The Exact Materials I Use for My Rental Properties

The investing golding rule is dying. Here's what to do instead. For the last 40 years, every financial advisor has told you the same thing. If you want to be safe, use the 60-40 rule. 60% stocks for growth, 40% bonds for safety. But in 2025, this advice is not just outdated, it's dangerous. The CEO of BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, and Bridgewater are all sounding the alarm. They are warning that the safe part of your portfolio, the bonds, might actually be the riskiest asset that you own. But here's the thing, they aren't just sitting in cash. They are moving billions into a new asset class to replace bonds. And if you don't understand this shift, your retirement portfolio is just going to bleed out while you think it's safe. Let me explain why the golden rule is dying and what smart money is doing instead. First, we have to define what the 60-40 rule actually is. It was designed to be the perfect offense and defense. But the defense has stopped working. So just to explain the theory simply, stocks are the gas pedal and bonds are the brake. So why was this supposed to work? So if bonds aren't the safety net anymore, where is the money going? Now, this is where I'm going to make some financial advisors really angry. In my opinion, if you hold long-term treasury bonds right now, you are signing up for a guaranteed loss. So let's do the math. A nominal yield is about 4.5% and taxes are somewhere around 40%. So that means that you lose 1.8% to the IRS immediately. So the net yield that you're left using that same 4.5% is roughly about 2.7%. The next obvious piece is inflation. So now you got to subtract the official CPI or the consumer price index, which is currently about 3%. So what does this actually mean? The result of 2.7% minus 3% is a negative 0.03% just because of taxes and inflation. So you took the risk, you locked up your money for 10 years, and you effectively paid for the privilege of losing purchasing power. This is a guaranteed loss for wealthy investors. So let me give you an example. Just this last weekend, I was over at Robert Kiyosaki's house and he pulled out a $100 bill and he said, the people are getting robbed via their money from taxes and inflation. This next chapter is going to be financial repression. A slow, steady squeeze where inflation chips away at everyone's wealth and the American public. So let me tell you about Hugo Stennis, a man who became the richest person in Germany because of hyperinflation. After World War I, Germany was buried in debt. By 1921, their currency had all collapsed. But Hugo, he saw it coming. He borrowed massive amounts of paper marks, which was worthless currency, and he bought real assets. He bought mines, factories, and real estate. As inflation exploded, the debt became worthless, but the assets skyrocketed in value. What's the lesson here? He used debt like a weapon and inflation did the rest. Does this sound familiar? Now, is the U.S. like Weimar Germany? No. But the mechanics and the fundamentals, they're eerily similar. It's not about hyperinflation. This is about financial engineering and one of the most powerful tools that the wealthy use, whether they know it or not. Say you lock a 30-year fixed mortgage at 2%, which I know is low, but just go with me. So now inflation is running 4% year over year. That means that every dollar you repay in the future is worth less than every dollar that you borrowed. You're paying the bank back with cheaper money, and over time, that 2% gets erased by inflation. One guy saves $100,000 in cash. The other guy borrows $1 million for real estate. Who wins? The guy who saves loses slowly because of the inflation. The guy who borrows smartly wins because the cost of the debt goes down over time because he's paying it back with cheaper dollars. So if you want to build wealth while the dollar is dying, you have to think differently. Use inflation. Don't fight it. Own assets. Borrow wisely and play for the long term because when currencies collapse, it's not the end. For those who are ready, this will be once in a lifetime. Gold is near all-time highs, but appreciation isn't the only way to benefit. Monetary metals, you could potentially earn a yield on your gold paid in physical gold without selling it. Here's how it works. When you lease your gold through their platform, pre-qualified companies pay to use it under strict guidelines, like renting out real estate, but with gold. Instead of paying to store your metal, you may earn up to 4% annually in gold. You stay in control and you can choose which leases to participate in. Monetary metals handles the due diligence, lease terms, and all the administration. Thousands of investors use this approach to grow their gold, not just sit on it. Visit monetary-metals.com forward slash Ken to learn more. Leasing gold involves risk and returns are not guaranteed. This is not an offer to buy or sell securities. Please review all risk disclosures at monetary-metals.com. Visit monetary-metals.com forward slash Ken to learn more. So this is exactly the example that I just gave you. So this is precisely why I buy real estate. For the tax benefits, for the cash flow, and for the inflation hedge. Because the cost of my real estate is going up with inflation. And I just showed you how inflation eroded the treasury bond. The purpose of real estate is to have cash flow, while a treasury bond, of course, doesn't have cash flow. And of course, because the government sucks at providing housing, they also give you tax benefits to offset any income you might get from cash flowing real estate. So some of you heard the example of my own father when he passed away and I had to dig into his estate. He had a $10,000 insurance policy that he had bought for my mom back in the 60s. And around the same time, they also bought a home for $10,700. Well, today that home was worth $700,000. And that insurance policy is worth $10,000. So what changed? Because my mom was a hairdresser and my dad was in construction and they were great people. But what changed? They are not real estate investors. What changed was inflation. The $10,000 insurance policy eroded with inflation. It bought less. And the $10,000 house, it rose with inflation. So this is the point. Think about from my dad's perspective back in the 60s. The insurance policy equaled the price of a house. And boy, did that change. So my final thoughts on the 60-40 strategy. It was never a good strategy. It's just more marketing from Wall Street. So if you want to see what I would do in 2026, and if I was starting over with no money, then watch this video on how I'd start over today. If I could start over.