If your child was born from 2025 through 2028, claim their Trump account in the Trump Accounts app and request the government’s $1,000 deposit, which isn’t paid until you do. Put your own savings for the child in a 529 plan first, since its growth is tax-free for education and a Trump account’s earnings are taxed when withdrawn.
On Oct. 1, 2026, Treasury finished opening Trump accounts automatically for every child under 18 with a Social Security number and no account yet, more than 60 million children. None came with the $1,000, which Treasury deposits only after a parent or guardian claims the account and requests it.
Getting that deposit costs you nothing. Money you save yourself belongs in a 529 plan first, or, once your child earns money from a job, in a custodial Roth IRA that you manage for them.
None of the three accounts gives you a federal tax deduction for contributions, so the difference is how their earnings are taxed. A 529’s earnings are tax-free when spent on education, and a custodial Roth IRA’s are tax-free in retirement. From the year your child turns 18, a Trump account works like a traditional IRA, so its earnings are taxed as income when withdrawn. Before age 59½, a withdrawal can also bring a 10% penalty unless an exception applies. That’s why your own savings go to the 529 first.
The deposit goes to a U.S. citizen born from Jan. 1, 2025, through Dec. 31, 2028, with a Social Security number. To claim the account, go to TrumpAccounts.gov for the official Trump Accounts app, then verify your identity and your relationship to the child. On the claim form, check the box for the $1,000 pilot program before you submit it. If you already requested it, such as on Form 4547 with your 2025 tax return, you don’t need to again.
Once the account is claimed, parents, relatives, and friends can contribute up to $5,000 a year in total. An employer can put in up to $2,500 of that for each employee, and it doesn’t count as the employee’s taxable income. The money goes into a low-cost S&P 500 stock index fund and can’t be withdrawn until the year your child turns 18.
Use the Trump account for money that doesn’t come from you, the $1,000 and anything your employer puts in.
For the money you save yourself, compare the best state 529 plans.
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