate, you're getting more debt.

I'm in more debt.

Yeah, exactly.

But I'm buying things that people want and need, you know?

Yep. And that's what people need to do instead of be fearful.

Right. But I got there because I attended seminars and I study. And they like, I met you through Joe Polish, like I said. That guy, he cracks me up. He is a capitalist capitalist. You know what I mean? I mean, you want to get inspired, he's the guy, you know, about being a capitalist, being an entrepreneur, but he attracts that type of person around him. Now, he'd probably drive other people crazy, but you've really got to choose your teachers wisely. And that's the most important thing because I said it earlier, people hide behind false gods. And a false god is, "I have a master's degree. What do you have?" "I have money." Right. "I have financial statements. I have real estate." I had this one guy tell me, he says, "I don't have to worry, I have a real estate license." I nearly vomited. No, I'm not kidding you. "I have a real estate license." I said, "How many properties do you own?" None.

Zero.

And most real estate agents are broke. And they're giving you financial advice? Choose your teachers wisely. So I want to say this, I was driving up with Hannah just now, How many deals were we analyzing on the way over? How much money is it gonna take? I need $3 million. I owe $1.7 million on this one property. Oh, that's terrible. But that $1.7 puts $96,000 a month in my pocket. $96,000 a month's not a lot of money in my world, but that debt bought the property behind Tarbells. Restaurant. So when you try living— yeah, it's an old age home. Like I said, you know, you got to see the future. So since I knew I'm getting older and we're all going to get older, I said, why, why, why wait? Just buy the old age home now. Yeah. So it— so I borrowed $1.7 million to buy the land that the assisted old age home is on, and they pay me $96,000 a month. It's not a lot of money, but $100,000 a month is more than people make. That's just one deal. But I learned that because my rich sense is you have to learn real estate, you have to learn debt, you have to learn how to sell, you have to learn how to raise capital. That's what makes you rich is your skills, your education, your friends, your attitude. Not your master's degree in podunk, whatever they teach you. So that's why I'm concerned. 'Cause my whole shtick is, I wrote "Rich Dad Poor Dad" not to get rich, but this gap between rich and poor and homelessness is disturbing to me. And my generation, the boomer generation, all we need is that crash like 2026, according to Edgar Cayce and Nostradamus, it's gonna be a rough year. If that stock market crashes in 2026, my generation of boomers, We're the first generation with what's called a DC pension plan, defined contribution pension plan. So let's say the S&P 500 drops. My generation, boomers, their 401(k) is toast. So what do you do when you're 80 years old, your 401(k) is toast? Go back to school? But that's what the future is for my generation, boomers. 30 million of us are broke and we're not prepared for the future. So that's why I wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad 35 years ago. I wrote another book, it was Who Stole My Pension? Because they steal our wealth through our money and our pensions. And so that's my concern. So as a concerned citizen, that's why I do what I do. I'm glad you read my book. I'm glad millions of people read my book. But we can do something. We don't have to be victims. We're not woke, we don't have to go broke.

We're not woke, we don't have to go broke. Yeah. Yeah, that is really scary to think about being 80 and having all of your savings in a 401k. And if there's a 30%, 40% drop in the market.

Well, the biggest thing when people say, what do I base my judgment on? America is now $39 trillion in debt. We're the biggest debtor nation in world history. Social Security, Medicare is not included in that. Retirement's not included in the $39 trillion. We're gonna keep printing money? So just look at the facts, Jack, $39 trillion. If I spent a dollar a minute, a dollar a second, how long would it take me to spend a trillion, do you know? $1 per second would take me 32,500 years. And we're $39 trillion in debt. So they said, "Well, how can you be so confident?" I said, "Just the math." $39 trillion, just look at it. It's gonna go up next year to $40 trillion. We keep printing money and we keep pushing the can forward and people still go to school to look for a job.

Yeah.

Got no skills to survive in the real world. That's terrifying to me. And my generation, boomers, you know, your mommy and daddy and your grandpa are gonna move in with you. That's what it means because they're outta time. They're 80 years old. And when their 401(k) goes to toast or the IRA, what are they gonna do? Get a job?

