September 22, 2025 • 8 mins
LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i
WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:
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The oldest Gen Xers are hitting 60—and their fears about retirement are real. Markowski revisits a warning he gave 30 years ago: don’t count on Social Security. From bad personal finance choices (like cashing out 401(k)s) to Washington’s endless promises, Gen X is stuck in the middle—too young to retire, too old to trust the system. With debates over raising the cap, extending the retirement age, and whether Social Security is just a Ponzi scheme with federal branding, this episode breaks down what’s ahead for the 65 million Americans in Generation X—and why “DIY retirement” may be the only option.
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i
WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:
https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured
The oldest Gen Xers are hitting 60—and their fears about retirement are real. Markowski revisits a warning he gave 30 years ago: don’t count on Social Security. From bad personal finance choices (like cashing out 401(k)s) to Washington’s endless promises, Gen X is stuck in the middle—too young to retire, too old to trust the system. With debates over raising the cap, extending the retirement age, and whether Social Security is just a Ponzi scheme with federal branding, this episode breaks down what’s ahead for the 65 million Americans in Generation X—and why “DIY retirement” may be the only option.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it will have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Ferris Bueller is worried about his retirement. All looks that way.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
As the first Gen xers turned sixty, their retirement anxiety grows. Guys,
I told you, I told you thirty years ago in
my newsletters before I had a radio show. As just
doing guest appearances, I warned my fellow generation to Gen
(00:44):
xers there that, yeah, don't count on getting Social Security.
Here's the story with the oldest Gen xers turning sixty
this year and the youngest ones in their mid forties.
Oh yes, advisors who haven't prioritized getting to know this
cohort of sixty five million maybe surprised by what they
find a whole lot of anxiety about retirement. Well again, yeah,
(01:07):
they were ignored by most of the Again it's the
way it is. There's great financial advisors out there, but
many of them they only deal with people that have
massive portfolios. We at Markowski Investments is different. We've been
addressing this issue. For some time, we have explained that
(01:30):
social Security I been saying this to people that if
you get it, congratulations my generation at gen xers, congratulations.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Don't plan on it.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Don't plan on it because the numbers didn't make sense
thirty years ago, when they most certainly don't make any
sense today. It is unfortunate, though, that many gen xers
did some really stupid things cashing out your four oh
one K you switch jobs rather than rolling over then
(02:02):
paying a penalty and paying attacks. Come on, okay, honestly
your own fault. You do stupid things like that. You
have to prepare for your future. Obviously, the concern is
right now, Oh my god. Uh, when am I going
to be able to retire? That depends on you. I
tell you that's that's completely on you and how much
(02:24):
you put away and whatnot. And again I've made my
feelings perfectly clear when it comes to uh, retirement and
what I think many people should be doing. You you
might have switch jobs later on in life, change careers,
but check out completely Uh huh, No way, no how,
I don't think it's healthy by any stretch of the imagination.
You just give yourself more anxiety, more angst, worried that
(02:48):
whether or not you're going to outlive your money anyway. Okay,
and the same topic this past weekend, okay, do you
had on Maria Barnaromo's program talking about reforms from Congress.
All these things are going to be debated. I think
(03:11):
everything's being considered, will be considered. This is the Social
Security Administration Commissioner Frank Biziganoh, he said it this past
week whether and he was asked whether or not he'd
consider raising the retirement age.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Again, they said everything was being considered.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
But the Trump administration says, no, way, no, how are
they going to do that. Following the statement, okay, he
had to give a clarifying remark. He obviously got scolded,
got scolded by the administration. He said, let me be clear,
President Trump and I will always protect Social Security, which
(03:50):
essentially as you're protecting a Ponzi scheme, because that's exactly
what it is.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
It's a ponzi scheme.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
That's why we have made many vital reforms, such as
cutting waste, fraud, and abuse from the program to ensure
the solvency of soci Security for future generations of Americans.
So cutting that waste, fraud and abuse has changed the
change the default to date from twenty to thirty four
as it changed it. No, hasn't done a damn thing.
(04:19):
Raising the retirement age is not under consideration at this
time by the administration.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
This is what he said.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
He said, Remember, most people told you and me social
Security wasn't going to be around, and so the generations
that are coming in will probably have a different set
of rules than we had. Okay, So basically it's going
to change for the younger generation out there, and I
definitely think they'll probably stick it to us gen xers.
