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The Trump administration is considering a plan to let Americans use their 401(k) retirement accounts for a down payment on a home, though the president is "not a huge fan" of the idea.
The move is the latest in the administration’s string of initiatives intended to combat what’s been termed "the affordability crisis." From floating the idea of 50-year "eternal" mortgages, to demanding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds to push down interest rates, to capping credit card interest rates at 10%, there’s been no shortage of proposals.
The Trump administration rightly recognizes the financial pinch that many Americans are feeling – and have been feeling for years.
THE AMERICAN DREAM ISN’T DEAD, BUT EACH ONE OF US NEEDS TO HELP IT TO THRIVE
According to a December 2025 Gallup poll, nearly half of Americans (47%) describe current economic conditions as "poor," the highest since September 2024. A staggering 68% believe economic conditions are deteriorating, and 11% say inflation is the most important problem facing the U.S., up from 6% in September.
Why would any American feel the need to steal from their future to afford the present, by taking out a 50-year mortgage, or draining their retirement account, just to purchase a home?
These numbers might come as a surprise, considering our nation’s decent economic conditions. Today, inflation sits at 2.7%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. This slightly elevated rate is a far cry from the 9.1% inflation rate the U.S. experienced during the summer of 2022.
Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate is 4.3% as of November 2025, barely up from 4.0% a year earlier. Most Americans today can easily find a job if they find themselves out of work.
Homes are now more expensive than at any time since World War II. The home price to median income ratio hit 7.07 in September 2025, surpassing the ratio of 6.81 which was hit during the peak of the Housing Bubble in 2006. (iStock)
Furthermore, real average hourly earnings increased 1.1% from December 2024 to December 2025, meaning most Americans have made progress in the fight against inflation over the past year.
I'M GEN Z AND MANY IN MY GENERATION LOST FAITH IN THE AMERICAN DREAM. PROVE THEM WRONG
So, why are so many Americans sour about the economy? Why is the Trump administration pulling out all the stops to address the affordability crisis? And why would any American feel the need to steal from their future to afford the present, by taking out a 50-year mortgage, or draining their retirement account, just to purchase a home?
For young Americans like me, it is "the best of times [and] the worst of times," to quote Charles Dickens in "A Tale of Two Cities."
While today’s economic indicators are generally above average, Americans are still reeling from the generational economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government’s extraordinary response to it.
The inflation rate has fallen, yes, but that doesn’t mean prices have gotten any cheaper. It simply means already greatly inflated prices are now increasing more slowly.
What you could buy for $100 in January 2020 now costs $125.62. Unless our economy sees deflation (which generally only occurs during a recession), most goods and services will cost even more a year from now.
Furthermore, homes are now more expensive than at any time since World War II. The home price to median income ratio hit 7.07 in September 2025, surpassing the ratio of 6.81 which was hit during the peak of the Housing Bubble in 2006.
THE AMERICAN DREAM SLIPS FURTHER AWAY AS YOUNGER ADULTS RETREAT TO PARENTS' HOMES
It’s no wonder the typical first-time homebuyer in the U.S. is now 40 years old – the oldest on record, as of November 2025. The median age of all U.S. homebuyers in 2025 was 59 years old, compared to 39 years old in 2010.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve, the government’s central bank, purchased $1.4 trillion in mortgage bonds, artificially depressing mortgage interest rates and leading to skyrocketing home prices.
From 2020 to 2022, the median home price increased a staggering 40% in just two years, from $317,100 to $442,600. If that weren’t enough, the Federal Reserve decided to add insult to injury.
The Fed raised interest rates from near zero in 2020 to over 5% in 2024. Mortgage rates correspondingly increased from 3.37% in 2020 to 6.75% today. So not only do houses now cost more, but the debt required to purchase a home is far more expensive than it was just a few years ago.
This reality teaches us a lesson: There isn’t any problem too large that the government can’t make much worse.
These economic realities have real consequences. Young people are likely to feel like they can’t afford to get married, start families or purchase homes, thereby putting off many life milestones previous generations took for granted.
An unaffordable economy is part of the reason the median age for first marriage in the United States is 30 for men and 28 for women, both record highs. Likewise, the U.S. fertility rate has fallen to historic lows.
Moreover, financial stress negatively impacts all American families – both young and old – since money fights are the second leading cause of divorce, behind infidelity.
While the Trump administration is admirably looking to relieve some of the symptoms many are feeling, as former President Ronald Reagan once said, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help.
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Young Americans shouldn’t look to Washington, D.C. to solve their economic woes. Rather, they must do what Americans have always done. Take responsibility; work hard; and never ever give up.
Young adults must learn to live on less than they make, create and live on a budget, choose to sacrifice financially, pay off debt, pick up a second job if necessary, and save for the future.
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America may be experiencing an affordability crisis. But never give into the left’s victim mentality, nor ask the government to solve a problem it created.
The solution starts and ends with the person in the mirror.
Zachary Mettler is a writer/analyst for the Daily Citizen at Focus on the Family.
