Elon Musk warns US will be ‘toast’ if 1 problem isn’t solved — says the government is ‘basically unfixable.’ Prepare now
Getty Images
Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk had quite a ride heading the Department of Government Efficiency — an initiative designed to slash federal waste.
Speaking at the recent “All In Summit,” Musk described his stint in Washington as “a hell of a side quest” and didn’t hold back when asked what he’d learned [1].
“The government is basically unfixable,” he declared, drawing laughter — and then applause — from the audience.
According to DOGE’s website, the initiative has racked up an estimated $206 billion in savings, though critics have questioned the math [2].
For Musk, the real problem is America’s ballooning debt.
“It’s good to have talented people in the administration. But at the end of the day, if you look at our national debt, which is insanely high, the interest payments exceed the Defense Department — I guess, sorry, War Department budget — and they keep rising,” he said.
The numbers back him up. Treasury data show the U.S. paid $933 billion in net interest in fiscal-year-to-date 2025 — more than the $841 billion spent on defense.
That reality underpins Musk’s stark warning: “So if AI and robots don’t solve our national debt, we’re toast.”
Musk isn’t the only billionaire sounding alarms. Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, has long cautioned that America is heading toward a “debt death spiral,” where the government must borrow simply to pay interest — a vicious cycle that accelerates over time.
With the U.S. national debt at $37.45 trillion, that scenario is no longer far-fetched.
Dalio doesn’t expect an outright default, but he sees another danger: currency erosion.
“There won’t be a default — the central bank will come in and we’ll print the money and buy it,” he said. “And that’s where there’s the depreciation of money.”
The dollar’s shrinking buying power is familiar to Americans. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis [3], $100 in 2025 buys what just $12.05 could in 1970.
“People don’t have, typically, an adequate amount of gold in their portfolio,” he told CNBC earlier this year. “When bad times come, gold is a very effective diversifier.”
Unlike fiat currencies, gold can’t be printed at will by central banks or governments. It’s also widely regarded as the ultimate safe haven. Gold is not tied to any one country, currency or economy and in times of economic turmoil or geopolitical uncertainty, investors often flock to it — driving prices higher.
Over the past 12 months, the price of the precious metal has surged by more than 40%.
Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, thereby combining the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold, making it an option for those looking to help shield their retirement funds against economic uncertainties.
Musk has also shared thoughts on how individuals can protect themselves when the dollar is losing value.
“It is generally better to own physical things like a home or stock in companies you think make good products, than dollars when inflation is high,” he wrote on X back in 2022 — shortly before U.S. inflation spiked to a 40-year high [5].
Musk had a point about “physical things like a home.” Consider this: the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index has climbed more than 50% over the past five years [6].
In fact, real estate is known as a classic hedge against inflation. As the cost of materials, labor and land rises, home values often increase in tandem. Rental income also tends to move higher, providing landlords with a cash flow that adjusts with inflation.
These days, you don’t need to buy a house outright to benefit from real estate investing. Crowdfunding platforms like Arrived offer an easier way to get exposure to this income-generating asset class.
The process is simple: browse a curated selection of homes that have been vetted for their appreciation and income potential. Once you find a property you like, select the number of shares you’d like to purchase and then sit back as you start receiving any positive rental income distributions from your investment.
Another option is First National Realty Partners (FNRP), which allows accredited investors to diversify their portfolio through grocery-anchored commercial properties without taking on the responsibilities of being a landlord.
With a minimum investment of $50,000, investors can own a share of properties leased by national brands like Whole Foods, Kroger and Walmart, which provide essential goods to their communities. Thanks to Triple Net (NNN) leases, accredited investors are able to invest in these properties without worrying about tenant costs cutting into their potential returns.
Simply answer a few questions — including how much you would like to invest — to start browsing their full list of available properties.
Musk also highlighted “stock in companies you think make good products” as a smarter alternative to holding cash when inflation is high.
That idea resonates with many seasoned investors — but it naturally raises a question: how do you choose the right companies?
One of the world’s most respected investors, Warren Buffett, offers a straightforward answer: skip the stock picking and simply own the S&P 500.
“In my view, for most people, the best thing to do is own the S&P 500 index fund,” Buffett has famously stated [4].
This approach gives investors exposure to 500 of America’s largest companies across a wide range of industries, providing instant diversification without the need for constant monitoring or active management.
The beauty of this approach is its accessibility — anyone, regardless of wealth, can take advantage of it. Even small amounts can grow over time with tools like Acorns, a popular app that automatically invests your spare change.
Signing up for Acorns takes just minutes: link your cards and Acorns will round up each purchase to the nearest dollar, investing the difference — your spare change — into a diversified portfolio.
With Acorns, you can invest in an S&P 500 ETF with as little as $5 — and, if you sign up today, Acorns will add a $20 bonus to help you begin your investment journey.
Join 200,000+ readers and get Moneywise’s best stories and exclusive interviews first — clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now.
At Moneywise, we consider it our responsibility to produce accurate and trustworthy content people can rely on to inform their financial decisions. We rely on vetted sources such as government data, financial records and expert interviews and highlight credible third-party reporting when appropriate.
We are committed to transparency and accountability, correcting errors openly and adhering to the best practices of the journalism industry. For more details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
SOCHI: Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on Thursday at the Valdai Discussion Club, a forum of Russia experts, in the city of Sochi. He spoke in Russian, and his words are translated by Reuters. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin speaks during the Valdai Discussion Club annual international conference in Sochi, Russia, October 2, 2025. (via REUTERS)
Paralysed banks, grounded planes and chaotic hospitals: for two days, life ground to a halt in Afghanistan after the Taliban unexpectedly cut off the internet and phone networks. Some residents of Herat and Kandahar travelled to border towns to pick up signal from neighbouring Iran and Pakistan.(AFP) Authorities had for weeks been restricting broadband access
European Union leaders mulled a proposal to use billions of euros in Russian assets to finance a reparations loan for Ukraine during two days of consultations in Copenhagen. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that he expects a decision on within the next weeks, despite strong criticism from Belgium where the funds are frozen.
Wake up. Hailey Bieber’s Rhode is adding to its existing product suite with a new, caffeine-infused innovation named Peptide Eye Prep. Available to purchase starting Oct. 9, these hydrogel eye patches, priced at $25, are designed to depuff and brighten the under eye in the morning and at night, using a coffee bean-derived antioxidant, sodium
Source: Kanal13 on YouTube The glow that lit up the central Russian sky on Wednesday was not the usual rose-fingered dawn. The Yaroslavl oil refinery, Russia’s oldest and fifth largest, went up in flames just before 6.30am local time. The regional governor immediately denied that it had anything to do with Ukrainian drones, blaming the
Dutch military photos showed an F-35 stealth fighter sporting a fresh drone-shaped kill mark after the advanced jet was used to shoot down Russian drones that violated alliance airspace. The images from the Netherlands’ defense ministry show the marking on the fuselage, just below the cockpit. The marking, not displayed on other F-35 fighter jets,
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has ICE agents literally raining from the sky. Videos show Black Hawk helicopters flying above Chicago, where NewsNation reports ICE agents rappelled out of choppers onto an apartment building’s rooftop during an overnight raid against alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The massive action—carried out in the
Mark SimpsonCommunity correspondent, BBC News NI Pacemaker Mr Coulter, pictured outside court on Monday, denies five charges, including fraud and transferring criminal property A court has been told that the former head of a leading Belfast law firm tried to hide a multi-million-pound payment which was received from Northern Ireland’s biggest property deal. Ian Coulter,