Yeah. How do you decide, like in turbulent times, how do you decide? 'Cause I'm obviously an investor. I have, I invested in everything.

I know she's set.

Thank you. But I invest in Bitcoin and real estate and gold and silver and copper and all the things. I'm always trying to learn that balance and that science of portfolio allocation, right? Because in times when you, when you hold assets and we're going through times of turbulence, those assets drop in value. But then you have to make the decision of I buy more, right? When do I buy more? When do I size up my investments? And like, how do you think about that? When— because if the market's crashing, you might enter, for instance, you're buying real estate right now, right? How do you decide when to allocate more to certain investments in periods of assets dropping and you know, or you believe that assets could drop further? Like, you know, you know what I mean? Like kind of dollar cost averaging in and when, 'cause some people, they get so afraid, they're like, it's not the bottom yet, so I don't wanna buy yet 'cause I wanna wait for the bottom. But then they wait too long and then it's already bounced back and then they don't take advantage. Or some people who, aren't selling their assets or taking any profits off the table because they feel like it's going to go higher and higher and higher, like that fear and greed. And you've been really, really good about continuing to invest through all of the markets. But I just wondering if you have a certain strategy, like how you look at things to know this is a good investment, even though I believe it is going to keep dropping lower.

Well, what they say is don't, you know, don't catch a falling knife, which is Prices keep dropping. But I also get sexually stimulated thinking about things going on sale, you know? Like, you know what I mean? I bought gold at $50 an ounce. I would love to see it $50 an ounce 'cause I'd buy more of it 'cause I can see the future. If you can see the future, you'll get rich. And the reason I can see the future with gold is because we're so incompetent. This Federal Reserve Bank, Our leaders, you know, our government, they keep printing more money. So the future of gold is good because our leaders are effin' incompetent. So what are you gonna count on your leaders? Oh, but he's a Democrat or he's a Republican. Who cares? They're incompetent. You know, so I trust in gold. In gold I trust. In silver I trust. In oil I trust. I even, you know, I invest in cattle because I have Wagyu cattle, because rich guys buy Wagyu. I can't tell the difference, but I don't kill the cattle. I buy the bulls. And what I, so the bulls, we take the semen from the bulls and they impregnate cows. So there's cash flow and sperm flow. You can make money doing anything, you know what I mean? But just keep your mind open. So, okay, that's how, you know, and 'cause we kill that, we kill the bull, we have to eat it. I'd rather just sell the semen. 'Cause when I was a kid, I wanted to be a breeding bull, you know, but I was never, but I own the bull. I own the Wagyu bulls. It's not rocket science. I own oil wells because people will always burn oil. You know, I own silver mines and gold mines because that's God's money. It's not that I'm into religion. I just don't trust my government. I'd rather have gold and silver than the US dollar or the yen or the peso or the euro. There's one more thing that happens that people don't know about is you don't mess with oil because there's a guy named Saddam Hussein and he tried to sell oil in euros. It has to be sold in US dollars. You don't mess with that. So Saddam Hussein says, oh, guess what? I'm going to sell oil in €uros. Guess what? Oh, he had weapons of mass destruction. There was none. So they killed him. And there was a guy named Muammar Gaddafi from Libya. He says, we're not going to sell our oil in dollars. We're going to sell it in African dinars. They killed him. So Hannah, there's a bigger game going on than just oil. You don't mess with oil. So that's why I look at what's going on in Iran today and Israel and America. It's Jews, Christians versus Muslims. It's about oil. It's about money. So that's my concern. And that's why I have tremendous respect for you and my friend Joe Polish. You guys are habitual learners and students. And that's what it's gonna take today.

