Jul 9, 2026
President Donald Trump is eyeing Australia: not for its territory, but to replicate its retirement system.
“We’re going to be doing also something we’re working on later on, and it’ll be also, I think, very popular, and I guess the best definition is they have a plan in Australia, which people really like,” Trump told reporters on Monday.
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He added he was going to make a fresh push in Congress too.
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“We’re going to be talking about that with Congress and see if we can implement it, and that would be more for grown-ups as opposed to children,” he said, adding that “we’re going to try very hard.”
This marks the latest instance in which the president has suggested borrowing elements of Australia’s retirement model to implement at home. He first floated the idea in early December.
“We’re looking at it very seriously,” Trump said. “It’s a good plan. It’s worked out very well.”
How do Aussies retire?
Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating once described the country’s system as “the envy of the developed world.”
Australian retirement is split into three components. The first is a means-tested pension provided to retirees 65 and up earning below a certain income.
The second is known as “superannuation,” a mandatory pension plan in which employers pay out 12% of an individual’s wages into a tax-advantaged retirement savings account. Established in 1992, the so-called “super” applies for all workers between the ages of 18 and 70.
Employees can also contribute to the accounts in what’s been called “salary sacrifice,” and the current contribution limit is $30,000. There are strict limits on withdrawals.
Professional asset managers manage the accounts, which can be invested into money market funds or private equity.
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The US retirement model is anchored around Social Security, which provides monthly benefits to retirees and disabled workers as well. It’s up to employers if they want to offer a retirement plan, most commonly a 401(k). Employer-sponsored contributions to 401(k) plans are optional, compared to Australia where they are mandatory. Experts observe that the Australian model may not necessarily be a one-size-fits-all solution.
“The Australians clearly have an admirable retirement system, and the U.S. system needs lots of fixing,” wrote Alicia Munnell, a senior advisor at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, in a blog post. “But it does not necessarily follow that a fundamental restructuring is necessary or even desirable.”
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Trump Accounts for adults?
Earlier this month, the Trump administration launched the so-called “Trump Accounts” for children. Every child who is under 18 can set up an account, as long as they have a Social Security number. The Treasury Department is providing $1,000 into the accounts opened for children born between Jan. 1, 2025 and Dec. 31, 2028.
In April, Trump signed an executive order to expand access to retirement plans already available to federal employees for those who can’t access one through their jobs. A bipartisan law signed by President Biden in 2022 had set up a $1,000 “Saver’s Match” for eligible workers who parked at least $2,000 into a qualifying account.
The Trump administration wants to encourage its additional take-up in a program that would launch sometime in 2027.
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Joseph Zeballos-Roig is a policy and politics journalist based in Washington D.C with a focus on economics. He is experienced in connecting the significance of events in the capital to the lives of everyday Americans whether its taxes, tariffs, interest rates or federal programs.
