If you’re building wealth for retirement, you’ve probably asked: How much do I need to save?

But there’s another question worth asking: What if the bigger advantage is how early you start… and what you eventually own?

That’s what caught my attention about a new type of investment account being introduced for children. Officially called Trump Accounts, they give the youngest Americans an opportunity to start investing from birth and potentially benefit from decades of compounding.

The politics aren’t what interest me. The math does.

Because this idea raises a much bigger question about how we build wealth in America.

Retirement balances are higher than ever, yet confidence in retirement remains near historic lows.

So maybe the goal isn’t just building a bigger pile of money.

Maybe it’s about starting earlier and building assets that can eventually produce income.

Let’s dive in.

What $100 a Month Can Become

The newly passed “Trump Accounts” allow families to contribute up to $5,000 per year into tax-deferred accounts for kids under 18, with the federal government even seeding $1,000 for children born between 2025 and 2028.

We always talk about the power of compound interest, but we rarely get to see what happens when you start at day zero. Look at how small, early contributions snowball over a child’s lifetime:

• The $100/Month Approach: If a family puts away just $100 a month for 50 months ($5,000 total) before a child turns five, that money grows to ~$21,000 by age 18.

• The Long-Term Compound Effect: If you let that same ~$21,000 sit and compound without adding another dollar, it grows to $456,954 by age 58. That’s nearly half a million dollars created from a few years of skipped tchotchkes.

• The Maxed-Out Approach: If you max out the $5,000 limit every year through age 18, your child steps into adulthood with roughly $206,000 sitting in their account.

Starting early gives our kids a massive head start, but it only fixes one part of the retirement equation.

The Problem With “Just Save More” 

Right now, our country is caught in a massive retirement contradiction…

“We’ve never had more money sitting in our retirement accounts, yet we’ve never felt less confident in our ability to actually retire comfortably.”

The latest Vanguard data shows that 401(k) participation, savings rates, and account balances are all climbing. On paper, we are winning. But behind those numbers, hardship withdrawals, where people pull money out early just to survive daily financial stress, have spiked 3.5 times higher than in 2020.

Gallup polls show that only 43% of Americans feel secure about retirement, down from 59% two decades ago.

👇 Why bigger balances don’t always mean greater retirement confidence

Retirement planning has traditionally focused heavily on accumulating enough net worth to support spending later in life. That approach has helped millions of people build wealth on paper. But the data raises another question: should retirement planning also consider how much ongoing income our assets have the potential to produce?

That doesn’t mean we stop saving. It means we can broaden the conversation beyond how much we accumulate to also consider what our assets have the potential to produce.

NOT YOUR AVERAGE INSIGHT: Own Something That Outlives You

For generations, retirement planning has largely centered on accumulating a big enough nest egg to support us later in life.

But as we saw in the Vanguard data, bigger balances haven’t translated into greater peace of mind.

That raises an interesting question: What if we measured retirement readiness not only by how much we’ve accumulated, but also by how much income our assets have the potential to produce?

• Trump Accounts show the potential impact of starting early and giving compounding more time to work.
• 401(k) trends remind us that a growing account balance and confidence about retirement aren’t necessarily the same thing.
• Rental properties give us one example of an income-producing asset – one with the potential to generate cash flow while also building equity over time.

Maybe retirement planning doesn’t have to be solely about accumulating enough to eventually spend down. It can also include thinking about the assets you want to own—and what you want those assets to produce – for you and the generation after you.

Just remember… Don’t Be Average.
Gregg Cohen
Co-Founder, JWB Real Estate Capital