America First Retirement Act · Executive Summary
Real ownership.
Real wealth.
Real security.
A proposal to replace Social Security with individually owned retirement accounts — building private wealth for every citizen while retiring the national debt.
The system at maturity — Year 50 (2075)
What the Act does
Instead of depending on a government promise, every citizen builds wealth in an account that grows, compounds, and belongs to them — and passes to their heirs.
Contributions stay at today's 12.4% rate, but the money flows into the worker's own diversified portfolio rather than a pooled trust fund. Citizens receive a $5,000 seed at birth, and young workers who opt in during the transition receive up to $10,000. There are no IOUs, no pooled insolvency risk, and no benefit cuts looming on the horizon.
Government seed
$5,000 at birth
$100/month to age 18
Under 25 at start receive up to $10,000 in seed funds (depending on age)
Contributions
Same as today — 12.4% of earnings, no wage cap, deposited straight into the worker's account.
Market growth
Age-based index portfolios, modeled at a conservative 8% during accumulation against a 10% optimistic case — in line with long-run equity returns.
What it means for one worker
A median earner accumulates a multi-million-dollar account over a career — and draws a retirement income roughly fifteen times what Social Security promises.
Account balance for a median worker ($75k/year, with birth account)
Conservative 8% accumulation, shown against the 10% optimistic case. Nominal dollars at retirement.
Monthly retirement income — AFRA vs. Social Security
After the 15% distribution tax, by income tier. Conservative 8% case.
Debt down, wealth up
The same engine that builds private accounts runs a government surplus large enough to retire the national debt — then fund infrastructure and tax relief.
National debt
$36T → $0 by Year 38
Individual wealth
$0 → $391T by Year 50
The arithmetic of the conservative model: $148.69T of revenue over 50 years against $61.74T of cost — covering every Social Security benefit owed to the protected generation — leaves an $86.95T net surplus, alongside the $391T that sits in individuals' accounts.
The 50-year ledger
Revenue, less costs, equals the net government surplus — separate from individually owned assets.
How the transition runs
Stand the system up while honoring every existing promise, cross into surplus, then pay down the debt and return the proceeds.
During the build-out, both systems run at once: current retirees and the protected generation (age 56+ at enactment) keep full Social Security, while new workers enroll in AFRA. That overlap is the source of the early-year deficits — a planned, front-loaded investment that the surplus years repay several times over.
Where the surplus goes after the debt is gone (Year 38+)
Reverts automatically to 100% debt reduction if the national debt ever climbs back above $1T.
AFRA vs. Social Security
| Feature | America First Retirement Act | Social Security |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | Individual account you own and pass on | Government promise, no ownership |
| Median monthly benefit | ~$35,229 (median earner, after tax) | ~$2,400 (median earner) |
| Balance at retirement | $7.39M (median, with birth account) | $0 — no account |
| Solvency | Fully funded, self-sustaining | Trust fund shortfall projected mid-2030s |
| Inheritance | Passes to heirs; dependents protected | Nothing transfers to the estate |
| Effect on national debt | Retires $36T debt by Year 38 | Adds to long-run obligations |
Assumptions & basis
All figures derive from a single source-of-truth model. Conservative case: 8% annual return during accumulation, 4% in distribution; optimistic case: 10% accumulation — both nominal (not inflation-adjusted), with 2% annual wage growth, over a 50-year horizon beginning 2026. Individual outcomes assume a median $75,000 earner who is a citizen from birth ($5,000 seed plus $100/month to age 18) and contributes the mandatory 12.4% from age 22 to 67; monthly income is the balance annuitized across age 67–90 at 4%, after the 15% distribution tax. System-level figures are a transparent first-version projection; the macro assumptions (participation ramp, Social Security wind-down, death recapture) are documented in the model and open to calibration. Projections illustrate the proposal and are not a forecast.