Trump Accounts Now Live: How the New Program Works

Trump accounts are now live, and if you have a child born after December 31, 2024, you can already start the paperwork that puts $1,000 of federal seed money into a savings account bearing their name. The program opened for contributions on July 4, and within days families had claimed 6 million accounts, according to figures the administration released at a July 6 Oval Office ceremony.

What Happened at the Launch

President Trump used the occasion to ring the opening bell for both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq simultaneously, something he said had never been done before, and certainly never from inside the Oval Office. He predicted that American children would grow up from having essentially nothing to becoming, in his words, pretty rich by a young age. Standing nearby were Michael and Susan Dell, who have committed $6.25 billion to the initiative, part of a wave of corporate and individual pledges that Trump said would add up to $800 million in fresh stock market investment for children this week alone. He also, somewhat awkwardly, encouraged the crowd to go buy Dell computers.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a data point meant to blunt criticism that the accounts mainly benefit wealthy families: 86 percent of the accounts opened so far belong to households earning less than $200,000 a year.

How the Trump Account Program Actually Works

The mechanics are fairly simple. Every child born between 2025 and 2028 is eligible for a $1,000 deposit from the federal government into a dedicated savings account, something like an IRA built for kids from birth. Children under 18 who were born outside that window can also get an account opened, though they will not receive the automatic seed money. Of the 6 million accounts claimed so far, 1.4 million belong to newborns who qualify for the $1,000 deposit.

The accounts function as long term investment vehicles rather than checking accounts, meaning the money is meant to grow over years through market exposure rather than sit idle.

Opening an Account: What Parents Need to Do

Parents or legal guardians have two paths. The simplest is filing IRS Form 4547 directly online at trumpaccounts.gov, which asks for the child's date of birth, Social Security number and contact details. The alternative is submitting Form 4547 alongside a federal tax return. Once the IRS processes the form, it establishes the account, and a partner financial firm will later reach out with instructions for completing setup and managing contributions.

Who Still Needs to File

Families of older children under 18 can still apply even though they miss out on the government's seed deposit, so there is no strict deadline pressure tied to birth year for that group. For newborns, the government contribution is tied to birth between 2025 and 2028, so the paperwork mostly needs to happen once eligibility is confirmed. Given how fast the first 6 million accounts filled up, financial firms handling the program are likely to see a steady stream of new applications as more eligible babies are born in the coming years.