Robert ‘Rich Dad’ Kiyosaki: my prediction of market collapse is coming true

Robert Kiyosaki, author of the best-selling “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” series of personal finance books, says his prediction for a market meltdown is now coming true.

He told MarketWatch that the meltdown described in his 2002 book “Rich Dad’s Prophecy” is now underway, and investors need to be prepared by buying gold and silver. The triggers for the collapse include a wave of selling by 76 million retiring baby boomers who need funds to cover living expenses and China’s economic implosion.

“Demography is destiny,” he said to MarketWatch.

Kiyosaki’s net worth was estimated at $80 million by Forbes magazine in 2012, mostly from real estate investments and his more than two dozen books. His licensing company, Rich Global LLC, filed for bankruptcy and is being sued by a seminar promoter in connection with that filing, according to MarketWatch.

The S&P 500 stock index reached a record high in 2015, but sold off by more than 10 percent in February as collapsing oil prices hurt the energy industry and investors began to worry that China’s growth rate was slowing. Stocks have recovered somewhat, having fallen less than 1 percent since the beginning of the year.

Unfortunately for baby boomers, their savings are being punished by a Federal Reserve that has kept interest rates near zero percent for more than seven years, allowing the U.S. government to more than double its debt load to about $19 trillion. The central bank also bought trillions of dollars of government and mortgage-backed debt, in three experimental programs known as “quantitative easing,” in an effort to lower borrowing costs.

“The big question [whether] we do ‘QE4,’” Kiyosaki told MarketWatch. “If we do, the stock market will come roaring back, but it’s not rocket science. If we stop printing money, it crashes; if we print money, it goes up. But, eventually, it’s all going to come down.”

Other risks include a collapsing of an asset bubble in China, he said. China’s debt levels have exploded as the country sought to industrialize and modernize its economy.
“China has been in a bubble for 20-something years,” Kiyosaki said to MarketWatch. “It has propped up the U.S. economy falsely. When [China] stops importing, the world crashes with them.”

He said baby boomers face a quandary because they can’t make money with traditional fixed-income investments.

“Interest income or cash flow on savings is virtually nonexistent, and capital-gains plays in the stock market are thwarted because stock prices are at record highs,” Kiyosaki said to MarketWatch.

He recommends owning gold or silver because central banks will keep on printing money in a desperate attempt to ignite growth. Income-generating investments from rent or dividends also could help.

“If you know what you’re doing and are investing for cash flow, baby boomers — or any investors — may see some gains,” he said to MarketWatch. “But for those whose wealth is tied up in the [equity] markets, it’s more like gambling than investing.”

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