2026 predictions
AI wearables, new wealth, one-person unicorns
Happy Sunday RF crew!
Hopefully you’ve had a chance to disconnect from screens and enjoy some quality time with loved ones. We were in southern AZ for the holidays and loved every minute of it. I returned home to discover the wildly popular La La Land has officially opened doors on their first cafe in Scottsdale. With a second location opening on 44th Street in a few weeks. I have my eye on the French Toast Latte.
As mentioned last week, we are diving into 2026 predictions today. The “Weekly Brief” format returns again next week.
I like predictions because they’re interesting and useful for deciding where to allocate attention and capital in the new year.
In today’s post, we’ll cover 10 Rich Future bets across AI, money, work, media… plus a new category I haven’t written much about here yet, which I think becomes impossible to ignore in 2026.
Let’s get into the future.
AI
Prediction #1: The 'AI is taking jobs' narrative reverses
4.4M people saw this tweet last week:
And hundreds of comments voiced their agreement. This is the cost of two years of “AI will replace your job” marketing. AI’s biggest companies: Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic all led with displacement as a value prop. And it worked for adoption in enterprise… while backfiring with everyday consumers who now see AI as a threat.
When a huge percentage of the population is anti-innovation, we have a huge problem.
2026 is when the story changes.
AI is already creating roles that didn’t exist 18 months ago. I previously covered some of them in this Brief. This year, more of these roles will become visible and widely discussed. Expect major studies, better reporting, and a messaging pivot from "AI replaces jobs" to "AI creates new categories of work."
The companies seeking mass adoption (and investors seeking returns) will reframe by necessity.
Prediction #2: AI wearables capture 20% of smartphone interactions by Q4 2026
Meta sold 2M Ray-Ban smart glasses by late 2025 and is scaling production to 10M units by end of 2026.
Google's launching Android XR glasses in partnership with Warby Parker, Samsung, and Gentle Monster.
Apple's rumored to enter by late 2026.
AI wearables do things like: draft texts, answer questions, plan your day, translate speech, record voice notes, hands-free navigation, and other tasks all without you needing to pull out your phone.
By Q4 2026, I expect AI wearables to handle 20% of previous smartphone interactions for people who adopt them. This category scales through ambient behavior change. Meta, Google, and Apple are all betting the same direction. Combine this with people’s desire to get off their phones and you get an accelerated adoption curve.
Money
Prediction #3: Prediction markets will replace polling as primary electoral intelligence for 2026 U.S. mid-terms
Polymarket called the 2024 presidential election days before Election Day. While media outlets were still analyzing “too close to call” scenarios, prediction markets had already priced in the outcome with accuracy.
Polls ask what people think. Prediction markets ask what people are willing to bet money on. When there’s skin in the game, that incentive structure surfaces truth faster than any survey methodology. Add real-time transparency so anyone can see exactly where the money is flowing… and you get intelligence that updates by the minute instead of the news cycle.
I expect major media outlets to cite Kalshi and Polymarket ahead of traditional polling in the 2026 mid-terms. Google already integrated both into Search results in 2025. Election coverage will shift to “prediction markets are pricing in X and Y…” and with that, the polling industry’s relevance becomes obsolete.
Prediction #4: More wealth will be created through tokenized assets than traditional equity in 2026
Coinbase launched tokenized stock trading in 2025. Robinhood's building the same infrastructure. BlackRock has its tokenized BUIDL Fund. I expect at least one major traditional financial player (ie: Fidelity, JP Morgan, or Schwab) to announce tokenization partnerships in 2026.
This all unlocks fractional ownership of assets that were previously gatekept to accredited investors and institutions. Would you like exposure to pre-IPO companies like SpaceX? Tokenization lets you buy in with $100 instead of needing 6-figure minimums and venture fund access. Same with real estate. Tokenized commercial property and rental portfolios become accessible without $500K down payments.
New wealth gets created when these assets appreciate and regular people are actually holding them. For decades, the biggest returns happened in private markets that most people couldn't access. Tokenization changes that. By Q4 2026, I expect more new wealth to be created through tokenized asset appreciation than traditional equity compensation. The platforms are live. Regulatory clarity is improving. Capital follows infrastructure.
Work & Leverage
Prediction #5: First creator media business hits $1B valuation by 2027
I’m excited for this one.
In 2025, Steven Bartlett's media company steven.com raised $100M at a $425M valuation.
Alex Cooper recently launched Unwell Creative Agency in October with Google as her first client, adding to her $125M SiriusXM deal, 7-show podcast network, and TV production arm.
And while MrBeast has Beast Industries valued at $5B, it’s a diversified holding company spanning CPG, food service, and media (not a pure creator media play.)
My bet is that it’s either Alex Cooper or Steven Bartlett to hit a $1B valuation by February 2027. Both have the infrastructure, audience control, and diversified revenue. And if either launches a recurring live franchise (see Prediction #7), that revenue stream alone could accelerate the timeline.
By 2026, one announces a funding round that gets them within striking distance.
By 2027, they cross $1B.
