Consider this is a public service announcement – certainly not a political endorsement – but for parents of young children, chances are your family is getting a Trump Account whether you want or not. Regardless of how you feel about the president on personal and political levels, you should want one of these accounts for your kid(s).
The reason your family is getting one (or more) of these accounts whether your signed up or not is because the Treasury Department is essentially moving the program to auto pilot. Treasury and the IRS recently issued temporary regulations providing for automatic account creation. It’s working because on Oct. 1, the Treasury Department said 60 million have been auto-enrolled in Trump Accounts.
“Most notably, Treasury has withdrawn its March 9, 2026 proposed regulations governing establishment of initial Trump Accounts and replaced the largely opt-in approach with automatic account creation,” says Tina Anstett, ERISA strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. “Beginning on or about October 1, Treasury will establish accounts for eligible individuals for whom a prior election has not been made.”
Taking feelings about the president out of the equation, it is a good thing that eligible families are being automatically enrolled in Trump Accounts. The math confirms as much.
Leverage the Power of Time
Nearly everyone wants more money, but the really hot commodity is time and it’s meaningful in discussing Trump Accounts and auto enrollment. As the government notes, families get a free “$1,000 for every American child born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028.”
From there, employers, parents and grandparents can contribute up to $5,000 annually to each account. Just look at how the power of time can benefit kids at varying contribution levels. The image below details how one Trump Account could look when the accountholder is 27 years old.
(Image: Trumpaccounts.gov)
Those return assumptions are based on historical performances of the S&P 500, likely represented by the State Street® SPDR® Portfolio S&P 500® ETF (SPYM), which is the Trump Accounts’ default ETF of choice. Bottom line: from a wealth-building perspective, there’s merit in the auto enrollment methodology.
“Treasury explains that it developed an administrative structure capable of supporting broad automatic enrollment while maintaining separate IRA ownership and protecting confidential taxpayer information,” adds Anstett. “Treasury will initially serve as the ‘responsible party’ for each auto account. Assets attributable to auto accounts will be invested collectively through a master group trust, while separate account-level records will be maintained for each beneficiary.”
Not Entirely Set-and-Forget
Automatic enrollment is convenient, but Trump Accounts do require a little bit of leg on the parents’ end. As J.P. Morgan’s Anstett points out, the Treasury Department cannot automate account participation, meaning if a Trump account is created your child’s name, you still have to claim it and make the contributions. Account claiming doesn’t take long and it’s an important part of the process.
“Similarly, an unclaimed auto account cannot receive the broader contributions otherwise available to Trump Accounts, including family or employer contributions,” notes Anstett. “Treasury specifically distinguishes an auto account from a ‘claimed initial Trump Account’, which can receive those additional contributions.”
In simple terms, an automatically created account isn’t an automatically funded or monitored account. Parents are still on the hook for that legwork, but don’t worry. Twenty-plus years down the road, your kids will likely thank you doing that work.
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