Borrow Until You Die: The Wealth Strategy the Banks Hope You Never Learn

15 Aug 2026 · 27 min · 12 chapters

Ask about this episode

Ask anything about it. ChatGPT or Claude reads this page and answers with the times it was said.

Connect VO and ask about every podcast you hear, including the moments you saved. Add to ChatGPT · Add to Claude

In short

The episode argues that “getting out of debt” keeps most people poor, because money is created through debt and the wealthy use “good debt” to buy income-producing assets, refinance, and avoid taxes; it claims heirs benefit via stepped-up basis when they die.

Guest backgrounds

No traditional guests appear. The host is Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad Radio Show). Mentions include Jim Rickards (former CIA/Pentagon advisor) and “Devin” tied to Capital Club, plus a neighbor anecdote.

Key claims

Debt can be tax-free when borrowed against assets; IRS taxes income/sales, not loans. “Good debt” is repaid by tenants/customers/business cash flow; “bad debt” is repaid from your paycheck. The cycle is borrow → buy → let others pay → refinance → repeat; “borrow until you die” ends with stepped-up basis.

Notable examples

U.S. government as the biggest debtor; a 288-unit apartment building financed at under 5% interest; car/credit card/student loans as bad debt; tenants paying a rental mortgage; refinancing instead of selling to avoid capital gains taxes.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

The Problem with Debt-Free Living

0:45 to 1:15

Understanding why aiming for debt-free living can hinder wealth.

“and get started in as little as two days.”

The Problem with Debt-Free Living

1:32 to 1:51

Understanding why aiming for debt-free living can hinder wealth.

“Well, with the Name Your Price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills.”

The Problem with Debt-Free Living

2:29 to 4:33

Understanding why aiming for debt-free living can hinder wealth.

“Welcome to Rich Dad Radio Show, the good and bad about money.”

The Two Sides of Debt

4:33 to 7:48

Exploring the difference between bad and good debt and their impacts.

“A car, a vacation, a new couch on a credit card.”

The Two Sides of Debt

7:51 to 8:07

Exploring the difference between bad and good debt and their impacts.

“The people who change their financial future aren't the ones who almost did something.”

Using Debt Smartly for Wealth

8:07 to 9:10

Learn how the rich use good debt to build wealth and why it works.

“People keep asking me why the system feels rigged.”

Using Debt Smartly for Wealth

9:14 to 11:17

Learn how the rich use good debt to build wealth and why it works.

“Specifically, the kind that makes the rich richer while it buries everyone else.”

Understanding the Tax Benefits of Good Debt

11:17 to 14:00

Discover the tax implications of borrowing money for assets.

“Before I answer that, here's something that will make you sit up.”

Understanding the Financial System

14:19 to 15:23

Explore why the financial system is designed to benefit the wealthy.

“People keep asking me why the system feels rigged.”

Understanding the Financial System

15:27 to 16:27

Explore why the financial system is designed to benefit the wealthy.

“In fact, according to my friend Jim Rickards, a former advisor to the CIA and the Pentagon, with close contacts inside the Trump White House, the President's move could help unleash$100 trillion dollars in new wealth.”
Show all 12 chapters

Debt and Tax Strategies

16:48 to 23:05

Learn how borrowing can be a tax-free strategy with the right approach.

“The IRS taxes income, money you earned, money you sold something for.”

The Principle of Good Debt

23:05 to 26:31

Understand the difference between good and bad debt and how to leverage it.

“If someone else is paying the debt, it's good debt.”
Hear the part that matters, and keep it.Open this episode in VO. Double tap your headphones to save a moment as you listen.
Get VO free

Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00Everyone treats summer like it owes you happiness. Long days, pool parties, your best life on a loop. So what does it mean when you feel worse? The summer blues are real. It's why summer is one of the busiest stretches of the year for people starting therapy. Therapy is not only for when you're in crisis. Grow therapy is for all the moments when you decide you want more. More support, more clarity, more tools. Mental health isn't a destination you reach. It's something you build, and Grow makes that easier. Grow connects you with thousands of high-quality licensed therapists across the U.S., offering both virtual and in-person sessions, nights, and weekends.

0:44You can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty, identity, or availability, and get started in as little as two days. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. The therapist you want takes your insurance on Grow. Grow accepts over 125 insurance plans. Sessions average$21 with insurance, and some pay as little as$0 depending on their plan. Visit growtherapy.com slash book now today to get started. That's growtherapy.com slash book now. growtherapy.com slash book now. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.

1:28This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the Name Your Price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it at Progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. I call this show, Borrow Until You Die. the wealth strategy the banks hope you never learn. Most people live their entire financial lives trying to get out of debt. That's exactly why they never get rich.

