Trump sees retirement savings bump, more 401(k) millionaires?

President Trump took to Twitter Thursday morning to praise the stock market, saying more people can expect to see a bump in their retirement accounts as he claimed more “good” economic news was on the way.

A significant number of people are seeing a meaningful increase in the sizes of their retirement accounts. According to Fidelity, the number of “401(k) millionaires,” or people with at least $1 million in their 401(k) accounts, rose to 168,000 at the end of June, up more than 40 percent over the year prior. The number of “IRA millionaires” hit 156,000 during the same period.

Fidelity also reported that the number Americans had stashed away in their 401(k) accounts closed in on an all-time high.

The average person had about $104,000 saved at the end of the first quarter, a 6 percent increase over the year prior.

The S&P 500 is on track to see its best August since 2014, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is nearing a record high set in January. However, there is some cause for caution over the near-term, as September is historically the worst month of the year for the markets.

The administration has said it wants to help more Americans save: As of May, more than 20 percent of Americans had no cash stashed away for retirement. The administration hopes it can help change that with its second round of tax legislation, which Republican leaders have said they have begun working on.

It remains unclear exactly what Republicans plan to do to help more Americans stash away a larger percentage of their income, but Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Texas, told The Wall Street Journal that a universal savings account could be included. Contributions to a universal savings account would be taxed, but earnings would grow tax-free and would be easier to withdraw than a traditional 401(k) or other retirement account.

Further, the bill could aim to make it easier to use health savings accounts, an account where an individual contributes pretax dollars for the explicit purpose of spending those funds on future medical expenses.