Retirement

Trump's Government-Funded Retirement Plan Misses the Point

The fiscal objection is serious. But the deeper problem is that the proposal misunderstands the saving behavior of the households it aims to help.

Veronique de Rugy | 5.7.2026 11:55 AM

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President Donald Trump and Congress want to help you increase your savings. And you should. At the household level, saving is the foundation of financial security and the seed capital for a better retirement. At the economy-wide level, savings fund investment that expands the capital stock, raises wages, and grows the economy. A society that does not save is a society slowly consuming its future.

So, any politician who wants to help Americans save more deserves at least a hearing. What should such a politician propose?

The first thing to do is remove all government-made barriers to savings. This includes a Social Security design that disincentivizes saving, and a tax code that hits much of our savings twice, as both income and investment returns. Addressing our massive debt—which threatens to bring inflation back and literally destroy the value of the savings we already have—would help too.

Alas, this isn't what Trump has in mind with his new executive order directing the Treasury to launch "TrumpIRA.gov," a portal where workers without employer-sponsored retirement plans can shop for private accounts.........

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