The Trump administration is rolling out the new “Trump Accounts” that will aim to provide children with a jump start on savings and investment that could grow into a substantial nest egg by the time they reach adulthood.
Trump accounts are tax-advantaged savings accounts that the administration created through the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which provided funding to seed $1,000 from the government into Trump accounts for children born between Jan 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028.
An analysis by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) shows that based on historical average returns on the U.S. stock market, Trump accounts could grow into a substantial nest egg by the time a child turns 18, depending on how much is contributed over time. The funds could then be used to help pay for education expenses, a down payment on a home, or a jump start on retirement savings.
The accounts will be invested in a broad U.S. stock index fund, like the low-cost funds available in many retirement accounts, and will be in the child’s name with their parents or guardian serving as the custodian of the account until they turn 18.
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Parents may contribute up to $5,000 per year to the accounts, while a parent’s employer can contribute up to $2,500 per year without impacting the employee’s taxable income.
If maximum contributions are made to a Trump account belonging to a child born in 2026, the CEA estimates that the Trump account would reach $303,800 by age 18 and $1,091,900 by age 28 in a medium-returns scenario.
In a low-returns scenario, maximum contributions to a Trump account would have a balance of $187,400 by age 18 and $772,200 by age 28. In the CEA’s high-returns scenario, balances would jump significantly to $730,400 by age 18 and $1,904,300 by age 28.
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If no contributions are made to a Trump account belonging to a child born in 2026 beyond the $1,000 in seed money provided by the government, the account balance would reach $5,800 by the time they turn 18 years old, while the continued compounding growth would have the account reach $18,100 by age 28, according to the CEA’s medium-returns scenario.
Without contributions, the low-returns scenario would leave the Trump account balance at $2,577 at age 18 and $10,607 at age 28.
In the high-returns scenario, the Trump account with no additional contributions would be at $21,229 at age 18 and $40,179 at age 28 in the high-returns scenario.
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Trump accounts are also available to children born before Jan. 1, 2025, who are under the age of 18 – although they won’t receive the $1,000 deposit from the federal government. The CEA notes that because they are older and would have fewer years of accumulated returns before turning 18 or 28, their account balances would be meaningfully lower on average.
The Trump administration has indicated that Trump accounts will officially launch on July 5, 2026. Parents may enroll their child in the program by making an election when they file their taxes.
A number of companies have offered to match parents’ contributions or otherwise provide seed money to the Trump accounts belonging to employees’ children, while some philanthropists have also committed to donate funds to help seed the accounts.
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