The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced on Thursday that automatic enrollment has been completed for more than 60 million American children under age 18 in Trump Accounts, also known as 530A accounts. The accounts officially launched on July 4 and are available to any U.S. child under 18 with a Social Security number. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the automatic enrollment process, which was proposed on Tuesday, had been fully implemented by Thursday, creating accounts for millions of additional eligible children.
Children born between 2025 and 2028 are eligible to claim a one-time $1,000 contribution from the Treasury as part of a pilot program, though automatic enrollment does not trigger this deposit. Families must actively claim their children’s accounts through the Trump Accounts app by verifying identity and reviewing account terms to access the government seed money and enable contributions from family members, friends, and employers. The Treasury also updated regulations to permit donations of individual stocks to these accounts, with donated stocks generally required to be held for five years before sale. This change from previous guidelines that limited accounts to diversified, low-cost funds may encourage larger private contributions from wealthy donors seeking to avoid capital gains taxes.
Prior to automatic enrollment, participation rates were significantly lower, particularly among lower-income households. As of mid-September, approximately 7 million to 8 million children had been enrolled under the previous opt-in structure, with only about 5% of low- and moderate-income families having opened accounts. Research from the Commonwealth nonprofit found that concerns about tax implications, effects on public benefits, and complex eligibility and contribution rules deterred participation among families earning up to $80,000 annually.
Research estimates that approximately 14.4 million children across all income levels born between 2025 and 2028 are projected to qualify for the federal $1,000 seed funding, with 5.8 million from low- and moderate-income households. Private funding has also been pledged, including a $6.25 billion commitment from tech CEO Michael Dell and his wife to provide $250 additional contributions for eligible children born between 2016 and 2024 living in lower-income areas. Policy experts acknowledge that while automatic enrollment represents progress toward increasing participation, barriers including financial literacy gaps and time constraints may still limit engagement among lower-income families.
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