2:05In this episode, I'm going to give you the truth the banks, the IRS, and your school system never teach you. And I'm going to explain the other way money is made from thin air. Let's get to it. This is the Rich Dad Radio Show, the good news and bad news about money. Here's Robert Kiyosaki. Welcome to Rich Dad Radio Show, the good and bad about money. This is Robert Kiyosaki, and today is just you and me, and we're talking about what the rich are teaching their kids about money. Today we talk about debt. Most people spend their whole life trying to get out of debt. They think that's the goal. Pay it off, own it free and clear, sleep easy at night.

2:55I'm going to tell you something that sounds wrong. That instinct is why they stay poor. Let me say that again. Trying to get out of debt is why most people never get rich. Sounds backwards. It's not. Here's the truth they never taught you in school. Money in this economy is created through debt. not earned into existence, not dug out of the ground, created through debt. So if you live debt-free, you are choosing to live outside the money system, outside the game. And people wonder why they never get a hit. Stick with me, because today I'm going to show you how the rich use debt as a weapon, while everyone else is running scared from the very thing that could set them free.

3:50People say my goal is to be debt-free. That's what they told you. That's what your parents told you. It sounds responsible. Here's the problem. A debt-free life is a small life. Think about it. If you own nothing but what you can pay cash for, your house is small. Your business is small. Your future is small. Most people don't realize the size of your life is tied to the size of your leverage. No leverage, no growth. That's the deal nobody explains to you. And here's the part that really makes people angry. The financially uneducated use debt too. They just use it wrong. A car, a vacation, a new couch on a credit card.

4:40That's debt buying liabilities. Debt that takes money out of your pocket every single month. That's bad debt. and bad debt will bury you. But the answer was never no debt. The answer was never taught at all. Most people were only ever shown one side of the coin. They were shown the side that hurts them. Nobody showed them the other side, the side where debt bills you instead of burying you. That's the side the rich live on. They didn't get there by avoiding debt. They got there by learning which kind to chase and which kind to run from. And once you see both sides, you can't go back to thinking there's only one.

5:23Don't believe me? Look at the biggest debtor in the world, the United States government. Over$40 trillion in debt and climbing. Not because it failed, because the whole system is built on debt. Every dollar in your wallet exists because somebody somewhere borrowed it into existence. Not mined, not earned, borrowed. The government spends more than it collects, decade after decade, and nothing collapses. Who covers the gap? The Federal Reserve. Federal Reserve. Say that name slow. Not federal. And no reserves to speak of. Just a name that sounds official enough that nobody questions it. If you tried that in your own life, it would collapse fast.

6:09So why doesn't it collapse for them. Think about it. If the richest, most powerful government on earth runs on debt, why were you told to avoid it? That's not an accident. That's a design. A system built on debt needs you borrowing too. It just doesn't need you borrowing smart. Here's what nobody explains. When you borrow money the right way, somebody else ends up paying it back for you. Not you, somebody else. Who that is and how it works, that's next. Don't go anywhere. I've got a neighbor, retired guy, smart guy. For years, he's been telling me about this business he wants to start. He's got the idea.

6:53He's got the plan. He's even got the name picked out, but he never launches. You know why? The setup. Which website builder? Which domain company? Which email tool? He'd open five tabs, burn three hours, and have nothing to show for it. So the business stayed in his head where it made him exactly zero dollars. Last week, he finally launched. I asked him how. He said, Robert, I didn't build a website. I had a conversation. He went to Hostinger and just told their AI what he wanted, plain English. Minutes later, the first version of his website was done. And here's a part I like. The domain, the hosting, the business email, all of it.

7:31One place, one account. No duct tape, no tech guy, and it costs less than what most people waste on coffee. So I can't afford it, won't work here. Rich Dad taught me, the poor say I can't. The rich ask, how can I? Here's how. Go to hostinger.com slash richdad20 and use code richdad20 for 20 % off. That's hostinger.com slash richdad20. The people who change their financial future aren't the ones who almost did something. Go now. It's a great first step. The system was never broken. It was built this way. People keep asking me why the system feels rigged. Let me be blunt. It isn't broken. It's working exactly as designed.

8:16Designed by the rich, for the rich, to keep everyone else locked outside the room where the real money is made. It starts in school. It keeps you working for money instead of learning how money works for the rich. There are two sets of rules. One set for people who work for money. another set entirely for the people who print it, control it, and move it. I'm not telling you this to make you angry and helpless. I'm telling you because once you see the game, you can learn to play it. The rich didn't get rich by working harder. They got rich by understanding rules nobody bothered to teach you. Learn the real rules.