(04:45):
I mean gonna be honest, we kind of get screwed
as gen xers. You got to think about how many
times we've had to rebuy music throughout our lifetimes. Holy crap,
we went from albums to eight tracks to cassettes. The
CDs times is gonna make us rebuy our music? But anyway,
uh not neither here nor there. They've got nothing. Now
(05:07):
you've got the other side. You got the left, You
got the Elizabeth Warrens of the world and the Robert
Reich's of the world out there. All we need to
do is we need to raise the cat got to
raise the cap on Social Security and the amount of
money that's being taken in, and rich people got to
pay more again, which is basically saying we're gonna keep
(05:31):
the Ponzi scheme going longer by collecting more money. Doesn't
change the fact that it's a Ponzi scheme and how
it will keep it running a little bit longer as
you have a flush of cash coming in. But lo
and behold, if you collect more money from people, you're
gonna have to pay them more. Well, you're gonna you're
(05:54):
gonna tax people all the way up to let's just
say you raise the capital let's say half a million dollars,
save raise a cap to half a million dollars. Aren't
you going to have to pay all of those people
more money based upon the fact that they contributed more
to Social Security. The only way you could get around
(06:15):
doing that, quite frankly, is to just, you know, let
everybody know that you're running a ponzi scheme in the
first place. You know, there's no lock box, there's no
there's no account anywhere, and you just reclassify the federal
withholding the fight attacks, reclassify for what it actually is
(06:35):
just tax.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
I mean you would have to do that.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
I mean, I doubt you would be able to sell
the BS notion you're going to be collecting more in
taxes from people but not paying them out any more.
So you know, therefore you would have to level and say, hey,
g whiz, Okay, we're just raising your taxes. We're all said,
and I think that's probably what's gonna happen. I think
(07:02):
that's probably what's going to happen down the road. And
then you know what you'll end up seeing as well
as you'll continue to see more people, wealthy people looking
to pick up alternative passports again at some point in time.
I mean, again, we're paying into this thing already. But
(07:23):
at least they cap it. At least they capped the
Ponzi scheme for everybody. You're going to get rid of
that cap. People's effective tax rates would again taken that
into consideration. Would be in certain states, you know how
expensive that would be. I oh, I know you're going
(07:45):
to get a couple of a little check in the
mail later on when you're getting your Social Security. But again,
these are people that don't need Social Security in the
first place. Again, I would I'd pay a chunk of
change to op out right now, if I could.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Maybe come up with some options like.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
That, buy your way out of it, you know, you
keep you know, if I could just say, you know what,
never have to pay me out, just don't collect any
more from me.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Could that be an option. I'd rather that quite frankly.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
But anyway, Yeah, the Ponzi scheme, the Ponzi.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Scheme is, it's still going, still going. Uh.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
You know, like I said, made off, madeoff Ponzi scheme
would have kept going too if it wasn't for the
financial crisis. But it was a Ponzi scheme watch dog
on Wall Street dot Com
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it will have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Ferris Bueller is worried about his retirement. All looks that way.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
As the first Gen xers turned sixty, their retirement anxiety grows. Guys,
I told you, I told you thirty years ago in
my newsletters before I had a radio show. As just
doing guest appearances, I warned my fellow generation to Gen
(00:44):
xers there that, yeah, don't count on getting Social Security.
Here's the story with the oldest Gen xers turning sixty
this year and the youngest ones in their mid forties.
Oh yes, advisors who haven't prioritized getting to know this
cohort of sixty five million maybe surprised by what they
find a whole lot of anxiety about retirement. Well again, yeah,
(01:07):
they were ignored by most of the Again it's the
way it is. There's great financial advisors out there, but
many of them they only deal with people that have
massive portfolios. We at Markowski Investments is different. We've been
addressing this issue. For some time, we have explained that
(01:30):
social Security I been saying this to people that if
you get it, congratulations my generation at gen xers, congratulations.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Don't plan on it.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Don't plan on it because the numbers didn't make sense
thirty years ago, when they most certainly don't make any
sense today. It is unfortunate, though, that many gen xers
did some really stupid things cashing out your four oh
one K you switch jobs rather than rolling over then
(02:02):
paying a penalty and paying attacks. Come on, okay, honestly
your own fault. You do stupid things like that. You
have to prepare for your future. Obviously, the concern is
right now, Oh my god. Uh, when am I going
to be able to retire? That depends on you. I
tell you that's that's completely on you and how much
(02:24):
you put away and whatnot. And again I've made my
feelings perfectly clear when it comes to uh, retirement and
what I think many people should be doing. You you
might have switch jobs later on in life, change careers,
but check out completely Uh huh, No way, no how,
I don't think it's healthy by any stretch of the imagination.
