Student loan payments and interest rates, private mortgage insurance, and related costs can be prohibitive to entering the housing market for middle class families. Such costs are also incentive to put off or totally forgo raising children.
Households should be allowed to withdraw money from their retirement funds, penalty free, up to $10K per member of the household, to reduce the principal on student loans, make a down payment on a first house, or reduce the principal on a first mortgage.
Preparing for the future should not mean having large sums of money in funds somewhere, at the whim of the market. A better way to invest for tomorrow is to raise healthy and happy middle class children who will continue to be the innovators and workforce which have long made this country strong