A Mamdani reminder to secure your own retirement
As originally appeared in The Jerusalem Post on June 27, 2025.
“When a new source of taxation is found it never means, in practice, that the old source is abandoned. It merely means that the politicians have two ways of milking the taxpayer where they had one before.” -H. L. Mencken
A few days ago, I met a neighbor that I haven’t seen in some time. Whenever we see each other, we always stop and talk for a few minutes. I asked him for an update of a mutual friend of ours who was recently moved to an old-age home, due to dementia. He told me that the friend is almost completely out of it and doesn’t recognize anyone. He apparently is in a good facility, which is not cheap. Then he told me, “Whoever said you don’t need a lot of money in retirement is a fool. No one can live on 2500 Shekel a month!”
Earlier this week, in what was to many a stunner, Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for the Mayor of New York City. While there is a long way for him to go to become mayor, including a potential write-in campaign backed by hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, or a move to get behind current mayor Adams, Mamdani seems to have the inside track. Locally, much has been made of his ‘antisemitism,’ but I’d like to focus on his economic policies. His campaign platform includes support for free city buses, public child care, city-owned grocery stores, a rent freeze on rent-stabilized units, and building affordable social housing units. Not so shocking that he purports to pay for all of this by raising both corporate and individual income tax on the ‘wealthy.’ In fact, the joke going around is that property prices in Palm Beach, Florida, have risen by 10% since Tuesday in anticipation of wealthy New Yorkers relocating to the Sunshine State.
The grocery store proposal happens to be my favorite. The thought that bureaucrats can run a food business efficiently and better than private firms with years of experience and complex supply chains is hilarious. Jack Nicastro of Reason writes, “Despite the competitive market, food prices in New York City (and the rest of the country) have risen. The cost of food at home, a good proxy for the price of groceries, increased by 27.5 percent between FY 2019 and FY 2023 in the New York City Metropolitan Area, according to an April 2025 report from the Office of the New York State Comptroller using Bureau of Labor Statistics data. However, this price increase was not caused by the city’s 1,002 grocery stores focused on ‘making a profit’—grocery store profits range from 1 percent to 2 percent, Adam Lehodey explains for City Journal—but by inflation caused by federal spending and supply chain crunches.”
New York’s retail ecosystem already reflects how competitive private operators adapt to shifting regulations and consumer demand. Rather than replacing existing businesses with city-run alternatives, policymakers might consider how to reduce red tape and support the operators who are already serving their communities effectively.
Nicastro continues, “History shows that government ownership of food production and distribution can produce catastrophic outcomes. Daniel Di Martino, fellow at the Manhattan Institute, tells Reason about his first-hand experience with government-owned grocery stores, while growing up in Venezuela, saying they “were subject to extensive corruption by government officials that awarded contracts to friends, they sold rotten or low quality food, and they served as a way to make voters dependent on the government and force them to vote for the socialist leaders.”
Why the electorate keeps believing these empty promises continues to shock me. Nothing comes for free. Funny how every election cycle we get more promises and yet none of the problems get solved. Why? Maybe it is because the government is incapable of running anything efficiently. As I have quoted many times, former US president Ronald Reagan said, “One way to make sure crime doesn’t pay would be to let the government run it.”
Only one solution
Ever speak to a millionaire and ask how she became wealthy? I have and have yet to hear the answer, “I got rich because of the government.” So why on earth do we continue to abdicate responsibility to politicians, most of whom never ran a business, met a payroll or know what it takes to create a real job and who have no idea what’s in our best interest?
There is only one way to make sure that you have a financially secure retirement. That’s to do it yourself. Take control of your own financial situation. Start by sitting down and doing a budget. You will get a clear picture of how much money is coming in versus how much money is going out for expenses. Then you can set up a disciplined savings plan. Start thinking about your long-term goals and needs and then speak with a financial professional. They will be able to do a long-term financial plan for you and help determine how much needs to be saved and at what rate of return, for you to achieve your financial goals.
I recently met with a client who inherited a sizeable amount of money. He had told me that his parents were both salaried workers who never made a 6-digit annual salary. He was blown away how much wealth they had accumulated. I said that they just followed the rules of being financially responsible. They saved every month, never bought anything on credit, or that they didn’t have money for. He confirmed that by saying they did everything by the book.
You don’t need to be making a huge salary. If you live a modest lifestyle, put away money consistently, you too will be able to retire comfortably.
No politician is going to do this for you. Take control of your own financial situation and start building a secure financial future.
The information contained in this article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. or its affiliates.
Aaron Katsman is the author of Retirement GPS: How to Navigate Your Way to A Secure Financial Future with Global Investing (McGraw-Hill), and is a licensed financial professional both in the United States and Israel, and helps people who open investment accounts in the United States. Securities are offered through Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. (www.prginc.net). Member FINRA, SIPC, MSRB, SIFMA, FSI. For more information, call (02) 624-0995 visit www.aaronkatsman.com or email aaron@lighthousecapital.co.il.