Prediction #6: Day-trading becomes a viable career path for Gen Z
The soft corporate labor market of 2025 is already pushing Gen Z toward alternative income streams. I predict day-trading is about to become one of them. This will be an interesting one because gambling is still a real risk and the market will likely be more difficult to navigate in 2026 as a retail investor than it was in 2025, but there’s more tools, education, and transparency than ever before.
Robinhood Social launches in 2026 with verified trade transparency. You can see exactly what successful traders are doing in real time, which reduces the influence of not after-the-fact screenshots that could be faked. Combine that with better education (free courses, community-driven strategy breakdowns), improved tools (AI-assisted analysis, real-time alerts), and transparent performance tracking, and you get an entirely different risk profile than the 2020 meme-stock chaos.
This won’t be everyone.
But… for Gen Z facing weak hiring and stagnant entry-level salaries, day-trading could become a legit income diversification strategy. I already see many content creator/day-trader hybrids posting on X in the age range of 19-23. As Robinhood Social gains traction and the community matures, the “I quit my corporate job to trade full-time” posts will become common across media platforms.
Media
Prediction #7: The first creator-owned live franchise hits $50M+ revenue
Dancing with the Stars and Love Island were huge cultural moments in 2025. DWTS has live voting. Love Island has a live voting component and 24-48 hour turnaround time between filming and episode release for viewing. I predict we’ll see the first creator-owned version of this in 2026. Could be Alex Cooper or Alix Earle. Possibly Steven Bartlett. Unlikely to be MrBeast since he has Beast Games.
This won’t be a tour, since those already exist. I’m talking about recurring, appointment-based live content with predictable cadence and full IP control. Live, ticketed, streamed, and built to become something people plan weekends or trips around.
The top creators have already figured out digital monetization. Live events are where the next level of revenue growth happens. Some creators are already exploring this through the standard “tour” format. I believe 2026 is the year we see creator-owned live events become franchises vs. one-off activations.
Prediction #8: 25% of top creators (100K+) reduce posting frequency by 50%+ on IG/TikTok
I've been writing about creators migrating to Substack since I launched Rich Future in March 2025. It felt early then.
By Q4 2026, I expect this pattern becomes measurable with 25% of top creators (100K+ followers) reducing their Instagram and TikTok posting frequency by 50% or more.
AI-generated content is flooding both platforms, making it harder for human creators to break through. Who wants to compete with a robot? It also adds significant friction for consumers who simply want to enjoy content from their favorite creators without paying the AI slop tax.
Meanwhile, platforms like Substack, beehiiv, and ShopMy are giving creators full control over their audience relationships and revenue. I’m also excited about Robinhood Social launching in 2026 with verified trade transparency, which adds another owned-channel option for finance and business creators.
I predict someone like Steven Bartlett or Alix Earle will scale back in 2026. Steven recently moved to LA to expand his media empire. Alix built her entire brand on authenticity and platforms flooding feeds with AI content directly undermines that. I doubt many (if any) of these top creators will make an announcement or dramatic exit. It’ll look like a quiet reprioritization in favor of owned channels.
In 2026, we’re going to be exploring more wellness, longevity, and IRL experience topics alongside our core Rich Future topic categories.
My mission for this brand is empowering readers with full-spectrum news and market opportunities for building Rich Futures.
What’s wealth without health?
Wellness/IRL
Prediction #9: Full-body MRI goes mainstream for high-earners
Full-body MRI platforms like Prenuvo hit 130,000+ scans by mid-2025 at $2,500 per scan. This technology is part of rapidly-growing longevity market which is projected to hit $8T by 2030.
I predict 2026 is the year full-body MRI subscriptions become standard for people earning $200K+. We’re in the early innings of a culture shift from reactive healthcare (wait until something’s wrong) to proactive healthcare (find it before symptoms appear.)
The math: $2,500 to potentially save millions in treatment costs + years of earning capacity.
If executives and other high-earners are living and working productively into their 70s-80s, the average retirement timeline gets extended. This also gets me thinking about real estate and geography implications. Cities with the best longevity infrastructure will become more expensive.
Prediction #10: Experiential spending (travel, events, IRL experiences) exceeds goods spending for Millennials and Gen Z by 2027
Gen Z travelers already spend an average of $11.7K annually on travel. Higher than any other generation. In 2026, 56% of Gen Z and 48% of Millennials plan to travel more than they did in 2025, with Americans overall increasing travel budgets by 12%.
By 2027, I expect Gen Z and Millennials will spend more on experiential categories (travel, events, live experiences) than on discretionary consumer goods (fashion, electronics, home decor).
When AI makes digital content abundant and free, scarcity shifts to physical presence. We can't automate attending Coachella or watching the sunset from Machu Picchu. Being there is the status signal. And for Gen Z (age 13-28) specifically, they are in peak identity formation years where experiences shape their sense of self so of course… they’re hungry for more.
I expect 'buy now, pay later' to expand rapidly into travel and events in 2026. We already see Affirm for concert tickets and Klarna for flights. Prepare for the entire consumer finance stack to reorient around funding experiences, not things.
What’s Next
I’ll be tracking these throughout 2026 in the Weekly Brief.
Are you building in any of these categories?
Or see signals I’m missing?
Reply and let me know.
See you next Sunday.
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