Yeah. And you know, if you just think about, like, if you don't have the fear of, Trump was announcing that we were going to be, you know, having an excursion in Iran, and that's seeing the future, right? So people, all who I know very well, as soon as they watch the news and they see what's going to happen, they go invest in oil because they know that oil is going to go up if we go to war, right? And so it's just being in tune. Like, it's not that difficult. You just have to be in tune. People literally go on television and tell you what's about to happen. And you can go in and you can take action and take advantage of that. And you're always increasing your skills and knowledge. And—

Well, just remember this, you've got to see the future. So if I told you today, there's no toilet paper, people will be rushing to Kmart or whatever it is to buy toilet paper. Do you know what I mean? The future. But most people can't see the future.

Yeah.

And so I kind of, when I went to school in New York for, to be an oil man, I could have drove passenger liners. You know, like we were on the real estate guys cruise.

Yeah.

So if I had passenger liners, I chose oil. Why? 'Cause I could see the future. And oil is the future. Energy drives civilization.

Yeah. And you say that In order to be rich, you have to see the future. Yeah. So like you have predicted, I mean, gold right now is around $5,000, silver around $92 and climbing. And pretty much everything that you have predicted has come true. Like you are very open about your predictions. You've been predicting things forever to the open public. And you have said that in 2023 you actually predicted that gold would be at $3,700 and then went past $5,000. You predicted silver at $70. It went past 92, I think. Didn't silver— did it hit 100?

Yeah, for a little while.

Yeah, for a little while. Um, so how are you figuring all of this out? Like, at what point does it stop feeling like you're predicting and, and start feeling like you just know how it actually operates and like you know what's coming? Because you're predicting things, you know, highs that have never hit before. So it's not like you're just analyzing a chart and seeing where the, the last high was and where it's going to go next time. It's like, how are you really making such accurate predictions as to where silver and gold and Bitcoin are heading and doing it consistently?

I just watch stupid people. No, I mean, you look at the Federal Reserve Bank, there's like 4,000 PhDs that work there. They're all like my poor dad. They're all idiots.

Yeah.

Look at that university system. They're idiots. They don't know what they're doing. Look at our government. We're getting so deeply in debt. We don't do anything about it. You know, politicians, they're no help. Do you know what I mean? I love Trump, but when he tried to get Doge in their Department of Government Efficiency, I'm sure somebody told him there was a bullet waiting for him if he fooled around much longer with that one. So there are powers to be out there that you and I will never see. They're behind the scenes. Also, there's a thing called the CIA, capitalism's invisible army. They want to make sure that we keep things unstable. And the reason I know that, when I was coming out of Vietnam, the CIA talked to me. They're called Air America. And they said, "We want you to fly for us." And I was making, at that time, I was making $300 a month flying in combat for the Marine Corps. Says, "Well, we'll pay you $5,000 a month to fly for Air America." So I'm a kid, you know, $5,000 a month. Wow. And I was going to fly for the CIA and that's capitalism's invisible army. I don't know if you've seen pictures of the— there's a helicopter on a roof of the US Embassy and all these people running up to this helicopter and they were running, getting away from, you know, Vietnam was collapsing. That helicopter was a CIA helicopter, Air America. Capitalism's Invisible Army. Always remember that there's things that you and I will never know. So that's why I respect, obey the laws, pay my, you know, I don't pay any taxes, but obey the laws. I don't mess with it. So we live in dangerous times right now. Okay, Nostradamus, 1503. So 2026 is gonna be a rough year. Edgar Cayce, 1942, I think, 2026 is gonna be a rough year. And people are hiding behind false gods. I have job security. I have a master's degree. I have a real estate license. That's nothing. And that's what people are hiding behind right now.

Yeah. And so you obviously warned about more crashes, the crash continuing. We're in the midst of the crash in that real estate, you know, will continue to decline. We're in a declining market right now in commercial and residential real estate. But yet you also hold 15,000 rental properties and have $1.2 billion of debt. So how do you navigate and manage that kind of pressure as you invest in the market? You continue to invest in the market and you hold these assets in the market because some people would be like, does that make you scared that you hold this debt and the market's declining?

Now again, this is just what the stupid people are doing, they call PhDs. But the thing is, the reason I have rental properties, I mean apartment houses, is as far as I know, people need a roof over their heads and a bed to sleep in. If you're not, you're homeless. And I hate to say this, but if you don't pay the rent at one of my apartment houses, the next stop is the street. And it breaks my heart to see this homelessness is going through the roof because people can't afford to pay the rent.