8:52That's the only rebellion that actually works. That is why I'm introducing you to Devin and her Capital Club. Capital Club brings democracy to investing and opens a backdoor for you, so you can participate in some of the greatest investments you normally would not have access to or be invited to. To learn more, go to CapitalClub33.com. That's CapitalClub33.com. Go there and beat the system. Don't let the system beat you. CapitalClub33.com. We're back. We're talking about debt. Specifically, the kind that makes the rich richer while it buries everyone else. Before the break, I told you, somebody else pays your debt back for you.

9:37Here's how. Most people were only ever taught one kind of debt, the bad kind. A car loan, a credit card, a new couch. Financed for 18 months, no interest, they said. That's debt buying a liability, something that goes down in value the moment you drive it off the lot. And who pays that debt back? You do, out of your paycheck every single month. That's bad debt. Avoid it completely. But here's what they never showed you. There's another kind of debt entirely, good debt. Good debt buys an asset, something that goes up in value or pays you while you own it. Real estate, a business, equipment that produces income.

10:27Think about it. A 288 unit apartment building bought using the bank's money, not the investors. Nearly ten million dollars borrowed at under five percent interest. The investors didn't sweat that mortgage payment every month. Take a minute. Same word. Same four letters D E B T used two completely different ways one buries you one builds you an empire most people never learned there was a difference they were handed one warning debt is dangerous and told that was the whole lesson it's half the lesson the other half is what separates the employee from the investor the one who works for money and the one who makes money work for him.

11:16That's the difference. So who actually pays good debt back? Not you. Before I answer that, here's something that will make you sit up. That good debt, in most cases, it's tax-free money the moment you borrow it. Let that sit for a second. Not tax-free forever, but tax-free the day it lands in your hands. We'll come back to that. Right now, the answer to who pays. When I buy a rental property using the bank's money, I don't pay that mortgage. My tenant does. Every month, rent comes in. Rent covers the mortgage. Rent covers expenses. And what's left is profit. That's OPM, other people's money. The bank lent it.

12:04The tenant repays it. I keep the asset. Think about it. The poor and the middle class borrow money and pay it back with their own income. A car loan, a student loan, a mortgage on the house they live in. They're the ones repaying it dollar for dollar out of their own labor. The rich borrow money and let somebody else's money pay it off. Customers, tenants, the business itself. That's the entire game right there. The more people who are indebted to you, the wealthier you become. The more you are indebted to others, the poorer you stay. Most people have that backwards their whole life. Now remember what I said a minute ago, that money you borrow is tax-free the day you get it.

12:54Why does the IRS let that happen? That's next, we'll be right back. I've got a neighbor, retired guy, smart guy. For years, he's been telling me about this business he wants to start. He's got the idea. He's got the plan. He's even got the name picked out, but he never launches. You know why? The setup. Which website builder? Which domain company? Which email tool? He'd open five tabs, burn three hours, and have nothing to show for it. So the business stayed in his head where it made him exactly zero dollars. Last week, he finally launched. I asked him how. He said, Robert, I didn't build a website.

13:30I had a conversation. He went to Hostinger and just told their AI what he wanted, plain English. Minutes later, the first version of his website was done. And here's a part I like. The domain, the hosting, the business email, all of it. One place, one account. No duct tape, no tech guy, and it costs less than what most people waste on coffee. So I can't afford it, won't work here. Rich Dad taught me, the poor say I can't. The rich ask, how can I? Here's how. Go to Hostinger.com slash Rich Dad 20 and use code Rich Dad 20 for 20 % off. That's Hostinger.com slash Rich Dad 20. The people who change their financial future aren't the ones who almost did something.

14:16Go now. It's a great first step. The system was never broken. It was built this way. People keep asking me why the system feels rigged. Let me be blunt. It isn't broken. It's working exactly as designed. Designed by the rich, for the rich, to keep everyone else locked outside the room where the real money is made. It starts in school. It keeps you working for money instead of learning how money works for the rich. There are two sets of rules. One set for people who work for money. Another set entirely for the people who print it, control it, and move it. I'm not telling you this to make you angry and helpless.

14:52I'm telling you because once you see the game, you can learn to play it. The rich didn't get rich by working harder. They got rich by understanding rules nobody bothered to teach you. Learn the real rules. That's the only rebellion that actually works. That is why I'm introducing you to Devin and her Capital Club. Capital Club brings democracy to investing and opens a backdoor for you. so you can participate in some of the greatest investments you normally would not have access to or be invited to. To learn more, go to capitalclub33.com. That's capitalclub33.com. Go there and beat the system. Don't let the system beat you.

