‘They just changed the rules’: US Congress closes gap between everyday Americans and ultrarich, Tony Robbins claims

Jing PanWed, April 8, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC

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Tony Robbins attends the premiere of

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For years, some of the most lucrative corners of the investment world were effectively off-limits to ordinary Americans.

But according to bestselling author and motivational speaker Tony Robbins, that long-standing divide may soon be starting to close.

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In an appearance on The Iced Coffee Hour podcast, Robbins pointed to a recently passed House bill that he says could open the door to investing strategies once reserved for the country’s “very wealthy.”

“Did you see what they passed in Congress two days ago? It’s really important,” Robbins said (1), referring to the Incentivizing New Ventures and Economic Strength Through Capital Formation (INVEST) Act, which passed the House of Representatives in December 2025 (2).

One of the most consequential changes, Robbins argued, involves who is allowed to invest in private markets.

“It used to have a minimum net worth you have to have, or a minimum income,” he said. “They just changed the rules … all you have to do is take a test.”

Under current securities laws, access to many private investments is limited to accredited investors — a designation that generally requires a net worth of at least $1 million (excluding primary residence) or annual income above $200,000 for individuals, or $300,000 for couples (3).

Those thresholds have historically restricted participation in private equity, venture capital and other alternative investments to institutions and high-net-worth households.

The INVEST Act includes a provision titled “Equal opportunity for all investors,” which aims to update that framework.

Instead of qualifying solely through wealth or income, the bill would allow investors to become accredited by passing an exam approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission — potentially expanding access to millions of Americans.

Why does Robbins see access to private markets as such a big deal? Long-term returns.

“Up until now, let’s say you put money in the S&P 500 … So over the last 36 years, it’s had about a 9.5% return [annually] over time. If you had $1 million you put aside and you wake up 36 years later, it’s $26 million,” he said.

“Private equity has compounded … basic private equity, like not the great ones, 15.5% — so almost 50% faster per year. What does that mean? Same $1 million. Instead of being worth $26 million, it’s worth $142 million.”

Robbins did not cite sources for those return figures, but some research suggests that over the long haul, private equity has outpaced the S&P 500 — albeit with lower liquidity (4).

Navigating the current market

For context, the S&P 500 is down by 3.53% since the start of 2026 (5), while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped by 5.86% in the first quarter (6).

In light of this slump, people may consider private markets a safer bet. Keep in mind, though, that these markets are having their own struggles right now. For example, amid reports about unrecognized risks, some retail investors are pulling their money out of private credit funds, leading to outflows and technical weakness in the market (7).

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Read More: 5 essential moves to make once you’ve saved $50,000

Gaining access to a lucrative sector

Ultimately, Robbins applauded the broader idea behind the legislation, arguing that allowing more Americans to invest in private businesses helps level the playing field.

“I’d prefer to focus on what people can take advantage of if they really want to grow at the same rate as anybody else who’s very wealthy,” he said.

“Because the wealthy have had that exclusively for them. You couldn’t get in it before — but that’s changing. And I think that’s one of the good things that Congress is doing.”

To be sure, nothing is set in stone yet. The INVEST Act still needs to clear the Senate, and it remains unclear when a vote will take place — or whether lawmakers will approve the bill in its current form.

But you can move like an accredited investor in the meantime. One excellent long-term strategy for developing wealth is to explore investing in real estate through assets such as the $34 trillion U.S. home equity market (8).

You can tap into this market via real estate platforms like Arrived.

Backed by world-class investors, including Jeff Bezos, Arrived allows you to invest in shares of vacation and rental properties, earning a passive income stream without the extra work that comes with being a landlord of your own rental property.

To get started, simply browse through their selection of vetted properties, each picked for their potential appreciation and income generation. Once you choose a property, you can start investing with as little as $100, potentially earning monthly dividends.

The $26.2 trillion commercial real estate sector represents another solid investment opportunity (9) — particularly the multifamily and industrial markets.

If diversifying into multifamily and industrial rentals appeals to you, you could consider investing with Lightstone DIRECT, a new investing platform from the Lightstone Group, one of the largest private real estate companies in the country with over 25,000 multifamily units in its portfolio.

Since they eliminate intermediaries — brokers and crowdfunding middlemen — accredited investors with a minimum investment of $100,000 can gain direct access to institutional-quality multifamily opportunities. This streamlined model can help reduce fees while enhancing transparency and control.

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And with Lightstone DIRECT, you invest in single-asset multifamily deals alongside Lightstone — a true partner — as Lightstone puts at least 20% of its own capital into every offering. All of Lightstone’s investment opportunities undergo a rigorous, multistage review before being approved by Lightstone’s Principals, including Founder David Lichtenstein.

