IS A TRUMP ACCOUNT RIGHT FOR YOUR FAMILY?

The new tax-advantaged vehicles can give kids a leg up on savings, but they’re not the best option for everyone.

- BETH BRAVERMAN

AMERICANS will celebrate the 250th birthday of the country this July Fourth, but some families may also be celebrating something else: the launch of the Trump Account, a new, tax-advantaged investment vehicle for children.

Essentially a starter IRA, the account can help build long-term wealth for children, with some kids qualifying for free seed money from the federal government, employers and philanthropists.

“The main idea is to give kids a head start on retirement savings,” says Judd Meinhart, director of financial planning at Modera Wealth Management in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Unlike IRAs, Trump accounts, which were created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, don’t require a child to have earned income. Any child younger than 18 who is a U.S. citizen and has a Social Security number is eligible. Parents, grandparents, and other relatives and friends can collectively contribute up to $5,000 a year (the maximum will be indexed to inflation starting in 2028), and babies born between 2025 and 2028 get an additional, onetime deposit of $1,000 from the U.S. government to help kick-start the account. (You can sign up at TrumpAccounts.gov.)