Episode Overview

Podcast: Rich Dad Radio Show: In-Your-Face Advice on Investing, Personal Finance, & Starting a Business
Episode Title: The Retirement Crisis No One Is Prepared For
Date: November 26, 2025
Host: Robert Kiyosaki
Guest: Ted Siedle (Pension Forensics Expert and Co-Author of "Who Stole My Pension?")

This episode dives deep into the looming retirement and pension crisis facing baby boomers, especially those relying on public pension systems. Robert Kiyosaki and Ted Siedle examine how decades of mismanagement, lack of oversight, and political influences have placed trillions in retirement funds at risk. With personal anecdotes, industry insights, and warnings for future retirees, the conversation urges listeners to wake up to the dangers ahead and take responsibility for their financial education.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Pension Crisis: A Generational Time Bomb

• Defined Benefit vs. Defined Contribution:

  • Kiyosaki recounts how after the 1974 ERISA law, American workers shifted from defined benefit (pension for life) to defined contribution plans (like 401(k)s). This significantly altered retirement security and risk.
  • “Anytime the government says our act is to protect your income, bend over and don’t pick up the soap.” (Robert Kiyosaki, 01:31)

• Personal Connection:

  • Kiyosaki describes how many peers—like airline pilots—lost pensions they counted on and were “too old to work and out of time.”
  • “There’s a lot of boomers my age who are going to wake up and say, ‘I don’t have a pension ... and I’m now too old to work and you’re out of time.’” (Robert Kiyosaki, 03:44)

2. The CalPERS Investigation & Systemic Issues

• CalPERS Under Scrutiny:

  • Siedle details his current forensic investigation into CalPERS, the largest U.S. public pension fund (nearly $600B), revealing mismanagement on a scale akin to a sovereign nation’s GDP (06:08).
  • “If that money is being mismanaged, that’s like, you know, a global, a sovereign country.” (Ted Siedle, 06:24)

• SEC & Whistleblower Experience:

  • Siedle mentions his history of major whistleblower cases and the largest SEC award for exposing pension fund misconduct, emphasizing the gravity and prevalence of corruption.
  • “I got the largest award from the SEC ... nearly $100 million for the investigations I’ve done.” (Ted Siedle, 07:27)

• Herd Mentality:

  • CalPERS is a bellwether for other pensions—when it falters, others follow, worsening systemic risks.
  • “Pensions move in what we call a herd with a herd instinct. So when the leader jumps off a cliff, all the other lemmings jump off as well.” (Ted Siedle, 07:55)

3. Governance Failures and Political Influence

• Leadership Issues:

  • Kiyosaki and Siedle note that those overseeing these large funds are often politically appointed, with little to no financial background.
  • Siedle: “There’s not a single state in this country that requires these pension board members to have any financial experience working whatsoever.” (Ted Siedle, 16:56)

• Conflict of Interest & Corruption:

  • Commissions, kickbacks, and “buttering the toast on both sides” are routine, leading to criminal outcomes—suicides, prison sentences, and ruined retirements.
  • “So, could you explain how these leaders were stealing from the ... people they trusted to run the pension?” (Robert Kiyosaki, 10:54)
  • “There are no rules anymore on Wall Street, giving to politicians and politicians are running these funds.” (Ted Siedle, 11:06)

• Union Conflicts:

  • The NEA (National Education Association) is singled out for being a financial product pusher, not just a union, selling “crappy” annuities to teachers for decades.
  • “Most people don’t realize the NEA is a money manager ... a union posing as a money manager or a money manager posing as a union, whichever way you want to look at it.” (Ted Siedle, 24:23)
  • “Forbes called the teachers union the National Extortion Association.” (Robert Kiyosaki, 24:57)

4. Lack of Transparency and Legal Loopholes

• No ERISA Protections:

  • Public (state/local) pensions aren’t covered by federal ERISA protections, exposing them to even less transparency and oversight.
  • “They made a huge loophole. All state and local pensions are not subject to ERISA.” (Ted Siedle, 10:19)

• Transparency Obstacles:

  • Pensioners face routine non-compliance when seeking documents under state Freedom of Information Acts.
  • “Never once, Robert, in the last 13 years has a single pension given me the documents they’re required to give me under law.” (Ted Siedle, 21:21)

5. Consequences for Retirees

• “What Do You Do When Pensions Disappear?”

