Exclusive — Jeb Hensarling: Trump Leading Democratization of American Retirement Plans

Former House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) said on Breitbart News Saturday that a Trump administration proposal would allow Americans to invest in assets through their 401(k)s that were previously only available to the rich.

The Trump Department of Labor has moved forward with a proposal that would allow 401(k) retirement plans to more easily include alternative assets such as cryptocurrency, real estate, and private market assets.

Hensarling told Breitbart News Saturday host Matthew Boyle that the proposal would democratize 401(k)s to give Americans more options to invest in. Most retirement plans typically have limited broad-basket investment options such as target-date funds.

“There were a lot of reasons that America elected Donald Trump the second time but one of those reasons is that most Americans were tired of elitists telling them how to run their lives, be it Washington elites, Hollywood elites, or Ivy Leagues. And, part of that elitism is bureaucracies in Washington telling people how to invest their own money,” Hensarling explained.

He added that, for decades, only the country’s elite were allowed to invest in assets such as private equity.

Hensarling said this is all part of the “democratization of our financial system,” which would let “people have greater control over their own money.”

The former congressman added that this would help American retirement accounts. He joked that the left has for so long complained about the rich getting richer, and that the American upper class “got richer” because “they were allowed to invest in assets that others weren’t allowed to.”

Hensarling added that “the assets have outperformed the S&P 500 [market index] and the broader stock market” and concluded by explaining that the “Bidenflation legacy ate up so much savings of American seniors.”