A mobile app to manage Trump Accounts, which provide $1,000 to American newborns, will be available on all major app platforms starting Thursday morning, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced during a Cabinet meeting.
About 6 million children have already signed up through the Internal Revenue Service for the Trump Accounts, which will be open for contributions starting July 4, he said.
“It will place the American dream into the hands of parents and children,” Bessent said Wednesday.
He described the accounts as “the most important government benefit for young people since the G.I. Bill” following World War II, when the federal government began providing college education funds and low-interest loans to service members.
A provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act the president signed last summer, Trump Accounts give $1,000 to every newborn, so long as their parents open an account.
To qualify for the $1,000 seed money, a baby must be a U.S. citizen, have a Social Security number and be born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028. Any parent can open an account for a qualifying child, regardless of the parent’s immigration status, according to the Treasury Department.
Private banks and brokerages then manage the money, which must be invested in U.S. equity index funds that track the stock market and charge the accounts no more than 0.1% in annual fees.
In April, the Treasury Department designated the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. as the financial agent to support Trump Accounts’ implementation. BNY helped develop the new Trump Accounts app that will be available starting Thursday.
The app is billed as “a secure, user-friendly platform that will enable families to easily access and manage their accounts,” according to a Treasury Department news release, which also states the Treasury Department will retain control of the app and its operations.
Robinhood, the financial services platform that offers zero-commission stock and cryptocurrency trading, is the brokerage and initial trustee of the Trump Accounts, the Treasury Department said.
Children can access the money when they turn 18 to use for specific purposes, such as paying tuition, starting a business or making a down payment on a home.
Parents can contribute up to $2,500 annually in pretax income, much like they do for retirement accounts. Parents’ employers, relatives, friends, local governments and philanthropic groups can also pitch in. Yearly contributions are capped at $5,000, but contributions from governments and charities don’t count toward that total.
Backers of Trump Accounts have said they’re a way to help children from low-income households build wealth.
The investments will put money “in the hands of young Americans who otherwise have really started out with nothing,” Trump said at an event in January to promote Trump Accounts.
At the time, he called on employers across the country to make matching Trump Accounts contributions for employee benefits, as some companies have already pledged to do, including Uber, Intel, IBM and Nvidia.
“Every president in modern history has left our children with nothing but debt,” Trump said. “But under this administration, we’re going to leave every child with real assets and a shot at financial freedom.”
Bessent said in December that compound growth from the Treasury’s initial $1,000 seed funding could grow to almost $674,000 by the age of retirement, presuming an annual S&P 500 growth rate of 10.5% each year.
The Council of Economic Advisers estimates a Trump Account funded with the federal government’s $1,000 in seed money and a $5,000 annual contribution each year could be worth more than $1 million by the time a child reaches 28 years old.
Critics say the accounts will do little to help children in their early years, when they’re most vulnerable and most likely to be in poverty. The accounts, they say, also fail to offset cuts the Trump administration and congressional Republicans made to other programs that benefit young people and their families, including food assistance and Medicaid. Republicans created the accounts in the same Trump tax bill that reduced spending for some of those programs.
Even with the contribution from the government, critics say the Trump Accounts will widen the wealth gap. Affluent families that can afford to make the maximum pretax contribution to the accounts will realize the greatest benefits. Poor families who can’t afford to set aside money for the accounts will benefit the least. Assuming a 7% return, the $1,000 in seed money would grow to roughly $3,570 over 18 years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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