How it works is simple: Just sign up with your email, and you can schedule a call with a capital formation expert to assess your investment opportunities. From here, all you have to do is verify your details to begin investing.

Founded in 1986, Lightstone has a proven track record of delivering strong risk-adjusted returns across market cycles with a 27.6% historical net IRR and 2.54x historical net equity multiple on realized investments since 2004. All told, Lightstone has $12 billion in assets under management — including in industrial and commercial real estate.

As such, even if multifamily rentals don’t appeal to you, Lightstone could still serve you well as an investment vehicle for other real estate verticals.

Get started today with Lightstone DIRECT and invest alongside experienced professionals with skin in the game.

The ‘holy grail’ of investing

To explain his investing philosophy, Robbins recalled a conversation he once had with Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates.

Robbins said he asked Dalio a simple question: What’s the single most important investment principle you could teach another human being?

“Tony, you have to understand, all investing is risk-reward,” Dalio replied. “So the more you can reduce your risk but have upside reward, the better it is. But there’s only one way to do that consistently without luck.”

Dalio’s answer, Robbins said, was what he calls the “holy grail” of investing: diversification across truly uncorrelated assets.

“If you have eight to 12 uncorrelated investments … you reduce your risk 80% and you gently increase your upside. There’s no loss on your upside,” Robbins recalled Dalio saying.

The idea resonated enough that Robbins eventually decided to write a book centered on that principle. Still, he acknowledged that putting it into practice has become more challenging over time, because “many things are aligned across markets today.”

The good news? Dalio has continued to emphasize the importance of one particular diversifier in building a resilient portfolio, an asset that still stands out: gold.

“People don’t have, typically, an adequate amount of gold in their portfolio,” he told CNBC last year (10). “When bad times come, gold is a very effective diversifier.”

Long viewed as the ultimate safe haven, gold isn’t tied to any single country, currency or economy. It can’t be printed out of thin air like fiat money, and in times of economic turmoil or geopolitical uncertainty, investors tend to pile in — driving up its value.

Gold reached historic highs of $5,602 per ounce in January (11), and it could surpass a record $6,000 this year, according to investors (12).

One way to invest in gold that also provides significant tax advantages is to open a gold IRA with the help of Thor Metals.

Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, which combines the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold — making it an attractive option for those looking to potentially hedge their retirement funds against economic uncertainties.

To learn more, you can get a free information guide to find out how gold can help protect and preserve your wealth.

An overlooked alternative asset

Prominent investors like Dalio often stress the importance of diversification, and for good reason. Many traditional assets tend to move in tandem, especially during periods of market stress.

That message feels especially relevant today. Nearly 40% of the S&P 500’s weight is concentrated in its 10 largest stocks (13), and the index’s CAPE ratio hasn’t been this high since the dot-com boom (14).

This is where, for many investors, alternative assets come into play. These can include everything from real estate and precious metals to private equity and collectibles.

But there’s one store of value that routinely flies under the radar. It’s scarce by design, coveted worldwide and frequently locked away by institutions.

We’re talking about fine art — an asset that has posted positive returns over 20 years, highlighting solid long-term investment potential. And with its moderate relationship with traditional markets, this alternative investment could help protect against inflation, especially amid global economic uncertainty (15).

It’s easy to see why art pieces often fetch new highs at auctions. The supply of the best works of art is limited, and many of the most desirable pieces have already been snatched up by museums and collectors. That scarcity can also make art an attractive option for investors looking to diversify and preserve wealth over the long term.

Until recently, purchasing art has been a domain reserved for the ultrawealthy — like in 2022 when a collection of art owned by the late Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen sold for $1.5 billion at Christie’s, making it the most valuable collection in auction history (16).

Now, Masterworks — a platform for investing in shares of blue-chip artwork by renowned artists, including Pablo Picasso, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Banksy — can help you get started with this asset class.

Simply browse their impressive portfolio of paintings and choose how many shares you’d like to buy. Masterworks can handle all the details, making high-end art investments both accessible and effortless.

Masterworks has sold 27 artworks so far, yielding net annualized returns like 14.6%, 17.6% and 17.8%.*

New offerings have sold out in minutes, but you can skip their waitlist here.

*Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Investing involves risk. See important Regulation A disclosures at Masterworks.com/cd.

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Article sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

The Iced Coffee Hour (1); Congress.gov (2); U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (3); McKinsey & Company (4); Yahoo Finance (5), (6); Goldman Sachs (7); Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (8); Clarion Partners (9); CNBC International Live (10); APMEX (11); Reuters (12); Business Insider (13); YCharts (14); Deloitte (15); Christie’s (16)

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

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Source: “AOL Money”