15:33Capitalclub33.com. Thank you for listening to my show. Listen to this carefully, please. Thanks to an obscure 112-year-old law, President Trump recently made a critical move that could impact your financial future, and it could create an explosion of new wealth for you and every hard-working American citizen. In fact, according to my friend Jim Rickards, a former advisor to the CIA and the Pentagon, with close contacts inside the Trump White House, the President's move could help unleash$100 trillion dollars in new wealth. To find out how to stake your claim, go to the 2026law.com for all of the details.

16:19That's the 2026law.com. I'll add the link in the show description. Paid for by Paradigm Press. Okay, we are back. We're talking about debt. I told you the money you borrow lands in your hands tax-free. Here's why the IRS allows it. But before I explain that, There's a bigger picture forming here because this isn't a one-time move, it's a cycle. And I'll show you the whole thing in a minute. First, the tax-free part. The IRS taxes income, money you earned, money you sold something for. A loan is not income, it's a debt. You owe it back. So when I borrow a million dollars against a property, That million dollars is not taxable, not one dollar of it.

17:12IRS, Internal Revenue Service, they call it. I call it the only landlord in America who never actually owns the building, but still expects a check every month, except when it comes to debt. There they get nothing, not one dollar. Compare that to selling the same property. Sell it, and the IRS wants its cut of the gain, capital gains tax. A big check due immediately. Say that property gained$500 ,000 in value. Sell it, and a large chunk of that gain goes straight to the IRS. Borrow against it instead, and the IRS gets nothing. Zero. Same asset, same value pulled out. Completely different tax bill.

18:00That's not a trick. That's not a gray area. It's written directly into the tax code, the same code your accountant has access to. Most people just never ask the question. Most people only know one way to get cash out of an asset, sell it. The rich know a second way, borrow against it. Think about it, selling triggers tax, borrowing doesn't. That's why the rich almost never sell. They refinance instead. And when you refinance, you don't just avoid taxes. You get to do it again and again. Same property, same debt, cash coming out of it year after year, and none of it taxable. That's the part most people have never even heard of.

18:46Here's the cycle, start to finish. Borrow against an asset, tax-free. Use that money to buy another cash-flowing asset. Let tenants or customers or the business pay that new debt off. Then once the new asset has grown in value, refinance it. Pull the equity back out, tax-free again. Buy the next asset, repeat. Borrow, buy, let someone else pay it down, refinance, repeat. Every single time, more tax-free cash. Every single time, a bigger asset base. This is what some investors call velocity of money. Your money never sits still. It moves from deal to deal, working harder each time, while you never write a check for it twice.

19:35Compare that to the saver doing the opposite. Money sitting in a bank account, earning almost nothing, losing value to inflation. Every single year it sits still. They measure that with the CPI, Consumer Price Index they call it. I call it covertly printed inflation. Same number, same chart, different truth. Stagnant money loses, moving money wins. And here's a part that breaks people's brains. You never sell. If you never sell, you never owe the tax. Most people are chasing the day they can cash out. The rich are avoiding that day forever. But that raises the obvious question. You can't refinance forever.

20:23Eventually, you die. So what happens to all that debt then? Does the IRS finally get its money? Does your family inherit a mountain of loans they can't pay? That's exactly the question that stops most people cold. It's also the most misunderstood part of the entire strategy, because the answer isn't what you'd expect. It's not a loophole. It's not something a clever accountant invented in secret. It's built into the tax code in plain sight and almost nobody uses it. So here's what happens when you die still holding the assets, still holding the debt. Your heirs inherit the property and the IRS resets its value to what it's worth on that day, not what you originally paid.

21:12That's called a stepped-up basis, all those decades of growth, the gain you never sold, never got taxed on, it disappears. For tax purposes, it never happened. Say you bought a building for$500 ,000, and by the time you die, it's worth$3 million. Your heirs' basis isn't$500 ,000, it's$3 million, starting today. They can sell immediately, owe little or nothing in gains, and pay off the debt with the proceeds if they choose to. Compare that to inheriting a stock portfolio or a business still carrying its original, decades-old cost basis. The tax bill on that can be brutal. Real estate held this way doesn't work like that.

22:05That's a difference nobody explains at the dinner table. Or they can keep going, keep borrowing, keep refinancing, keep repeating. The cycle doesn't end when you die. It just changes hands. That's why the wealthy say it plainly. Borrow, buy, die. Sounds cold when you first hear it. It's not cold. It's just a rule book nobody handed you. But none of this works if you're borrowing the way most people borrow. There's one rule that decides everything. Break it. And this whole strategy turns into a disaster. People here borrow until you die and panic. They think I'm telling you to go get reckless. I'm not.

