October 21, 2025 • 6 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:
https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured
Goldman Sachs has coined a new buzzword — the “optimism gap” — to describe Americans who think they’re on track for retirement even as most admit they’ll outlive their savings. But as Chris Markowski explains, the problem isn’t optimism — it’s delusion sold by Wall Street and fueled by unrealistic expectations. In this episode of Watchdog on Wall Street, he breaks down why retirement as we know it is a modern invention, why the math behind pensions and Social Security no longer works, and how facing financial reality — not chasing buzzwords — is the key to real freedom and longevity.
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
Goldman Sachs has coined a new buzzword — the “optimism gap” — to describe Americans who think they’re on track for retirement even as most admit they’ll outlive their savings. But as Chris Markowski explains, the problem isn’t optimism — it’s delusion sold by Wall Street and fueled by unrealistic expectations. In this episode of Watchdog on Wall Street, he breaks down why retirement as we know it is a modern invention, why the math behind pensions and Social Security no longer works, and how facing financial reality — not chasing buzzwords — is the key to real freedom and longevity.
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 we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Ehw, we got ourselves in another Wall Street buzzphrase. Yep,
Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs is calling it the optimism gap.
All no, No, basically people feeling again it this makes
no sense.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
I'll basically tell you what their study says.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Seventy percent of Americans say saving for retirement. There they're
right on track, right on track with their goal. Yet
sixty percent said they expect to outlive their savings. So
(01:00):
your goal, your goal was to save and then not
save enough, is what you're saying. Again, no sense, But hey,
it's a great marketing opportunity for Wall Street. What is
This is what Goldman Sachs is calling the optimism gap,
and it shows how difficult it is for American workers
to save for retirement, giving rise and costs and competing
(01:23):
financial priorities. Our research this year so is at forty
two percent of young workers, which include Gen Z millennials
and Gen X courts are living paycheck to paycheck, and
nearly three quarters say they struggle to save for retirement.
If their current trends continue, more than half of US
(01:44):
workers could be living paycheck to paycheck by twenty thirty three,
underscoring how retirement is becoming unaffordable for many. Okay, first
and foremost, Yeah, many people, especially young people, most of
them are living paycheck to paycheck unless mom and dad
are backing them up.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
That's just reality. Okay.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, when I was young and working my way up
in New York City, I was living paycheck to paycheck.
And yeah, when you're younger and you're living paycheck to paycheck,
it's a little bit more difficult to save money. There's
no doubt about that. Again, we've discussed the importance of
paying yourself and taking some dollar amount and doing it
(02:30):
on a regular basis, but not everyone will actually do that.
Retirement becoming unaffordable for many. Here's a retirement reality for you.
Retirement is a fairly new concept.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
It is. It is a fairly new concept. For most
of world history.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
People would just keep working again, I could thank the
Kaiser in Germany a mid eighteen hundreds started a social
security program. There, we kind of took the ball and
ran with it over here. You know, FDR was well
(03:18):
aware of the fact that the program he put together
was unsustainable. For a period of time, the demographics made
sense where pensions were being offered on a regular basis,
but that again, it didn't last very long. Okay, the
whole pension concept was fairly new, and to be honest,
(03:40):
I mean, you know anybody who was a you know,
government worker, pension worker, you know, early tier people, you
could take about take a look at the types of
deals that they received for retirement. Yeah, unsustainable simply based
upon demographics. The numbers don't work anymore. Can you apply this,
(04:08):
apply this to you know, social security? And again we
just it's the numbers don't add up. The numbers don't
add up. And one of the things that we try
to teach people here is you face face facts, face facts,
understanding where you are, where you're going to be. You know,
(04:30):
don't let it eat you alive in the sense that, oh,
I'm not going to be able to check out at
sixty two or sixty five. You might want to switch careers.
We've often told people, hey, maybe the right step for
you might be having a three day work week, may
want to take a little sabbatical after you leave that
first job. Not to mention the fact it's a much
healthier existence. Medical care is going to continue to get better.
(04:53):
People are going to be able to live longer, healthier lives.
To take care of yourself.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Guess what somebody alive today is going to.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Be living to one hundred and twenty one hundred and thirty. Again,
the medical advancement that we see on a regular basis
is off the charts.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
So the idea that hey, you.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Know, I'm going to work for work for a couple
decades and a half and then I'm going to check
out forever, well maybe not. Maybe you can, but for
most people know that that's not going to be the case.
