Does my child automatically have a Trump Account?

Probably. From 1 October 2026 the Treasury began opening accounts automatically for eligible children with a valid Social Security number, about 70 million in total including accounts parents opened themselves. A parent or guardian still has to claim the account in the official Trump Accounts app before it can be managed or receive the $1,000.

How do I get the $1,000 for my child?

Your child must be a US citizen born between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2028 with a valid Social Security number. You claim the account in the official app from trumpaccounts.gov and elect the pilot contribution on IRS Form 4547, which you can submit in the app, on the website, through your IRS Individual Account or with your tax return. The deposit is paid after the account is active.

How much can I put into a Trump Account?

Up to $5,000 per child per year from parents, relatives, friends and employers combined, indexed for inflation after 2027. An employer can contribute up to $2,500 of that. The $1,000 federal deposit and charitable gifts don’t count toward the limit.

Is a Trump Account better than a 529 plan?

For college, usually not. 529 withdrawals for qualified education are tax-free, while Trump Account growth is taxed as income when withdrawn and early withdrawals before 59½ can carry a 10% additional tax. A Trump Account is most useful as an extra long-term layer, especially to collect the $1,000 and any employer or charitable money.

Can my child take the money out at 18?

Withdrawals can start from 1 January of the year the child turns 18, under traditional IRA rules. The taxable part of a withdrawal, which includes the growth and the $1,000, is taxed as ordinary income, and withdrawals before age 59½ may face a 10% additional tax unless an exception applies. The account can also be rolled over or converted to a Roth IRA.

By Artem Panasiuk · 26 October 2026 · 11 min read

What Is a Trump Account? A Parent’s Plain-English Guide (and How to Explain It to Your Kid)

In October the Treasury opened a Trump Account for almost every child in America with a Social Security number. Most parents heard about it on the news, and most accounts are still unclaimed. This guide covers the account rules, the steps to claim it and the $1,000, the tax due when the money comes out, and how to use the account to talk with your child about long-term money.

The short version

A Trump Account is a type of IRA for a child under 18. Since 1 October 2026 the Treasury has opened one automatically for every eligible child with a Social Security number, about 70 million accounts in total, but a parent or guardian has to claim it before anything can be managed or deposited.
Children who are US citizens born from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2028 can get a one-time $1,000 federal deposit. It is not automatic: you elect it on IRS Form 4547, which can be filed in the official Trump Accounts app, on the website, or through your IRS online account.
Family, friends and employers can add up to $5,000 a year per child, of which an employer can give up to $2,500. The money must sit in low-cost US stock index funds and cannot be withdrawn until the year the child turns 18.
From 18 the account follows traditional IRA rules: the growth, the $1,000 and any employer money are taxed when withdrawn, and withdrawals before 59½ can carry a 10% penalty. For college, a 529 plan is usually the better tool; a Trump Account works best as an extra, long-term layer.
For your child, the account is a lesson in waiting: money that grows for years and can’t be touched. It works best when they see the balance, for example once a year on their birthday.

This article explains how the accounts work under the rules published by the IRS and the Treasury up to October 2026. It isn’t financial advice, and the rules are still being filled in, so check trumpaccounts.gov or a tax professional before you decide how much to put in.

What a Trump Account is

A Trump Account is an individual retirement account (IRA) opened in a child’s name. It was created by the tax law signed on 4 July 2025, which the IRS now calls the Working Families Tax Cuts, and contributions opened on 4 July 2026. Until the end of the year your child turns 17, the money is invested in broad US stock index funds and is locked: no one can take it out. From the year they turn 18 it becomes, in effect, an ordinary traditional IRA that belongs to them.

Timeline of a Trump Account in three stages. From birth to the year the child turns 17 it is locked and growing: a parent or guardian claims it, US citizens born 2025 to 2028 can get a $1,000 federal deposit, family, friends and employers can add up to $5,000 a year, the money sits in US stock index funds only, and there are no withdrawals. From the year the child turns 18 it is theirs as an IRA: traditional IRA rules apply, growth, the $1,000 and employer money are taxed as income, a 10% additional tax may apply before 59½, and it can be rolled over or converted to a Roth IRA. From age 59½ there is no 10% additional tax, but the taxable part is still taxed as ordinary income. Your own after-tax contributions come back tax-free; everything else is taxed when it comes out.

Each child can have only one Trump Account. On 1 October 2026 the Treasury began opening them automatically, and by early October about 60 million children had been enrolled that way, on top of roughly 10 million accounts parents had already opened themselves.

Does my child already have one?

Almost certainly, if they are under 18 and have a valid Social Security number. Your child qualifies for an account as long as they don’t turn 18 before the end of the year the account is set up. Citizenship isn’t required for the account itself, only for the $1,000 deposit.

Until a parent or guardian claims the account, nobody can see the balance, choose who manages it, or receive the $1,000. Treasury’s own guidance is that eligible children must have their account claimed before the federal deposit is paid.