Yeah.

Because inflation is going up and inflation goes up when you print money. And we're now $39 trillion. Every time you print money, the price of food goes up, but so do the price of assets go up. So when you print money, the price of oil goes up, But chicken and eggs go up too.

Yeah.

So it's wiping out the poor and middle class and guys like me are getting richer. You're getting richer. But that's education. They don't teach you that in school. They say, go to school and get a job and be secure. That ain't not true today. I was just in, I was in, you know, Saks Fifth Avenue is now bankrupt. Neiman is now bankrupt. So retail is gone. Office buildings are gone.

Gone.

The private credit is wiping everybody out.

Yeah. You, you made a tweet about that too. Uh, what is going on with, what's your opinion on BlackRock? And is it BlackRock that you were talking about and their private credit?

First of all, again, like Dave Ramsey was a good friend of mine, live debt-free, but the US dollar is made of debt. They print it. So the banks don't make money unless they're lending money. So because they couldn't get enough money out there, they started this thing called private credit. So you and I go to a bank and we borrow a line of money and we'll lend to people who are less creditworthy.

Right.

And so what's happening, those, I don't, we don't do that, but I'm saying that's what they borrow money from the banks so they can lend to people who need the money. That the banks won't lend to. You see, the banks don't make money on your savings because they've got to pay you interest on it. Banks only make money if you borrow money. Business 101.

Yep.

Why don't our schools teach us that? So when Dave Ramsey says live debt-free, I agree with him. But if everybody lived debt-free, the economy collapses. Because if we stop borrowing money, there's no money created. Money is only created when we borrow it. That's money. 1971.

Yeah, yeah, 'cause that's the, you know, the debt funds. I started a debt fund, so I'm very familiar with how this works, but it's interesting to see how the institutional funds and what their positioning is right now and how they're performing. Because for the audience, I mean, that's how just like, you just said, that's how banks make money. I mean, you deposit money in the bank, they don't pay you anything on it, then they go lend that money to another person and they charge an interest on that. And so they keep that spread. Now, if that person they lent your money to doesn't pay them back, then you lose your money, right? And that's like the risk. And that's why, that's how you can have banking crashes and things like that.

Well, that's what they are, are the resolution trust corp, anyway.

Right, yeah, the insurances. But the same concept with the debt fund, The thing is money is debt.

And when people say live debt-free, I said, you don't understand the economy. We stop borrowing money, this whole thing collapses anyway. So because they couldn't get enough money out, private credit came in. And that's when guys like, Japan called it the carry trade. All of this stuff is saying the same thing. They borrow money to lend money. And if people pay it back, everybody's happy. If people don't pay it back, people are not happy. So the biggest crash of all is office buildings because of, you know, the computer, AI, COVID. These office buildings are floating. There's nobody in them because people work from home now. So the biggest debt are office buildings. And you know, some of the best investments I made were the ones I didn't make. 'Cause I was kind of dreaming of buying an office building at one time. Thank God I didn't, you know.

Right. Some of the best deals in life are the ones we don't do. Don't make, yeah. Yep.

So office buildings, you know, like San Francisco, some of the most expensive office buildings in the world are empty.

Yeah.

Somebody is gonna eat lunch on that one.

Yeah, and somebody's gonna make a killing. Whoever buys it next. I was at a conference last month.

If they buy it, they might tear them down, right?

Well, that's— they'll buy the land, right? Buy the old building, tear it down and build something more useful. But I was listening to like CEOs or economists of big commercial real estate companies and commercial finance firms, and they all said the number— every single one of the speakers said their number one bet to make the most amount of money right now is San Francisco office buildings.

Is that right?

Because they're the biggest discount. It's the biggest opportunity.

The trouble with office buildings, as you know, they're not geared for residential. I've already seen that. Yeah, I was in Johannesburg, South Africa. They collapsed a long time ago and they have these huge office buildings in downtown Joburg, Johannesburg. And they try to convert them into residential. They become high-priced slums. There's not enough toilets, no sinks, nothing in them. So they're not designed for residential. And so people are saying, well, office buildings are gonna change to apartment houses. I don't think so.

