President Donald Trump has said his administration is working on a retirement savings plan modeled after Australia’s, promising to make it “tougher” and “even better” for American workers.
President Donald Trump’s ongoing reforms to America’s retirement system are finding inspiration Down Under.
The Trump administration is working on an Australian-style retirement savings plan for American workers, suggesting the model would put people in a “much better position” for retirement, the president said Monday.
“I said today that Australia has something going really well – it’s worked really well,” Trump said during a Rose Garden lunch on Monday, referring to his new “Trump accounts” program for children. “We’re looking at that a lot. We’re going to be taking that, and we’re going to maybe make it a little bit clearer, a little bit better. But we’re going to do that.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other administration officials were already working on the proposal, according to Trump, who described it as an effort to work with children’s investment accounts introduced under his tough tax and spending law.
THIS IS FOR US PENSIONERS IN NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA
President Donald Trump wants to bring his successful “Trump account” to help American workers with Australian-style retirement savings plans. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“That would be more for adults, compared to children,” Trump said earlier Monday in the Oval Office, adding that the administration would discuss the idea with Congress and “try hard” to implement it.
Australia’s retirement system is built around “superannuation,” a mandatory savings plan that requires employers to contribute 12% of an employee’s average salary to tax-advantaged retirement accounts managed mostly by private funds, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
LARRY FINK IS CALLING FOR CHANGES TO SOCIAL SECURITY, SAYING INVESTMENTS COULD STRENGTHEN THE SYSTEM.
Cheryl Casone discusses the introduction of Trump accounts, a new initiative that gives qualifying children a $1,000 government deposit and up to $5,000 in annual contributions.
Trump first became interested in the Australian model in December when he announced a $6.25 billion donation from Michael and Susan Dell to the Trump Accounts, saying at the time that the administration was studying the plan for “working people.”
The renewed pressure comes as lawmakers face pressure over long-term Social Security funding. The Center for Retirement Research has argued that while Australia’s system ranks highest in the world, the US still needs to strengthen Social Security and expand access to workplace retirement plans to improve retirement security.
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| ICE | Company INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE INC. | 132.99 | +6,26 |
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“It’s something that would be a good thing, I think, if we could do it,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
