Ep 489: Your Retirement, The Truth About Social Security, And How to Prepare NOW

HerMoney with Jean Chatzky

Jean Chatzky Her Money

Investing, Entrepreneurship, Business

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Social Security is back in the headlines, and the news isn’t exactly comforting. Words like shortfall and cuts are sparking real fear among retirees, near-retirees, and younger workers who wonder if the program will even be there for them. In this episode, Jean sits down with Michelle Singletary, nationally syndicated personal finance columnist for The Washington Post, to break it all down: What a potential 20–25% shortfall in 2033 could actually mean for retirees. Why your check won’t disappear entirely The surge in early claims: Should you take the money now, or wait? Why writing Social Security out of your retirement plan is a mistake for Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z. Michelle’s must-do checklist for near-retirees: from eliminating your mortgage to building a realistic budget. If more financial confidence sounds good to you, then you might want to try… ⁠4-Week Coaching Program⁠: Identify and understand your spending, build a strategic plan, and take control of your money. ⁠6-Week Pre-Retirement Program⁠: We’ll help you prepare financially and emotionally for this exciting milestone. 📈⁠InvestingFixx⁠: Learn, connect, and start investing—your first month is completely free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I won't ever tell you not to be afraid and scared because you have to feel what you need to feel.
0:07.9	But don't act on that.
0:09.7	Really look at your financial situation.
0:12.4	And does this make sense for you right now?
0:14.9	We don't know what's going to happen in the future.
0:17.0	Maybe it'll be worse, but maybe it'll be okay.
0:20.4	And so just look at that. And if you know
0:22.8	that you're going to be on the edge and even waiting a year to get your full benefits, it's going to
0:27.4	really hurt you, then it makes sense for you to start collecting now.
0:33.4	Hey, everyone. Welcome to Hermione. I'm Gene Chatsky, and today we are tackling a subject that has been
0:39.1	dominating the headlines and stirring no small amount of anxiety. Yes, I'm talking about
0:45.3	Social Security. Look, if you've been reading the papers lately, you've probably seen words like
0:50.6	shortfall, cuts, and insolvency splashed across the pages. None of those are
0:57.7	reassuring, especially if you're retired, approaching retirement, or simply hoping that Social
1:05.0	Security will be there when your time comes, which is why I am so excited that Michelle
1:10.2	Singletary is here today. You all know,
1:12.9	Michelle, she is one of our favorite guests. She is the nationally syndicated personal finance
1:18.3	columnist for the Washington Post, one of the clearest, most trustworthy voices cutting through
1:25.4	the noise. And I'm honored to say a friend of mine.
1:29.1	We're going to take a very quick break.
1:31.1	So here's a little behind-the-scenes moment.
1:33.7	My producer Haley got married a couple years ago,
	...

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