22:54This strategy has destroyed people too. Plenty of them. Because they broke the one rule. Here it is. If you are the one paying the debt, it's bad debt. If someone else is paying the debt, it's good debt. That's it. That's the entire test. A car loan. You pay it every month out of your own paycheck. A credit card. You pay it. A mortgage on the house you live in. You pay it every month. Principal Interest Taxes Insurance. P-I-T-I they call it. I call it pay it till I'm dead. Student loans, personal loans, that no interest for 18 months furniture deal, all bad debt, all of it, all coming out of your pocket.

23:43A fourplex with tenants, they pay it. A business with customers, they pay it. A piece of equipment that produces more income than its payment, it pays for itself. An asset that produces income covers its own debt. and pays you on top of it. That's the whole difference between the two paths. Same word, same four letters. One path buries you a little more every month. The other builds an empire someone else is funding. Most people never learned there were two paths. There were only ever shown one. Now you've seen both. And once you know the test, you can run on every debt you already carry. Ask right now who's actually paying it.

24:33If the answer is you, that's your sign. But seeing both isn't enough if you're careless. The rich protect the strategy on purpose. Here's how the rich protect it. Reserves. Cash set aside so a slow month never becomes a crisis. Fixed rate debt never floating. Never a payment that can suddenly double on you. Discipline about how much debt sits against how much equity, checked constantly, not once and forgotten. And a team, bankers, accountants, property managers, people who understand this better than you do, checking your work. This is not a strategy for someone with no plan. It's a strategy for someone who respects what they're holding.

25:22The banks aren't afraid of debt either. They just never let it control them. They control it. That's the posture, not fear, not recklessness, command. Debt is a four-letter word. It can make you, it can also destroy you. The difference isn't the debt, the difference is the education standing behind it. So think back to where we started. Most people spend their whole life trying to get out of debt, running from the one tool that could have set them free. The rich aren't afraid of debt. They're not reckless with it either. They just learn what it actually is, a weapon, pointed in whichever direction you choose to aim it.

26:06Most people never choose. They just flinch. Borrow until you die isn't a slogan. It's a mirror. And once you see which side of it you're standing on, you can't unsee it. Thank you for your time. Thank you for caring about your future. Thank you for understanding that you are the only one who cares about taking care of you. Take care. The system was never broken. It was built this way. People keep asking me why the system feels rigged. Let me be blunt. It isn't broken. It's working exactly as designed. Designed by the rich, for the rich, to keep everyone else locked outside the room where the real money is made.

26:48It starts in school. It keeps you working for money instead of learning how money works for the rich. There are two sets of rules. One set for people who work for money, another set entirely for the people who print it, control it, and move it. I'm not telling you this to make you angry and helpless. I'm telling you because once you see the game, you can learn to play it. The rich didn't get rich by working harder. They got rich by understanding rules nobody bothered to teach you. Learn the real rules. That's the only rebellion that actually works. That is why I'm introducing you to Devon and her Capital Club.

27:24Capital Club brings democracy to investing and opens a backdoor for you so you can participate in some of the greatest investments you normally would not have access to or be invited to. To learn more, go to capitalclub33.com. That's capitalclub33.com. Go there and beat the system. Don't let the system beat you. capitalclub33.com.

27:52Thank you.

28:31This podcast is a presentation of Rich Dad Media Network. Hey, Chicagoland, the Wayfair store is in your neighborhood at Edens Plaza and Wilmette. Finally, you can feel the fabric, sit on the sectionals, and even open the refrigerators. Plus, our in-store designers will help you bring it all together with free one-on-one design support for any project on any budget. Yep, we said free. Oh, and did we mention the cafe? So what are you waiting for? Come see All That's In Store. Visit the Wayfair store today at Edens Plaza and Wilmette.

From the publisher

So much of what we were taught to be right YOU... is wrong. Completely wrong. You know savers are losers. But do you know what the rich actually do and, more importantly, why? They buy. Buy more. Keep buying. Today Robert shows us exactly why - and how we can do it in the way that actually builds wealth. Not the way that looks good on paper. The way that sets YOU free.

More from Rich Dad Radio Show: In-Your-Face Advice on Investing, Personal Finance, & Starting a Business

All 92 episodes
Borrow Until You Die: The Wealth Strategy the Banks Hope You Never LearnRich Dad Radio Show: In-Your-Face Advice on Investing, Personal Finance, & Starting a Business · 27 min
Listen in VO