Trump signs executive order expanding retirement plan access

An executive order set to be signed by President Donald Trump would instruct the Treasury Department to stand up a new site — TrumpIRA.gov — where private-sector workers lacking workplace retirement benefits could browse and sign up for qualifying plans, a White House official said.

The website is designed to be operational by January, when a government contribution program for low-income savers is set to begin. That benefit traces back to Secure 2.0, a Biden-era law enacted in 2022 that converted a previously nonrefundable tax credit into what it calls a “saver’s match” — meaning the federal government deposits a sum equal to 50% of a worker’s contribution, up to $1,000, straight into the account. The benefit applies to individuals earning less than $35,000 a year.

Roughly 56 million people employed in the private sector have no retirement plan available through their employer, figures cited by AARP and a 2025 Pew Charitable Trusts report both show.

In a departure from how the Trump Accounts initiative was structured, no financial institution partnerships are planned for the portal — though Treasury will screen the retirement plans made available there, Reuters reported, citing Semafor.

Trump first raised the retirement savings initiative during his State of the Union address earlier this year. The rollout lands at a difficult moment for the White House on economic matters: a recent CNBC survey placed Trump’s economy ratings at their nadir across both terms, while April brought a sharp deterioration in consumer confidence tied to anxiety over the Iran conflict and ongoing tariff disputes.

The retirement portal order is one of two executive actions Trump has taken this week aimed at reshaping how Americans save for retirement. Earlier, Trump signed a separate order opening 401(k) plans to alternative assets including private equity, real estate, and cryptocurrency — a move that would instruct the Department of Labor to revisit federal guidance that has historically discouraged plan administrators from offering access to private markets. That order also calls on the Treasury Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission to clarify how fiduciary rules apply to funds that include such assets.

The retirement portal effort has drawn bipartisan interest historically. The idea has crossed party lines before — Kevin Hassett, now heading the National Economic Council, pushed for comparable legislation when Biden was in office, and a cross-party bill brought back in 2025 similarly seeks to shore up retirement options for workers on the lower end of the wage scale who lack access to 401(k)-style plans.