Trump Accounts face low uptake as enrollment barriers loom

More than six million children are signed up for Trump Accounts, but the money cannot flow into the new investment program until July 4, and families still have to opt in before a child can receive the federal seed deposit. Parents or other authorized adults must file IRS Form 4547 rather than enrolling eligible children automatically.

Trump Accounts, formally Section 530A accounts created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, are designed for children under 18. Eligible children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, can receive a one-time $1,000 pilot-program contribution if they are U.S. citizens with valid Social Security numbers. Annual contributions are capped at $5,000, and the money can be invested only in low-cost mutual funds or exchange-traded funds that track broad U.S. stock indices. The initial accounts will be managed through an app and by BNY as a financial agent of the federal government.

Awareness is lowest among the families most likely to benefit, and opt-in enrollment through the tax system could leave out low-income families, immigrant households and children who are not claimed on tax returns, Urban Institute researchers warn. Madeline Brown of the Urban Institute says millions of eligible children may miss out because the program is not automatic, and the institute argues that automatic enrollment is the only reliable way to reach families broadly.

On March 31, the IRS said more than four million children had been signed up, including more than one million covered by elections for the $1,000 contribution. By late June, IRS totals had climbed further, yet that was still only a slice of the children who could qualify for the federal deposit. Treasury and IRS guidance make clear that regular contributions cannot begin before July 4, 2026.

Treasury announced on July 2 that it would accept large philanthropic contributions of readily tradable public company stock to support Trump Accounts. The accounts grow until the year before a child turns 18, when they can shift under IRA rules.