President Trump and the White House have embraced the rising stock market as a gauge of their economic impact. Bloomberg News reports that the president has been testing a new campaign pitch, asking audiences, “How’s your 401(k) doing?”
But the answer may not help Trump’s re-election push: More than half of Americans don’t have an employer-sponsored retirement plan, and the lower-income workers at the core of Trump’s political base are the least likely to have money in such an account.
Bloomberg’s Toluse Olorunnipa also notes that “only about 14 percent of U.S. families directly own stocks, an asset class dominated by the country’s top earners, according to the Federal Reserve.”
The White House says the market reflects a stronger economy that’s good news for those who don’t have 401(k)s, too.
“For the Americans that don’t have the opportunity to invest in a 401(k) plan or who choose not to, the Trump agenda of lower taxes, higher wages, and better jobs allows them to save more on their own, and potentially have a better chance of finding a job in the future that provides those benefits,” a White House spokesperson told Bloomberg.
