The Treasury Department will begin automatically creating Trump Accounts for more than 60 million children on or about Oct. 1, a sweeping change that removes the need for parents or guardians to start the process themselves. The temporary rules were issued with the Internal Revenue Service and are set for publication Wednesday in the Federal Register.
The move covers children under 18 who have a Social Security number and do not already have an account. Treasury said it will keep enrolling eligible children periodically and add about 2 million accounts a year as newborns arrive, turning what had been a sign-up system into one that starts on its own for a broad share of families.
The scale helps explain why the rules matter now. Treasury said about 5.6 million electronic sign-up forms had been processed by July 30, while an estimated 73.4 million children were eligible. Only about 10,000 of those forms came from households reporting no income, even though that group includes 8.6 million eligible children. The automatic rollout is meant to close that gap fast, beginning with accounts that will be opened without any action from parents.
But the new rules stop short of doing everything for families. The automatic step does not trigger the $1,000 government deposit for children born from 2025 through 2028, and the rules say the Treasury secretary cannot make that election. Parents still must request the deposit, and they also have to claim the account through a Treasury app or website if they want to add family money or employer contributions. To do that, they must verify their identity and their legal authority over the child’s finances.
Once claimed, the accounts can accept up to $5,000 a year and up to $2,500 from employers. The money is invested in low-cost index funds made up mostly of U.S. stocks, and it generally cannot be withdrawn before the year the child turns 18. Automatic accounts can receive only the $1,000 deposit and contributions from governments and nonprofits until a parent or guardian steps in and claims them.
The automatic enrollment also extends the reach of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation’s $6.25 billion pledge, which applies to children born from 2016 through 2024 in ZIP codes with median household income below $150,000. Donors may also give publicly traded stock, which generally must be held five years. Treasury’s new system is built to create the account first, then leave the rest to the adults who decide whether to open it wider.