Yeah, terrible.

The conversion rate is too high.

Yeah.

You have to structurally redo them.

Yeah, you can get in big trouble trying to do a conversion. Some of them work out, but some of them, it's a huge failure. I did see when we were actually driving on the way here, I saw an office building that was converted to storage. It was like a public, you know, Extra Space Storage, and it used to be an office building. So that's a unique conversion that hopefully that worked out well for them. But I do know clients that have tried to convert office to like multifamily and use the existing building and ended up losing a lot of money because there was just too, too much. It would have been better just to scrape it.

Well, my friend's making, making a lot of money in He owns office buildings, old ones. Yeah, but he does it in Thailand. All he has is people changing sheets.

That's, that's insane, Robert. That's crazy. I think we'll stick with assisted living. The silver tsunami, they call it. Looking at where the future is going, right? There's not enough assisted living facilities. And then same thing in like data centers. The rise of AI is just looking at where the future is going. The dollar. Losing value. So investing in gold and silver, you're predicting that gold is gonna hit $27,000 an ounce at some point?

Well, actually it's Jim Rickards. You know, he's a good friend of mine. Rickards is calling for $27K. He's, you know, I hang out with smart people. I was a real dumb shit. I'm a US Marine. You know, I ask you about the deals. Hannah, what do you think about this deal? You know, 'cause I don't know. But it's okay not to know as long as you have friends who can tell you straight. So that's why it's your 5 friends around you that make the biggest difference of all. Like Rickards, you know, he was, people may not know this, but he was LTCM, Long Term Capital Management. Those guys nearly brought down the whole world. They're a hedge fund. They're so levered up. And there was a guy named Meriwether who was in charge of that hedge fund. And in 1996, LTCM, which Rickards was the attorney to, nearly brought down the world economy. So every time I talk to Rickards, I mean, I enjoy talking. He's a smart boy. And so he and I started a project where it's the biggest, it's a high-tech, it's how you profit from them. Spam calls.

Oh, that would be nice. I get 1,000 of those every day.

Yeah, I know. So, but that's how entrepreneurs make money.

Yep.

You know, you gotta think outside the box, but you also, I'm hanging out with guys who are smart, not dumb shits.

Right. What do you think is the greatest advice that you've ever heard in your life?

Skills. You have to have this. If you're gonna be an entrepreneur, you have to have skills. To be a pilot, I had to have different skills. Do you know what I mean?

Yeah.

And most people just wanna be an employee, just do their job. So they have that skill, but they hide behind, I'll say it again, false gods. Yeah. And a false god is job security. Francis, I have a real estate license. But there's no real estate behind it. So people have their false— I have my false gods.

What was that?

Well, that I can always get my way out of trouble. It gives me false confidence. I'm pretty confident. But I also know it's a bunch of BS because I'm going to get in trouble anyway. But nobody wants to get in trouble. But you know, that's what you tell me when you start reading the Bible. Suffering is how you get smarter.

Right.

And so that's why I'm not afraid of suffering. Most people are.

Yeah.

Like I told you the story, when I had to drop my— my aircraft carried rocket pods and machine guns. And they'd say, "Mayday, mayday, mayday." I'm, you know, we're taking fire from all these— Jesus, terrible war. So I said, we have to disarm. We drop our rockets, drop our machine guns. So we go into the field to pick up dying Marines and loading them on the aircraft. Man, it stinks. Guts everywhere. Fly to a field hospital and these nurses come running out and they go, And that's what life's about, is that you have your team out there.

Yeah.

It's not— you have to do what you have to do out there.

And you're not a religious person, but you do believe in God and you do bring up God often. And we went to Mar-a-Lago. You invited me out there. You got Grand Marshal Veteran of the Year Award. It was absolutely incredible. And your keynote, you know, you talk about What is your mission? What is your spirit's mission?

Yeah.

