$1,000 for your kid’s future: Trump Accounts are live.

The federal government will seed a new tax-advantaged savings account with $1,000 for children born 2025–2028. Accounts went live in July 2026 — and there’s a catch involving a 10-page IRS form.

Created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, “Trump Accounts” — officially Section 530A accounts — are a new IRA-style savings vehicle for children under 18 with a Social Security number. The headline: the federal government deposits $1,000 into accounts for U.S. citizen children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028. Accounts went live on July 5, 2026, and enrollment has been brisk — more than 7 million children were enrolled by late July. The program got an extra boost when Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion to fund $250 starter deposits for 25 million additional children who missed the $1,000 window.

How it works

• Open an account with IRS Form 4547 — filed with your 2025 return or anytime — or at trumpaccounts.gov. Newborns can even be enrolled at the hospital through the Social Security system.
• Anyone can contribute up to $5,000 per year per child (indexed for inflation after 2027). Employers can contribute up to $2,500 a year, tax-free to the employee.
• Contributions go into low-cost S&P 500 index funds by default.
• No withdrawals until the year the child turns 18 — at which point the account essentially becomes a standard IRA.

The catch

Getting the government’s $1,000 is straightforward — it comes with enrollment. But actually contributing your own money involves the 10-page IRS Form 709, which the IRS estimates takes about six hours to complete and which most consumer tax software doesn’t support, according to CPA Samuel Handwerger. And older kids can still get accounts — with family or employer contributions — they just don’t get the federal $1,000 seed.

Should you contribute — or stick with a 529?

It depends on the goal. A 529 plan remains the purpose-built tool for education savings, with state tax benefits in many states. Trump Accounts are broader — general long-term savings locked up until 18, invested in index funds, with tax-deferred growth. For families already funding a 529, the Trump Account is a reasonable second bucket, especially with the $1,000 federal seed doing the first compounding for you. The $1,000 alone, invested for 18 years, is the kind of head start most savings accounts never get. Either way, enrollment is the step that costs nothing and locks in the federal seed.

Alex Volkov, CPA is a New York-licensed CPA with over two decades in accounting, focused on resolving IRS tax problems — back taxes, liens, levies, garnishments, and audits — for individuals and businesses nationwide.