  • Options are grim: go back to work (often not possible), cut expenses, or both.
  • “There are only two things you can do. Either bring more money in or cut your cost of living.” (Ted Siedle, 27:13)
  • “It’s not a good time to be looking for a job at 65 and AI is going to wipe the rest of them out.” (Robert Kiyosaki, 27:52)

• No Bailouts:

  • While taxpayers may be forced to contribute more, there’s little rescue available for individuals when pensions fail.

• Homelessness Looms:

  • Kiyosaki predicts a surge in homelessness among retirees due to vanishing pensions and lack of financial education.
  • “Homelessness is about to explode and there’s going to be a lot of hardworking firefighters, school teachers, you know, government workers whose pensions are stolen ...” (Robert Kiyosaki, 19:44)

6. Solutions and Advice

• Get Educated and Take Control:

  • Play the Cashflow board game.
  • Learn to sell and invest in real estate, gold, and silver—develop financial skills, not just academic credentials.
  • “If you educate yourself, you might have a better chance of success into the future and a happier retirement.” (Robert Kiyosaki, 33:40)

• Understand Everyone is in Sales:

  • “If I say to a younger person, get some sales experience, ... to them, it’s like drinking urine ... It’s not beneath anybody. We are all involved in sales. That’s the best entree to becoming an entrepreneur.” (Ted Siedle, 29:31)

• Expose Corruption—New DOC:

  • Siedle is working with a documentary filmmaker for greater public awareness, hoping the visual medium wakes up more people than his formal reports.
  • “There’s a documentary filmmaker ... The trailer will be out next week ... tentatively Broken Promises, Stolen Pensions.” (Ted Siedle, 18:40)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Anytime the government says our act is to protect your income, bend over and don’t pick up the soap ...”
  — Robert Kiyosaki (01:31)

• “CalPERS has been in trouble for the last 25 years. Up until about 2000, CalPERS was considered the ‘gold standard.’ ... All that started falling apart after 2000.”
  — Ted Siedle (08:40)

• “Pensions move in what we call a herd ... when the leader jumps off a cliff, all the other lemmings jump off as well.”
  — Ted Siedle (07:55)

• “There is not a single state in this country that requires these pension board members to have any financial experience.”
  — Ted Siedle (16:56)

• “Wall Street calls public pensions the ‘dumbest investors in the room.’”
  — Ted Siedle (17:24)

• “All these remember, the people contributing to these pensions ... are going to end up failing if these pensions are gambling on risky private equity and hedge funds and lose.”
  — Ted Siedle (23:29)

• “Forbes called the NEA, not the National Education Association ... the National Extortion Association.”
  — Robert Kiyosaki (24:57)

Key Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |:----------:|----------------------------------------------------| | 01:25 | Show introduction & topic setup | | 03:44 | Personal stories: lost pensions, the ERISA shift | | 06:08 | CalPERS investigation and scope | | 07:27 | Whistleblower history and scale of the problem | | 10:19 | Public pensions’ loopholes and political corruption| | 14:23 | Critique of “safe government jobs” & family anecdotes| | 16:56 | Lack of basic requirements for pension oversight | | 17:24 | Public pensions as “dumbest investors” | | 18:40 | Documentary project announcement | | 21:03 | What retirees must do to protect themselves | | 24:57 | NEA called “National Extortion Association” | | 27:13 | Grim choices for retirees: work longer or cut costs| | 29:31 | Final advice: learn sales, entrepreneurship | | 33:10 | Closing remarks: urgency of financial education |

Episode Tone and Takeaway

The tone is candid, sometimes irreverent, and laced with dark humor about a very serious subject. Kiyosaki and Siedle challenge conventional wisdom, decrying the blind faith in government-provided pensions and exposing political and financial corruption. Their message is clear:
No one but you will save your financial future; get educated, get proactive, and don’t trust the herd.

For more, pick up “Who Stole My Pension?” and take your financial education into your own hands.