And how your time in the military was one of your greatest experiences because they really instilled that what is your mission in you? Can you touch on that? Like why, how much of a spiritual game is the game of financial freedom and freedom in, in life in general? And how does following your spirit's mission impacts that?

Well, the reason I got that is because I have my little team. And on my team is my cardiologist, Dr. Radha Gopalan. And if you call Central Casting in Hollywood, I need a guy that looks like Gandhi. This is Radha Gopalan. He's Sri Lankan. But he's the most spiritual guy I know. He's my cardiologist. And I talk to him about God and spirit all the time. And he says, I said, "Why do I live?" You know, I was, "Why do I live?" He says, "'Cause your body is to carry your spirit's mission." I said, "What?" He says, "It's not about your heart, not about your liver, not about your spine. It's your spirit has a mission." I went, "What?" So this is not that long ago. And then I went to Mar-a-Lago and, you know, I'm being honored as a Veteran of the Year and all this stuff. Why am I being the Veteran of the Year? I'm a stupid Lieutenant, Marine Lieutenant. I'm replacing Lieutenant General Michael Flynn. Why am I here? You know what I mean? And I was also up on court martial charges twice. I'm not a very good Marine. So why am I here? I might tell everybody the truth. I'm in trouble all the time. And so I was talking to Arata about that. He says, "Because you're fulfilling your spirit's mission." So when I went to the academy in New York, I had a nomination to Naval Academy and Merchant Marine Academy. The first learned word they teach you in military school is mission. What's your mission in life? It's spiritual. And then the Vietnam War was on. I graduate, In 1969, I'm working for Standard Oil 'cause I'm an oil guy. I'm making $120,000 a year. It's not much money today, but for a college graduate in 1969, $120,000 is a lot of money. And I'm making $120,000 a year sailing for Standard Oil in Vietnam. And the war was still on. I said, "Jeez." And in my family, I had 7 uncles fight in World War II. 5 fought against the Germans, 2 fought against the Japanese. So our family, samurai, you know, we're warriors. So I said, I better go fight. And so I resigned from Standard Oil, making $120,000 a year. I said, I'm gonna join the Marine Corps. Why the Marine Corps? Because when I was deciding who I was gonna fly for, they had this big conference for 600 young men. They had Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard. And so out of 600 men in this audience, kinda looking who we're gonna fly for, we could look at the flight school and all this. I was one of 12 that stood in front of the Marines. If I'm gonna go to war, I want to go at war with guys who want to fight, not play golf. Do you know what I mean? It kind of fits my logic. So I'm standing there talking to this Marine about going to Vietnam and all this. And so what Rodda saw, I'm up there only because what the Marine Corps taught us, first word is mission, second word is semper fidelis. Semper fidelis means forever faithful. And so that's when I was at Mar-a-Lago accepting Veteran of the Year. This, I said, I learned mission, but forever faithful to your mission. Sempre fidelis to mission. Be faithful to your mission. That's the only reason I was there. I'm faithful to my mission to teach. I fight academics who teach us nothing about money, teach us job security, but nothing about money. And that's what I get upset about. I hate homelessness. I hate poverty. I can see the future with this oil going up. Homelessness is gonna go up. More people will suffer financially. You can see the future. So if I said nothing, I'm a coward. Sempre fidelis to my mission, I teach. And so, Rod Agopalan, who's my cardiologist, I said, "So Rod, if I stopped teaching, what would happen?" He says, "You'd die. You must be true to your spirit's mission." And we all, our missions are different. So my spirit is to teach. I'm like my poor dad and my rich dad, both were great teachers. My poor dad worked for John Kennedy's Peace Corps, and I learned service to humanity through my poor dad, 'cause he joined the Peace Corps. And then my sister became a nun because of that experience, and I joined the Marine Corps to serve. So our job is to be in service to our countries and our spirits. Service. Semper Fidelis. Forever faithful to your mission.

It's amazing.

