After three decades sitting across conference tables from founders who built real companies from scratch, I hear the same worry time and again — the same one my own father would have put plainly: “I don’t want my kids relying on a government promise that’s already $39 trillion in the hole.”

On April 30, President Trump signed an executive order establishing TrumpIRA.gov, a low-cost federal marketplace connecting independent contractors, gig workers, and small-business owners to private-sector IRAs — plus up to $1,000 in annual federal Saver’s Match contributions for eligible lower-income workers. The site goes live on January 1, 2027.

It’s not revolutionary. It’s remedial. After thirty years managing private wealth for single-family offices and advising on fiduciary duty as an expert witness, I can tell you this is the kind of hand-up, not handout, that actually moves the needle.

The 401(k) experiment was sold as empowerment. What it mostly delivered was a nation of amateur portfolio managers staring at quarterly statements, wondering why their balance looks like a participation trophy after decades of work. We traded defined-benefit pensions that pooled risk and delivered predictable income streams for broad market exposure and management fees that compound against you. The structure shifted investment risk from institutions to individuals without giving most of them the tools, or........

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