Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will now match employee contributions to Trump Accounts. The same institutions that spent decades perfecting the art of regulatory arbitrage have decided the real alpha was in HR press releases all along.
Trump Accounts are tax-advantaged retirement vehicles named after the former president who signed them into law. They let you save money for retirement while also signaling your political preferences to your coworkers during benefits enrollment. It's like a Roth IRA but with more uncomfortable small talk at the water cooler.
The matching program means if you put in a thousand dollars, your employer puts in a thousand dollars. Free money. Except it's not free because you already negotiated your total compensation package and this just shifts where the dollars get allocated. But tell yourself it's free. That's what makes you feel good about staying at a job you hate.
Morgan Stanley announced their program three days after Goldman. They saw Goldman get a headline and thought why should those guys get all the credit for doing the bare minimum. Now both firms can tout their commitment to employee financial wellness while their junior bankers work hundred-hour weeks calculating whether they can afford to quit.
The growing list of companies offering these matches now includes basically every bank that wants a free PR hit. It costs them nothing in real terms. They were going to pay you anyway. Now they just get to act like they invented generosity.
Retail traders will see this headline and think it means something about Trump's 2028 chances. They will buy Trump Media stock. They will lose money. The cycle continues.
Goldman and Morgan Stanley both declined to comment on how many employees actually use Trump Accounts versus regular 401(k)s, which tells you everything you need to know about how meaningful this announcement really is.
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