Mark Kirk: “We have now seen also with the 401(k) program a change in how Americans look at the economy for the future. There was a…”

“We have now seen also with the 401(k) program a change in how Americans look at the economy for the future. There was a time in which most Americans owned no stock and saw the New York Stock Exchange or the other exchanges as something far away, not part of their lives, and maybe for rich people only. The 401(k) program changed all of that. And so now we have tens of millions of Americans who are investors, and changing that one cultural attribute that we maybe shouldn't have, which is looking too much for the short term, and helping the whole country change into a new investor mentality, to invest for the long haul, to look at high technology and other investments to see that savings can be built up in a far more substantial way, beyond just a savings account at a bank if they can be put into long term stocks and bonds. These are habits that have been built for adults, but have not been inculcated in children; that if we start 401 kids accounts with your son or daughter's name on that account, that as your child gets to be 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 years old, it gives an education opportunity to say to your daughter, look at what we've done in just the last year and how much this has gone up, hoping that this will set an example for the rest of her life, making sure that she has successful habits to save and invest for the future.”