The White House has another pitch to blunt Americans' concerns that everyday life has gotten too expensive: leveraging the future for the present.
The White House has another idea to blunt Americans' concerns that everyday life has gotten too expensive: mortgaging their future
President Donald Trump in the Oval Office (Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The White House has another pitch to blunt Americans' concerns that everyday life has gotten too expensive: leveraging the future for the present.
White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett is teasing a proposal that enables people to draw down their retirement savings for a first home.
"We’re going to allow people to take money out of their 401(k)s and use that for a down payment," he said in a Fox Business interview on Friday. "The president will put the final plan out in Davos next week."
Currently, employees can withdraw from 401(k) plans to cover home purchases. However, taking that step can carry penalties including taxes and other fees. Since 401(k)'s are part of employer-sponsored retirement accounts, the measure would do little for independent contractors and gig workers.
Some experts questioned whether the policy would benefit young adults. Patrick Brown, a family policy expert at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, observed that the largest 401(k) plans are held by adults in their 40s and 50s, not those earlier in life. The proposal isn't entirely fresh, either; in 2020, the CARES Act enabled 401(k) withdrawals for mortgages under some circumstances.
The president is set to include the measure as one plank in an affordability agenda that he'll share at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Over the past week, Trump has taken a blunt-force approach to appeal to struggling Americans, including pressuring credit card companies to institute a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates. That's stirred rare criticism on Wall Street, including from JPMorgan $JPM Chase.
Several polls show Trump's approval ratings sagging on his management of the U.S. economy. A CNN survey released Friday showed that 55% of Americans believe his policies worsened economic conditions.
The president will be spearheading the largest-ever U.S. delegation attending Davos. Others in the group will include Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, forum organizers said this week.
The White House has also said Trump will provide more details on his proposal to prevent Wall Street's largest investors from buying single-family homes.
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