Learn About RISE – Ric’s Proposal To Create a Secure Retirement For All
Helping To Prepare Children Financially For The Future They Going To Face
What about your children's future? Well, in Los Angeles they're trying to make that a little bit better. In America's second largest school district (that's the Los Angeles County school system), they've given every first grader - 44,000 students, a free college savings account and filled it with $50. Families can add to these accounts, and if they do, Los Angeles will match up to $25 every year. That's $75 for first graders and an extra $25 a year, after that. If the student leaves Los Angeles, moves out, they forfeit the money and any family contributions are returned. Kind of golden handcuffs to stay put, right?
This is not the first city or state to engage in this activity. Oklahoma began doing this 15 years ago with newborns randomly selected. They got $1,000. And the studies over the last 15 years have shown that families that got that money were more likely to save for college. Their kids were three times more likely to graduate from college. Now, San Francisco, Maine, Pennsylvania, New York City, all have programs or are planning them to help prepare children financially for their future that they're going to face.
Some people argue that this is kind of a steppingstone toward universal basic income. UBI and others are very concerned about that notion. But quite frankly, we have to recognize we've got a massive retirement security gap in America. We have a $4 trillion gap. That's the amount of money that we are lacking compared to how much money we're going to be needing for America's workers in their 50s. Plus, so the more we can get people to save for the future and the earlier we can get them to save, the more likely they're going to accumulate the money that's needed.
This is the whole basis of my proposal, RISE - the Retirement Income Security for Everyone proposal, which is designed to give every baby in America a block of money that they can't touch until retirement. Unlike all of these other programs that are out there which are government funded, meaning taxpayer supported, my proposal wouldn't cost the government a dime, no taxpayer funding of any kind. It is a totally self-funded proposal. And if you'd like to learn more about RISE and my proposal for eliminating poverty and retirement for all future generations, just go to the special website I've created for it. WeCanRise.com.