Dear Reader,
Look, Affirm just announced something that honestly should scare the hell out of you.
They're piloting this program to let renters split their monthly rent into two biweekly payments.
Zero percent APR. No hidden fees. No late fees. No compounding interest.
BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) Loans for Rent Signals Economic Collapse: Affirm is partnering with Esusu to let renters split monthly rent into biweekly payments at 0% APR
The Debt Trap Hides Behind "Flexibility": While marketed as aligning paychecks, managing multiple BNPL loans for recurring rent creates a dangerous cycle
This Isn't a Solution, It's a Symptom: The fact that companies see big profit opportunities in financing basic rent payments proves wages are too low
The Ticking Clock on Your Dollars: Every day you wait past the January 28th meeting, your savings could be worth less and less. The time to act is now.
Sounds pretty helpful on the surface, right?
But here's the thing. It's actually terrifying when you think about it.
What This Really Tells Us
Think about what this actually means for a second.
People can't afford to pay their rent monthly anymore.
And we're not talking about rent being some kind of luxury here. We're talking about basic shelter.
Wages haven't kept up with housing costs for decades now.
So these financial technology companies are stepping in with their "solutions."
But let's be honest about what's really happening. They're profiting from your inability to afford a roof over your head.
Here's How the Whole Thing Works
So Affirm is partnering with this company called Esusu.
Esusu's a financial technology platform that helps renters build credit by reporting their on-time rent payments to credit bureaus.
The pilot program they're running splits your monthly rent into two equal payments. You pay every two weeks.
Perfectly aligned with your biweekly paycheck, right?
Affirm says they underwrite every single application individually. They only approve people for what they believe you can responsibly afford to repay.
They're calling it "a transparent option that offers flexibility."
Me? I call it a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound.
The Problem Nobody Wants to Talk About
Here's what really worries me about this whole thing.
This isn't your typical pay-in-four BNPL loan. But the risks? Pretty much the same.
Matt Schulz from LendingTree pointed out the most obvious danger here.
You could still be paying off last month's BNPL rent loan when this month's rent comes due.
Think about that for a second. That gets messy really fast.
Welcome to the Debt Juggling Act
Look, BNPL can actually be useful when you use it wisely for one-time purchases.
Buy a couch. Pay it off in installments. Fine.
But rent isn't a one-time thing. It's recurring. Every single month without fail.
The real danger with BNPL is when you're managing multiple loans at the same time.
That gets tricky fast. Especially if you're not really used to managing credit effectively.
Now imagine layering all that complexity onto your most essential expense.
Your housing.
See the problem?
There's Another Critical Issue Here
The other key thing about this? The payment method ties directly to your debit card or checking account.
Which means you absolutely need enough cash sitting in that account to cover the payment when it hits.
Miss one payment because your account's running short? The whole system collapses on you.
And unlike with a credit card, there's no grace period to catch up.
You're just done.
Let's Talk About What This Really Means
Step back for a second and look at what's actually happening here.
Companies are literally creating financial products specifically because Americans can't afford basic rent payments anymore.
That's not innovation, folks. That's desperation being monetized.
When you need an installment plan just to afford basic shelter, the economy isn't working for you.
It's failing you. Catastrophically.
The Crisis Nobody's Addressing
Wages have been basically stagnant for decades now.
Meanwhile, housing costs have absolutely exploded.
The gap between what people actually earn and what housing actually costs has become completely unbridgeable for millions of Americans.
So instead of fixing that gap, what do we do?
We create financial products to help people temporarily jump over it.
While making someone else rich in the process, of course.
This Just Normalizes Being Poor
Here's what really bothers me about this whole thing.
It normalizes the fact that people can't afford their rent.
It literally makes poverty management into a legitimate business model.
Instead of asking the hard question—why do Americans need payment plans for basic housing—we celebrate the companies providing those payment plans.
We treat the symptom. We completely ignore the actual disease.
Looking at the Bigger Picture
Affirm sees this as a business opportunity. A market need they can step in and fill.
And you know what? They're absolutely right. The need definitely exists.
But here's my point. The need shouldn't exist in the first place.
In a functioning economy, people working full-time jobs should be able to afford basic rent without having to finance it in installments.
The fact that they can't? That tells you absolutely everything about how broken the system has become.
The Risk Everyone's Ignoring
What happens when the next economic shock hits us?
When people are already financing their rent biweekly, where's the financial buffer?
One missed paycheck. One unexpected expense. One medical bill you didn't see coming.
The whole financial structure just collapses completely.
And then what happens? Eviction?
Think about that.
Why This Keeps Me Up at Night
Look, I get it. I understand Affirm is genuinely trying to help here.
Zero percent APR is definitely better than predatory lending.
But this is still just a symptom of a much, much larger problem we're not addressing.
Housing costs are completely out of control. Wages haven't kept pace for decades. Inflation has absolutely destroyed people's purchasing power.
And instead of fixing those root causes, what are we doing?
We're creating increasingly complex financial instruments to help people barely survive.
What the Real Solution Looks Like
You actually want to help renters for real?
Build way more housing. Drive costs down through basic supply and demand.
Raise wages so they actually match real living costs.
Stop treating housing purely as an investment vehicle that must appreciate in value forever.
Make it genuinely possible for people to afford basic shelter without needing financial engineering to pull it off.
That's the real solution.
Here's the Bottom Line
Affirm's rent payment program isn't evil or anything.
But it absolutely shouldn't need to exist.
The fact that it does exist—and that companies see massive profit opportunities in it—tells you the economy isn't working for regular people anymore.
When you need what amounts to a loan just to pay your monthly rent, you're not thriving.
You're just surviving.
Barely.
And that's not a business opportunity we should be celebrating.
It's a full-blown crisis we need to actually fix.
So What's It Going to Be, America?
Your choice here is pretty simple.
We can keep creating more and more financial products to help people manage their poverty.
Or we can actually fix the system that created poverty in the first place.
I know which one I'd choose.
How about you?
Robert Kiyosaki
Robert Kiyosaki
Editor, Money Power and Profit
P.S. STOP! Don't You DARE Buy Gold Right Now.
I don't care if gold is at $4,700. I don't care if J.P. Morgan says it's going to $5,000 or higher this year. If you buy gold now, you're making a costly mistake. There's a smarter play that could hand you 11X the profits. But the window closes on December 10th when a government meeting changes everything.