Richard CanfieldPodcast Host and IBC Advisor, Ascendant Financial · Authorized Infinite Banking Practitioner | Author of 4 Books

National Debt Is Actually 6x Worse Than They Say #Finance #Shorts

3 Feb 2026 · 1 min

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In this short finance commentary, the speaker cites David McKnight's documentary and book "Power of Zero" as a catalyst for examining U.S. fiscal health. He references the current US debt clock showing roughly $36 trillion in national debt and adds the unfunded liabilities of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, estimating total federal obligations between $213 trillion and $223 trillion—up from about $187 trillion a year earlier. Highlighting the rapid increase in these liabilities, he expresses a heightened personal interest and passion for retirement planning.

Chapters

As soon as I saw David McKnight's Power of Zero documentary and then I read the book, I'm like, all right, we have a serious. Like you just mentioned, the unfunded liabilities. Did a presentation yesterday. I think right now US debt clock shows 36 trillion in national debt. You take those unfunded liabilities, Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, add them in, and I think we were looking at 213 trillion. Or it might be as wild as 223 trillion. I say that to say that a year ago when I did the same presentation, it was at 187 trillion. So the trillions are ticking at a significant rate. So that really, that really made me not only interested, but passionate about the retirement side of things.