How to claim it, step by step

Type trumpaccounts.gov into your browser yourself and download the official Trump Accounts app from there. Don’t follow links from texts, emails or social media ads.
Have ready your own identity details and your child’s legal name, Social Security number and date of birth. They must match Social Security records exactly, or the claim will be delayed.
Verify your identity and your authority over the child’s account in the app, then follow the steps to claim and activate it.
If your child was born between 2025 and 2028, submit Form 4547 and tick the pilot program option to elect the $1,000. You can do this in the app, on the website, through your IRS Individual Account, or with your tax return. You need to elect it even if the Treasury opened the account automatically.
Check in the app whether your child also qualifies for a charitable deposit (see below).

If you get stuck, the IRS lists a help line, 866-USA-4547, and a help centre linked from trumpaccounts.gov.

Is the Trump Accounts app legit?

Yes. The official app is the main way to claim an account, and the IRS points families to it. The risk is lookalike apps and messages: a promise of “$1,000 waiting for your child” is easy bait. Reach the app only through trumpaccounts.gov or irs.gov, never pay a fee to “unlock” an account, and never give a Social Security number to someone who contacted you first.

Where the money comes from

Source	How much	Who gets it	Counts toward the $5,000 limit?
Federal pilot deposit	$1,000, once	US citizens born 1 Jan 2025 – 31 Dec 2028, if elected on Form 4547	No
Michael and Susan Dell pledge	$250, once	Many children aged 10 and under born before 2025, living in lower- and middle-income ZIP codes; the app shows if yours qualifies	No
Other charities and states	Varies	Depends on the programme (for example, Dalio Philanthropies pledged $250 for eligible children in Connecticut)	No
Parents, grandparents, relatives, friends	Any amount within the limit	Any child with an account	Yes
Your employer	Up to $2,500 a year	Children of employees, where the employer offers it	Yes

The private total is capped at $5,000 per child per year, indexed for inflation after 2027. Employer money isn’t counted as income to you. Contributions from family and friends are only allowed until the end of the year the child turns 17.

How the money is invested

Until the child is 18, the account can only hold mutual funds or ETFs that track a broad index of mainly US companies, such as the S&P 500, with annual costs capped at 0.1%. There’s no leverage, no single stocks, no sector funds. That keeps fees low and removes the temptation to gamble, but it also means the account rises and falls with the US stock market and nothing else.

Taxes when the money comes out

Money you put in comes from income you’ve already paid tax on, and it isn’t deductible. The growth is tax-deferred while it stays in the account.

When your child withdraws, only your own after-tax contributions come back tax-free. The $1,000 federal deposit, charitable gifts, employer money and all of the growth are taxed as ordinary income when your child takes them out. Researchers at Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research give an example: if parents put in $4,000, the government adds $1,000 and the account grows to $40,000, only the $4,000 is tax-free. Ninety per cent of the money is taxable.

On top of that, from 18 the account follows traditional IRA rules, which means withdrawals before age 59½ can trigger a 10% additional tax unless an exception applies. The account can be rolled over or converted to a Roth IRA after the growth period; a young adult with a low income may be able to do that conversion at a low tax cost.

Trump Account vs 529 vs custodial account vs Roth IRA for kids

	Trump Account	529 plan	Custodial (UTMA/UGMA)	Roth IRA for kids
Best for	Long-term savings from age 18, often retirement	College and other qualified education	Anything that benefits the child	Teens with earned income
Free money	$1,000 for 2025–2028 births; possible charity gifts	State tax deduction in many states	None	None
Annual limit	$5,000 from private sources	No annual limit; state lifetime caps	No legal limit	Up to the child’s earnings, within the IRA limit
Investments	US stock index funds only	Plan menu, often age-based	Almost anything	Almost anything
Access	Locked until the year the child turns 18	Any time; non-education use is taxed and penalised	Any time, for the child’s benefit	Contributions any time; growth rules apply
Tax on the way out	Growth and free money taxed as income	Tax-free for qualified education	Taxed yearly, partly at parent’s rate	Tax-free if rules are met
Who controls it at adulthood	The child, usually at 18	The account owner (usually the parent)	The child, at 18–21 (up to 25 in some states)	The child

If the goal is college, a 529 is usually the stronger tool: tax-free withdrawals for education beat a Trump Account’s taxable ones, and 529s generally weigh less heavily in financial aid calculations. And how Trump Accounts will affect financial aid, state taxes and other benefits is still unclear, which is a reason not to move money out of an existing plan to fill one.

Should I open (or fund) a Trump Account for my child?

Claiming and funding are separate decisions. Claiming costs nothing, it’s the only way to receive the $1,000 or a charitable deposit, and it leaves the decision about adding money for later.

Whether to put your own money in depends on your situation. Four questions help:

Is your emergency fund in place? Money in a Trump Account is out of reach for up to 18 years. Locking it away before you have a cushion trades a long-term benefit for short-term fragility.
Are you saving for college? If yes, the 529 usually comes first because of the tax-free withdrawals.
Does your employer contribute? Employer money up to $2,500 a year is the closest thing to free money after the $1,000, so it’s worth asking HR.
Are you comfortable with your child owning it at 18? At 18 the account becomes theirs, and so does the decision about what to do with it.

