Treasury moves to automatically enroll millions of children in Trump Accounts

The Treasury Department and IRS are moving to automatically establish Trump Accounts for millions of eligible children, a major expansion of the investment program created under President Donald Trump’s tax and spending law.

Temporary regulations issued by Treasury and the IRS establish a system that allows the Treasury secretary to create an account for an eligible child without requiring a parent or other authorized person to first make an election. The rules call for auto accounts to be created for eligible children who do not already have Trump Accounts, with Treasury saying the structure is designed to broaden participation while protecting taxpayer information.

The department estimates the regulations will affect roughly 73 million children in about 44 million families and result in more than 60 million additional children having Trump Accounts in 2026.

WHAT ARE THE INVESTMENT OPTIONS FOR TRUMP ACCOUNTS?

Under the new structure, Treasury will establish a separate account for each eligible child it identifies using authorized government information. Assets associated with automatically created accounts will be invested collectively through a master group trust, while separate records will be maintained for each child’s account.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies during a House Committee on Financial Services hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on Sept. 15, 2026, in Washington, D.C.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The distinction between automatic account creation and the government’s $1,000 contribution is significant. Automatic enrollment alone does not qualify a child for the federal payment.

The $1,000 pilot program applies to qualifying children born from 2025 through 2028, but an eligible person must separately make the required election for a child to receive the government contribution.

Parents and guardians will also need to claim an automatically established account before it can receive other permitted contributions from sources such as family members or employers. A person seeking to claim an account must authenticate their identity, demonstrate legal authority to act on behalf of the child and provide required information to Treasury.

The $1,000 pilot program applies to qualifying children born from 2025 through 2028, but an eligible person must separately make the required election for a child to receive the government contribution. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Automatically created accounts can receive qualified general contributions, including certain contributions funded by governments or nonprofits. Once an account is claimed, it can accept other permitted contributions, including money from a child’s family or an employer.

US ECONOMY GREW AT A FASTER PACE THAN EXPECTED IN SECOND QUARTER

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previewed the expansion during a Sept. 15 House Financial Services Committee hearing, saying between 7 million and 8 million families had signed up at that point.

“We anticipate that within a month we will have 70 million because we will go to autoenroll,” Bessent told lawmakers.

Trump Accounts were established under the tax law Trump signed in July 2025. The law created a new type of individual retirement account for eligible children and authorized the Treasury secretary to create or organize the accounts.

Bessent has also framed the accounts as part of a broader effort to expand participation in U.S. capital markets. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

GOLDMAN SACHS TO CONTRIBUTE $1,000 TO TRUMP ACCOUNTS FOR ELIGIBLE CHILDREN OF EMPLOYEES

The regulations also address large-scale contributions to Trump Accounts by governments and nonprofits and allow certain qualified general contributions to be made with publicly traded stock.

Treasury said the broader automatic enrollment system was developed after receiving public comments arguing that requiring families to affirmatively enroll could reduce participation, particularly among nonfilers and households unfamiliar with tax procedures.

The agency said the master group trust structure allows Treasury to establish separate accounts while pooling investments and protecting confidential taxpayer information.

Bessent has also framed the accounts as part of a broader effort to expand participation in U.S. capital markets.

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During the September hearing, he called Trump Accounts “the most important government benefit for young people since the GI Bill” and said the program could help create “a generation of shareholders.”