Children born during President Donald Trump’s second term are eligible for the seed money.
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The Trump administration on Saturday launched new investment accounts for millions of American children, pairing a one-time $1,000 federal deposit for eligible babies with the opportunity for families and employers to contribute more over time.
The “Trump accounts” are open to anyone under the age of 18 with a Social Security number and function like traditional IRAs, allowing investments in index funds. Qualifying children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, are eligible for the $1,000 one-time deposit if their families enroll in the program.
The rollout marks the start of an unusual public-private savings program that administration officials say will give millions of children an early stake in the stock market. The accounts’ ultimate value will depend on whether families, employers, charities and governments add money beyond the initial federal deposit, meaning bigger gains are likely to go to children whose families have the means to invest more. About 86 percent of open Trump accounts are linked to families earning less than $200,000 annually, Treasury Department officials said.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” President Donald Trump said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday. “It’s a child has had no money, and when that baby becomes a man or a woman, they can have hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe more.”
More than 6 million accounts have already been created, according to senior Treasury officials, including 1.4 million eligible for the $1,000 deposit. That represents just a fraction of the potential pool: There are approximately 72 million people under the age of 18 in the United States, according to the Census Bureau; and 3.6 million children were born in 2025, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cash contributions will automatically be invested in SPYM, the lowest-cost S&P 500 exchange-traded fund, Treasury officials said, though four other exchange-traded funds are expected to become available.
The funds belong to the child when they turn 18 and can be used with no penalty for certain purchases, such as higher education or a first home. Otherwise, they are treated like a typical IRA and cannot be accessed tax-free until retirement age.
The program is expected to cost $17 billion through 2028, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
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About 40 percent of Americans currently have no money invested in a retirement plan. The administration estimates that the accounts seeded to $1,000 would grow to $6,000 by age 18. Children of families that are able to invest more are more likely to reap sizable benefits.
All accounts can receive up to $5,000 in contributions annually from any adult, and parents will be able to share a code permitting others to contribute directly to a child’s account.
Employers may also contribute to their employees’ children’s accounts up to $2,500 per year per employee, as part of the $5,000 annual limit. More than 50 companies have agreed to contribute to the accounts for their employees, Treasury officials said Thursday, including companies such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, Intel, JPMorgan Chase, Uber, Chipotle, Comcast and Wells Fargo.
The Dell Foundation has also agreed to donate $250 to accounts for children 10 and under living in Zip codes where the median income is $150,000 or less, up to $6.25 billion.
States, local governments, nonprofit organizations and companies may also contribute to the accounts, and doing so does not count toward the $5,000 annual cap.
That can include publicly traded stock donations, the Treasury Department announced Thursday. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has floated the idea of tech companies voluntarily giving a portion of their stock to the federal government, and Anthropic has proposed expanding Trump accounts to adults and including equity from AI companies.
Trump also told CNBC that he thinks Elon Musk’s SpaceX will donate stock to the accounts. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.
Parents and guardians can open accounts for their kids using the Trump Accounts app created in part by trading company Robinhood and BNY, formerly the Bank of New York Mellon, or through trumpaccounts.gov.
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