Nearly every child in America now has a new savings account with their name on it, as well as someone else’s: President Trump’s.
The Treasury Department said on Thursday that it automatically enrolled more than 60 million children into Trump accounts, the tax-deferred savings vehicles also called 530A accounts that were introduced in July.
The 530A accounts are essentially starter individual retirement accounts: Parents, guardians and others can contribute up to $5,000 annually. But other relatives, employers, philanthropists, governments and charitable groups can also make deposits, which grow tax-deferred in an ultralow-cost stock index fund.
Once all children have accounts, the hope is that nonprofits and government donors will be more likely to make contributions.
If you have children under 18, they probably have one now, too. Here’s everything you need to know:
What just happened?
The Treasury Department created Trump accounts for all eligible children who didn’t already have one — or those who have Social Security numbers and who will not have turned 18 before the end of the calendar year.
Before this week, parents or guardians had to sign up their children completely on their own. Though more than seven million children had been enrolled as of late July, that represents only about 10 percent of all eligible American children — and donors and policymakers were concerned the accounts weren’t reaching those who could benefit the most. Just 5 percent of low-income families had opened 530A accounts for their children, according to a survey published in September by Commonwealth, a nonprofit.
Automatic enrollment removes that hurdle, putting every eligible child in a position to receive the widely publicized free contributions from philanthropists, charitable organizations and governments, all of which Trump accounts are permitted to collect.
“The research was overwhelmingly clear that auto enrollment is the way to get to full participation, especially for low-income folks, and I think Treasury listened,” said Ray Boshara, a senior policy adviser at Washington University in St. Louis who has helped policymakers in both parties develop plans for children’s savings accounts.
Parents and guardians do not need to do anything to claim contributions from philanthropic groups. With an open account, children can automatically capture anything they may be eligible for.
But parents will need to take action — and claim the account — to make their own deposits and to receive matching contributions for employers. During that process, they must also elect to receive the federal government’s seed deposit of $1,000 for eligible children born in 2025 through 2028.
Will parents and guardians be notified — and what should they do next?
The Treasury (or a trustee it assigns) will oversee and control each account until a parent or guardian claims it and assumes control.
They can do that through the Trump account mobile app. During that process, parents or guardians must verify their identity, confirm their relationship to the child, review their child’s information and accept the account terms, a Treasury spokesman said.
Which organizations have already committed to making donations?
The tech billionaire Michael Dell and his wife, Susan, will contribute $250 to many children. To be eligible for a Dell gift, the children need to have been born in 2016 through 2024 and live in a ZIP code where the median household income is below $150,000.
Though the Dells pledged to give 25 million children $250, so far, only about 1.2 million eligible children had opened accounts and received the money. With automatic enrollment, the deposits will go first to the children in the lowest-income areas, until they reach 25 million children. “Kids shouldn’t miss out simply because their family didn’t know about the program or hadn’t opened an account,” said Lucy Neugart, a spokeswoman for the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.
The hedge fund manager Ray Dalio committed $75 million for children in certain parts of Connecticut. Many other philanthropists and companies have pledged to make deposits of their own — and more are likely to be coming.
Do these accounts make sense for everyone?
Many financial experts say that all children can benefit from a 530A account, simply because it serves as a collection basket to receive free money. But not every household should contribute to one.
Trump (or 530A) accounts are essentially individual retirement accounts — and squirreling away money for your children’s retirement usually ranks low on the hierarchy of savings needs when there are so many other goals that should be prioritized first: emergency funds, paying down debt, saving for your own retirement and your children’s college. There are already a variety of accounts that are more flexible and tailored for many of those purposes.
The Trump administration has highlighted the large balances that can materialize after many years with a fully funded account, but most American families don’t have the wherewithal to contribute that much.
Individuals can contribute up to $5,000 a year, and employers can contribute up to $2,500, which counts toward that annual cap. But eligible government and philanthropic contributions can be made without limit and do not apply to the annual ceiling.
How will children be enrolled going forward? And what if my child was excluded?
The Treasury Department’s rules say it will continue to periodically auto enroll children, so most parents and guardians won’t need to open the accounts on their own — they will still need, however, to claim their children’s accounts.
If the rare need arises, parents and guardians can enroll their children through the mobile app, the web page or through I.R.S. Form 4547 (though the form requires a second step to activate the account later), the Treasury rules say.
The Social Security Administration said in July that it would enroll newborns in the accounts when new parents requested a Social Security number — and the Treasury Department will continue to work with the agency on that, according to a Treasury spokesman.
Is it an individual account — and how will any contributions be invested?
Yes, these are individual accounts: Contributions are received and recorded by the individual account, but the money is invested collectively through a master group trust, the regulations said. Each account holds an interest in that trust, without disclosing taxpayer information, according to a Treasury Department spokesman.
How is the Treasury authorized to create an account for my child?
The big tax and policy bill that Congress passed in July 2025 added a section to the federal tax code — known as 530A — that gave the Treasury permission to create children’s initial accounts. This week, the I.R.S. issued temporary rules that accelerates that process, while also proposing final rules that allows the public to comment.
The Trump administration had been under pressure from policymakers, philanthropists and researchers who study such accounts to automatically enroll children, based on a variety of research showing that low-earning families particularly benefit when children are automatically enrolled in investment accounts.
But the administration had to come up with a structure that would both allow the creation of individual accounts while also adhering to rules that say federal tax return information must remain confidential. The Treasury and I.R.S. had previously believed that was a major hurdle.
What if I want to opt out?
For now, you can’t. Account creation is automatic, and there currently isn’t a way to stop that before it happens, a Treasury spokesman said. Once an account has been claimed, it cannot be closed either.
But the Treasury and I.R.S. have asked for comments on a process that would permanently remove a child’s claim to any assets held in the account and result in its closure, the spokesman said.
How much will this cost taxpayers?
The accounts are estimated to cost just over $15 billion through 2034, according to estimates from the Joint Committee on Taxation.
More than 95 percent of those costs come from the $1,000 federal government contribution for children born in 2025 through 2028, according to the Economic Policy Innovation Center, a policy group, and not any tax advantage.
It wasn’t immediately clear how much it would cost to administer millions of small-dollar accounts.
What happens if a parent or guardian doesn’t claim their child’s account?
The accounts will remain available to be claimed at any time, according to the Treasury, whether by the parent or guardian, or when children turn 18 and can claim it themselves.
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