What about older kids?

Children born before 2025 have an account too; they just don’t get the $1,000. For a 14-year-old, the account has only three or four years to grow before the locked period ends, so the case for putting family money in it is weaker than for a toddler. The case for claiming it, checking for a charitable deposit and using it as a lesson is just as strong.

How to explain a Trump Account to your child

If nobody mentions it, a child first hears about the account at 18, when it’s handed over. By then they’ve missed years of watching it grow. Money they can’t touch for a decade is hard for a child to imagine and easy to show, and money habits start forming around seven.

Ages 4–7: the locked jar

Use a real jar with a lid you tape shut. “This is money for grown-up you. Nobody can open it, not even me, until you’re 18.” Put a coin in on their birthday. The idea that money can belong to you and still be out of reach is new at this age, and a physical object makes it stick.

Illustration of the locked jar activity: a glass jar with its lid taped shut, a few rows of coins at the bottom, a tag reading 18 on the front, a coin dropping in through the slot in the lid and a birthday cupcake with one candle beside it. — The locked jar: a coin goes in on each birthday, and the lid stays taped until 18.

Ages 8–12: watch it grow

This is the age for the idea that invested money earns money. Show them what $1,000 could become over 18 years, and be honest that markets go down as well as up. These are illustrations, not forecasts:

If the account grew on average…	$1,000 after 18 years
0% a year	$1,000
4% a year	about $2,030
7% a year	about $3,380

Then look at the balance together once a year, on their birthday. Ten minutes is enough, and the number on the screen is theirs.

Ages 13–17: the rules and the choice

Teenagers can handle the real details: index funds, why fees matter, why the free $1,000 is taxed later but their own savings aren’t. Most of all, talk about the day it becomes theirs. Ask what they’d do with it at 18, and what happens to it if they leave it alone until 30. If you’re starting money talks with a teenager from scratch, our guide on how to teach a teenager about money has a plan.

The short-range version of the same lesson

A Trump Account teaches waiting on an 18-year scale, which is a long time for a child. The same skill is learned faster on money they can see every week: pocket money, a savings goal, and a decision about whether to dip into it.

That’s what CapKin is built for. Each child gets their own ledger for pocket money, spending and savings goals, and a parent can lock a goal so that taking money out of it becomes a request you approve or decline, with a note. It’s a small, visible version of a locked account. CapKin doesn’t connect to Trump Accounts or any bank, and it never holds or moves money. The Trump Account stays with the Treasury’s provider; CapKin is where your child practises with everyday money. For more on building the habit, see how to teach kids to save money.

Start a householdFree during beta · No card · No bank connection

Sources

Frequently asked questions

What is a Trump Account?: A Trump Account is an individual retirement account (IRA) for a child under 18, created by the July 2025 tax law. Money is invested in low-cost US stock index funds and can’t be withdrawn until the year the child turns 18, after which traditional IRA rules apply and the account belongs to the child.
Does my child automatically have a Trump Account?: Probably. From 1 October 2026 the Treasury began opening accounts automatically for eligible children with a valid Social Security number, about 70 million in total including accounts parents opened themselves. A parent or guardian still has to claim the account in the official Trump Accounts app before it can be managed or receive the $1,000.
How do I get the $1,000 for my child?: Your child must be a US citizen born between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2028 with a valid Social Security number. You claim the account in the official app from trumpaccounts.gov and elect the pilot contribution on IRS Form 4547, which you can submit in the app, on the website, through your IRS Individual Account or with your tax return. The deposit is paid after the account is active.
How much can I put into a Trump Account?: Up to $5,000 per child per year from parents, relatives, friends and employers combined, indexed for inflation after 2027. An employer can contribute up to $2,500 of that. The $1,000 federal deposit and charitable gifts don’t count toward the limit.
Is the Trump Accounts app legit?: Yes, the official Trump Accounts app is the main way to claim an account, and the IRS points families to it. Reach it only by typing trumpaccounts.gov or irs.gov yourself, never pay a fee to unlock an account, and don’t share a Social Security number with anyone who contacted you first.
Is a Trump Account better than a 529 plan?: For college, usually not. 529 withdrawals for qualified education are tax-free, while Trump Account growth is taxed as income when withdrawn and early withdrawals before 59½ can carry a 10% additional tax. A Trump Account is most useful as an extra long-term layer, especially to collect the $1,000 and any employer or charitable money.
Can my child take the money out at 18?: Withdrawals can start from 1 January of the year the child turns 18, under traditional IRA rules. The taxable part of a withdrawal, which includes the growth and the $1,000, is taxed as ordinary income, and withdrawals before age 59½ may face a 10% additional tax unless an exception applies. The account can also be rolled over or converted to a Roth IRA.