The Great Recession had devastating effects for American families. Layoffs, foreclosures and income loss all contributed to a decline in lifestyle - and morale. How can Americans rebuild the wealth lost during the Great Recession and does the country need a new way of looking at money and saving for the younger generations?

This month's issue of 'The Washington Monthly' magazine focuses on the best path for rebuilding America's economy, with many scholars arguing that the job creation plans touted by politicians won't be enough to solve our country's problems. What's needed, these scholars claim, is a strong focus on personal finanical knowledge, and programs to help average American's build assets.

Phillip Longman, from the New America Foundation, argues in The Washington Monthly, that monetary policies need to include every American:

What if we re-crafted our wealth accumulation policies so that they primarily helped average Americans build assets? Nothing could be more American. It's what the Homestead Act did. It's what the GI Bill did. And here's another example of how it could be done for the next generation of Americans.

Every child born in the U.S. gets a Social Security number. Going forward, every child should get at the same time what could be called an American Stakeholder Account. Parents, grandparents, and anyone else who cared to could contribute funds to a child's stakeholder account, as could children themselves. Children whose families qualify for the federal child tax credit would have up to $500 added to their accounts each year by the government. Contributions from all sources would be capped at $2,000 per year.

Phillip will join The Daily Circuit on Tuesday to discuss how parents can rebuild and help their children be more prepared for the future. Dana Goldstein will also be part of the discussion.

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