And the sooner we deal with this reality of the terrain,
the better off we're going to be. This is not
(05:42):
new for my regular listeners. We have talked about this
for some you know, twenty five years on air, even
prior to that in the newsletter.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Have a reality based I want to call it a plan.
I say, you know you want to make God laugh.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Tell them your plans, a reality based strategy so you
can enjoy your life in the here and now, continue
to prepare for the future, but setting specific dates years
where you say, Okay, that's it, I'm not going to
work anymore. Quite honestly, you end up limiting yourself. Watchdog
(06:25):
on Wallstreet 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 we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Ehw, we got ourselves in another Wall Street buzzphrase. Yep,
Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs is calling it the optimism gap.
All no, No, basically people feeling again it this makes
no sense.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
I'll basically tell you what their study says.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Seventy percent of Americans say saving for retirement. There they're
right on track, right on track with their goal. Yet
sixty percent said they expect to outlive their savings. So
(01:00):
your goal, your goal was to save and then not
save enough, is what you're saying. Again, no sense, But hey,
it's a great marketing opportunity for Wall Street. What is
This is what Goldman Sachs is calling the optimism gap,
and it shows how difficult it is for American workers
to save for retirement, giving rise and costs and competing
(01:23):
financial priorities. Our research this year so is at forty
two percent of young workers, which include Gen Z millennials
and Gen X courts are living paycheck to paycheck, and
nearly three quarters say they struggle to save for retirement.
If their current trends continue, more than half of US
(01:44):
workers could be living paycheck to paycheck by twenty thirty three,
underscoring how retirement is becoming unaffordable for many. Okay, first
and foremost, Yeah, many people, especially young people, most of
them are living paycheck to paycheck unless mom and dad
are backing them up.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
That's just reality. Okay.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, when I was young and working my way up
in New York City, I was living paycheck to paycheck.
And yeah, when you're younger and you're living paycheck to paycheck,
it's a little bit more difficult to save money. There's
no doubt about that. Again, we've discussed the importance of
paying yourself and taking some dollar amount and doing it
(02:30):
on a regular basis, but not everyone will actually do that.
Retirement becoming unaffordable for many. Here's a retirement reality for you.
Retirement is a fairly new concept.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
It is. It is a fairly new concept. For most
of world history.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
People would just keep working again, I could thank the
Kaiser in Germany a mid eighteen hundreds started a social
security program. There, we kind of took the ball and
ran with it over here. You know, FDR was well
(03:18):
aware of the fact that the program he put together
was unsustainable. For a period of time, the demographics made
sense where pensions were being offered on a regular basis,
but that again, it didn't last very long. Okay, the
whole pension concept was fairly new, and to be honest,
(03:40):
I mean, you know anybody who was a you know,
government worker, pension worker, you know, early tier people, you
could take about take a look at the types of
deals that they received for retirement. Yeah, unsustainable simply based
upon demographics. The numbers don't work anymore. Can you apply this,
(04:08):
apply this to you know, social security? And again we
just it's the numbers don't add up. The numbers don't
add up. And one of the things that we try
to teach people here is you face face facts, face facts,
understanding where you are, where you're going to be. You know,
(04:30):
don't let it eat you alive in the sense that, oh,
I'm not going to be able to check out at
sixty two or sixty five. You might want to switch careers.
We've often told people, hey, maybe the right step for
you might be having a three day work week, may
want to take a little sabbatical after you leave that
first job. Not to mention the fact it's a much
healthier existence. Medical care is going to continue to get better.
(04:53):
People are going to be able to live longer, healthier lives.
To take care of yourself.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Guess what somebody alive today is going to.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Be living to one hundred and twenty one hundred and thirty. Again,
the medical advancement that we see on a regular basis
is off the charts.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
So the idea that hey, you.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Know, I'm going to work for work for a couple
decades and a half and then I'm going to check
out forever, well maybe not. Maybe you can, but for
most people know that that's not going to be the case.
And the sooner we deal with this reality of the terrain,
the better off we're going to be. This is not
(05:42):
new for my regular listeners. We have talked about this
for some you know, twenty five years on air, even
prior to that in the newsletter.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Have a reality based I want to call it a plan.
I say, you know you want to make God laugh.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Tell them your plans, a reality based strategy so you
can enjoy your life in the here and now, continue
to prepare for the future, but setting specific dates years
where you say, Okay, that's it, I'm not going to
work anymore. Quite honestly, you end up limiting yourself. Watchdog
(06:25):
on Wallstreet dot Com
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