(Community Matters) From my friends at the New America Foundation
Senators Schumer and Dodd jointly introduced the ASPIRE Act. The bill supports one of our flagship proposals– to create a universal system of accounts-at-birth which are progressively funded and would enable children and their families to pursue higher education, responsible homeownership, and a more secure retirement. The time has come for a major public discussion about the way we plan for retirement, support savings and encourage homeownership. We look forward to that discussion and believe the ASPIRE Act can play a critical role in helping promote a more responsible, sustainable system.
Community Matters 
I dunno. We should encourage people to save, especially lower income people. But this sounds a lot like the Ownership Society talk of the last decade, which partly got us into the hosing bubble. The Ownership Society advocates wanted everyone to own real estate, even though that was clearly a bad idea. This ASPIRE talk mentions home ownership and a college degree as something people should aspire to. It even allows people to withdraw their money without penalty to buy a house or pay for higher education.
Real estate and higher ed are already subsidized heavily by the government, which has contributed to bubbles in those sectors. There is a growing consensus that too many people are going to college. I just wish we could have a society where 19-year-olds could get decent jobs without suffering the tut-tuts of older people who expect them to join the educational arms race by going into debt and into college.
I don’t have any answers, but ASPIRE is yet another tax-favored investment account – on top of IRAs, 401ks, Health Savings Accounts, etc… Great for the money management industry, but how many of these do we need?