Currently when you start working in the U.S. there is Social Security payment withheld from your paycheck. You pay in your whole life and then you start to take retirement around 65. The problem is many do not start working until they are late teens early twenties, and people never receive as much as they pay into social security. Instead, we should fund retirement accounts when children are born so they have an extra 20 years of compounding interest, meaning more retirement money.
Imagine a program where every child born in the U.S. receives a $7,000 investment account. This money wouldn’t be for immediate use, but it would be invested in a safe, low-cost index fund, and left to grow over the child’s lifetime. By the time they retire, this account could grow to over $1 million, giving them a secure financial future. The idea is simple: the earlier you start investing, the more your money grows over time, thanks to the power of compounding.
This program would cost the government around $25 billion a year, which is relatively small compared to other federal expenses like Social Security or national defense. Over time, this would ensure that every child has a stake in the economy and can retire comfortably. By starting at birth, we can help secure the financial future of all Americans, giving everyone a piece of the country’s success.
Unfortunately, not all children born live to see retirement, this extra money the government funded could then be used for other needed programs. We fix Social Security, and people won’t have to pay into it their whole lives, just to see a fraction of it paid back to them.
(Bill Ackman has a solution for America's retirement crisis — give $7K to 'every baby that's born in America')
(Bill Ackman: Give Every Child $6,750 So They Retire As Millionaires)