So on this last trip to Vietnam, which was like 2, 3 weeks ago, in February of 2026, I'm talking to these guys. And like I said, they saw stuff I never saw as a pilot. God bless them. When we came home, we got spit on, we got hit with eggs. You know, those hippies were after us, all those God's children. And they're spitting on us, hitting us with eggs, calling us baby killers. And my commanding officer, the pilot who flew us in there, says, "Gentlemen." So the hippies are, this is 1972, these hippies are spitting on us, eggs and all this. He says, "Gentlemen, never forget, we fought for the right." for them to do that to us. We fought for their freedom to spit on us. Never forget that. So I have a whole different viewpoint on what freedom is. So you can be free and you can spit on the veterans coming home. But that's what they did, those fricking hippies. So even today, I'm a little bit bitter, you can tell. I ask guys my age, I said, "What did you do during Vietnam?" Most of them were in college. They got college deferments or they went to Canada. A few guys volunteered. Yeah.

What do you think you learned in Vietnam that you couldn't have learned from any other experience in your entire life?

I think that was one of the, why we fought. But I've gone back 3 times to make peace. And like I said, we were talking about on the way over here, what started the war was the French were sons of a bitches. Vietnam was the French-Indo-Chinese Riviera. They had beautiful estates out there, beautiful châteaux, but they also had the Hanoi Hilton. And the Hanoi Hilton was, I went to see it because That's where John McCain was a senator from Arizona. All the pilots who were shot down went to the Hanoi Hilton. So I went to visit the Hanoi Hilton, but it was in use by the French. And what the French would do is if you were protesting the French because they were killing Buddhists, they were shooting Buddhists and the Buddhists were protesting, they'd put them in the Hanoi Hilton. And if you kept protesting, they had a guillotine in there. So let's say you had 500 Vietnamese Buddhists in there. If you kept protesting, they would drag one guy out, chop his head off him. Wow. So war, It was not as we were told. I remember I was in Vietnam twice, '66 and '72. I'd sit there and watch Walter Cronkite on the news, you know, this is Walter Cronkite in America. Said, "That didn't happen. That didn't happen. What they're reporting was not true." And so, you know, we're at war kind of in this country with our media also. We're talking about it how The media is also against some people. So when I was in Australia back in 1996 or something, their 60 Minutes came after me because they thought I was an American cult leader teaching. And at the same time, this is history, there was a guy named David Koresh of Waco, Texas. And they killed all those people. A lot of them were Aussies. So when I'm teaching in Sydney, the Australian Broadcasting Commission came after me and they put me up as a cult leader. It destroyed my business. Complete lies. So the press, you got to be very careful of who reports to you what. So I take all these risks all the time. So yesterday Vanity Fair interviewed me and then the Washington Post interviews me. I've got to be very careful because they can take a story and twist it. Does that make sense?

Right, yeah.

And that's why we don't know what's true anymore. I think that's really quite, so that's where these podcasts are actually now kicking butt on mainstream media. But even the podcasts, you know, there's a lot of flakes in there too, so.

Yeah.

Gotta be careful who you listen to.

Oh yeah, for sure. Well, we're approaching our end here. We both have a birthday coming up. We're gonna have a birthday party together. April 8th and April 10th. And so excited. I'm just so grateful over the past couple years that I've known you. Uh, you've, you've been my, my hero, my mentor since I was 13. But knowing you and actually having, uh, you're like family to me now over these past—

you're not my— you know, She now raises my money for me.

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Like, what a dream. Full, so full circle. You taught me everything that I know, and then now I get to work with you and be a part of your investments too and what you're doing. So if you, if this was like your last final message that you ever gave, what would you tell the world?

What's your spirit's mission? Not your body, not your mind. Your mission for your mind was, "I'm gonna get a college education." Your body may, "I'm gonna run a triathlon." Those are missions. But everybody's spirit is divine. God sent you here for a reason. Fulfill that mission. Semper Fidelis. Forever faithful to your spirit's mission. I teach not for the money. Because I have to teach. It's my job to teach. And that's what the Marine Corps taught me: mission. Sempre Fidelis.

Thank you. Like you taught me, what does God want done?

Yeah.

Thank you, Robert.

Thank you.