You just give yourself more anxiety, more angst, worried that
(02:48):
whether or not you're going to outlive your money anyway. Okay,
and the same topic this past weekend, okay, do you
had on Maria Barnaromo's program talking about reforms from Congress.
All these things are going to be debated. I think
(03:11):
everything's being considered, will be considered. This is the Social
Security Administration Commissioner Frank Biziganoh, he said it this past
week whether and he was asked whether or not he'd
consider raising the retirement age.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Again, they said everything was being considered.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
But the Trump administration says, no, way, no, how are
they going to do that. Following the statement, okay, he
had to give a clarifying remark. He obviously got scolded,
got scolded by the administration. He said, let me be clear,
President Trump and I will always protect Social Security, which
(03:50):
essentially as you're protecting a Ponzi scheme, because that's exactly
what it is.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
It's a ponzi scheme.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
That's why we have made many vital reforms, such as
cutting waste, fraud, and abuse from the program to ensure
the solvency of soci Security for future generations of Americans.
So cutting that waste, fraud and abuse has changed the
change the default to date from twenty to thirty four
as it changed it. No, hasn't done a damn thing.
(04:19):
Raising the retirement age is not under consideration at this
time by the administration.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
This is what he said.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
He said, Remember, most people told you and me social
Security wasn't going to be around, and so the generations
that are coming in will probably have a different set
of rules than we had. Okay, So basically it's going
to change for the younger generation out there, and I
definitely think they'll probably stick it to us gen xers.
(04:45):
I mean gonna be honest, we kind of get screwed
as gen xers. You got to think about how many
times we've had to rebuy music throughout our lifetimes. Holy crap,
we went from albums to eight tracks to cassettes. The
CDs times is gonna make us rebuy our music? But anyway,
uh not neither here nor there. They've got nothing. Now
(05:07):
you've got the other side. You got the left, You
got the Elizabeth Warrens of the world and the Robert
Reich's of the world out there. All we need to
do is we need to raise the cat got to
raise the cap on Social Security and the amount of
money that's being taken in, and rich people got to
pay more again, which is basically saying we're gonna keep
(05:31):
the Ponzi scheme going longer by collecting more money. Doesn't
change the fact that it's a Ponzi scheme and how
it will keep it running a little bit longer as
you have a flush of cash coming in. But lo
and behold, if you collect more money from people, you're
gonna have to pay them more. Well, you're gonna you're
(05:54):
gonna tax people all the way up to let's just
say you raise the capital let's say half a million dollars,
save raise a cap to half a million dollars. Aren't
you going to have to pay all of those people
more money based upon the fact that they contributed more
to Social Security. The only way you could get around
(06:15):
doing that, quite frankly, is to just, you know, let
everybody know that you're running a ponzi scheme in the
first place. You know, there's no lock box, there's no
there's no account anywhere, and you just reclassify the federal
withholding the fight attacks, reclassify for what it actually is
(06:35):
just tax.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
I mean you would have to do that.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
I mean, I doubt you would be able to sell
the BS notion you're going to be collecting more in
taxes from people but not paying them out any more.
So you know, therefore you would have to level and say, hey,
g whiz, Okay, we're just raising your taxes. We're all said,
and I think that's probably what's gonna happen. I think
(07:02):
that's probably what's going to happen down the road. And
then you know what you'll end up seeing as well
as you'll continue to see more people, wealthy people looking
to pick up alternative passports again at some point in time.
I mean, again, we're paying into this thing already. But
(07:23):
at least they cap it. At least they capped the
Ponzi scheme for everybody. You're going to get rid of
that cap. People's effective tax rates would again taken that
into consideration. Would be in certain states, you know how
expensive that would be. I oh, I know you're going
(07:45):
to get a couple of a little check in the
mail later on when you're getting your Social Security. But again,
these are people that don't need Social Security in the
first place. Again, I would I'd pay a chunk of
change to op out right now, if I could.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Maybe come up with some options like.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
That, buy your way out of it, you know, you
keep you know, if I could just say, you know what,
never have to pay me out, just don't collect any
more from me.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Could that be an option. I'd rather that quite frankly.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
But anyway, Yeah, the Ponzi scheme, the Ponzi.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Scheme is, it's still going, still going. Uh.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
You know, like I said, made off, madeoff Ponzi scheme
would have kept going too if it wasn't for the
financial crisis. But it was a Ponzi scheme watch dog
on Wall Street dot Com
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