WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department will automatically enroll more than 60 million children in the Trump Accounts child-investment program under temporary rules published Wednesday, switching the program from opt-in to automatic enrollment, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Under the rules, accounts will be created for eligible children under 18 with Social Security numbers beginning Oct. 1, when the rules are formally published in the Federal Register. About 73 million children are eligible overall, but only about 5.6 million sign-up forms had been processed by the end of July, according to the Journal, though Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said 7 million families signed up.
Children born from 2025 through 2028 are eligible for a $1,000 government contribution — but the automatic accounts will not trigger the $1,000 deposit; parents must specifically elect it, the Journal reported. Until claimed through a Treasury app, auto-created accounts can receive only government or nonprofit money.
Large philanthropic pledges, including $6.25 billion from Michael Dell, will now reach far more households under the automatic system. The program’s investments track a broad stock-market index, with the idea that decades of compound growth will give children a financial head start.
Supporters call the accounts the largest expansion of children’s savings policy in American history, while critics have questioned whether the money would be better spent on direct aid to low-income families.