Trump
Accounts, the federal savings program that deposits $1,000 into accounts for
eligible newborns, went live on July 4. For US brokers, the launch opens a new
pool of long-term retirement money, and a fresh contest over who gets to hold
it.
The
accounts are custodial traditional IRAs for children under 18, created under
the tax law President Donald Trump signed in July 2025.
The
Treasury runs them at the start, but families can later move the balance to a
private broker, and that hand-off is what the industry is chasing.
The
Treasury tapped Robinhood to build the Trump
Accounts app, with
Bank of New York Mellon acting as the financial agent holding the assets.
Robinhood supplied the technology and customer service, giving it the first
look at millions of new account holders.
Vlad Tenev, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Robinhood, Source: LinkedIn
Robinhood
CEO Vlad Tenev said the company’s “mission has always been to democratize
finance for all.” The firm serves as the program’s initial trustee, a role
that puts it ahead of rivals at the starting line.
Under the
rules, families can run a trustee-to-trustee transfer to any approved custodian
once their Treasury account exists. Full balances move without a tax hit, which
turns the rollover into the real prize for firms that were not picked to build
the platform.
Wall Street Lines Up as
Approved Trustees
Fidelity,
Charles Schwab, Vanguard and Bank of America are all cleared to hold Trump
Accounts, each offering an S&P 500 or broad-market index fund inside the
0.10% fee cap the law allows. Fidelity and Schwab have already published guides
telling families they can transfer accounts once the option opens.
The
competition echoes earlier fights over US retail money. Morgan Stanley folded
E*Trade into its wealth arm after a $13 billion takeover in 2020, and later rolled out a platform aimed at
active traders.
Trump
Accounts hand these firms a new reason to court parents early, before the child
turns 18 and the account converts to a standard IRA.
Employers
are piling in too, though as benefit sponsors rather than custodians. Micron
committed $250 million to seed accounts, the Dell family pledged $6.25 billion
in $250 grants for lower-income children, and Schwab, JPMorgan, Uber and
Chipotle are matching deposits for employees’ kids.
Those contributions do not settle where the
money ends up, which keeps the custody race open.
FINRA Clears a Compliance Step
Regulators
are smoothing the edges. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has amended
Rule 3210 so broker-dealer employees no longer need written permission from
their employer to open a Trump Account at an outside firm.
The change
adds Trump Accounts to a list of routine products, alongside 529 college plans
and standard investment funds, that sit outside the consent requirement. On its
own it is minor plumbing, but it fits a wider pattern in which Washington has eased constraints on financial firms under the current administration.
FINRA filed
the amendment with the Securities and Exchange Commission for immediate effect,
meaning it applied the day it landed.
The Money Lands in Index
Funds
Every
dollar at launch flows into a State Street S&P 500 exchange-traded fund by
default, with iShares, Vanguard and additional State Street funds available
once an allocation tool goes live. Private contributions are capped at $5,000 a
year from all sources combined, while the federal seed and charitable gifts sit
outside that limit.
For
brokers, the appeal is scale. Robinhood alone said it would invest an additional $100 million in the interface, betting
that early access to millions of young accounts pays off as balances grow over
decades.
Treasury
Secretary Scott Bessent, who called the accounts “now live, giving every
child a stake in the American Dream,” estimated the initial $1,000 could
reach roughly $674,000 by retirement, based on an assumed 10.5% annual return.
Critics say
the design favors families who can afford to contribute. Households that max
the yearly limit stand to gain the most, while poorer families may capture
little beyond the government seed, a point that has drawn warnings the program
could widen the wealth gap rather than close it.
Trump
Accounts, the federal savings program that deposits $1,000 into accounts for
eligible newborns, went live on July 4. For US brokers, the launch opens a new
pool of long-term retirement money, and a fresh contest over who gets to hold
it.
The
accounts are custodial traditional IRAs for children under 18, created under
the tax law President Donald Trump signed in July 2025.
The
Treasury runs them at the start, but families can later move the balance to a
private broker, and that hand-off is what the industry is chasing.
The
Treasury tapped Robinhood to build the Trump
Accounts app, with
Bank of New York Mellon acting as the financial agent holding the assets.
Robinhood supplied the technology and customer service, giving it the first
look at millions of new account holders.
Vlad Tenev, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Robinhood, Source: LinkedIn
Robinhood
CEO Vlad Tenev said the company’s “mission has always been to democratize
finance for all.” The firm serves as the program’s initial trustee, a role
that puts it ahead of rivals at the starting line.
Under the
rules, families can run a trustee-to-trustee transfer to any approved custodian
once their Treasury account exists. Full balances move without a tax hit, which
turns the rollover into the real prize for firms that were not picked to build
the platform.
Wall Street Lines Up as
Approved Trustees
Fidelity,
Charles Schwab, Vanguard and Bank of America are all cleared to hold Trump
Accounts, each offering an S&P 500 or broad-market index fund inside the
0.10% fee cap the law allows. Fidelity and Schwab have already published guides
telling families they can transfer accounts once the option opens.
The
competition echoes earlier fights over US retail money. Morgan Stanley folded
E*Trade into its wealth arm after a $13 billion takeover in 2020, and later rolled out a platform aimed at
active traders.
Trump
Accounts hand these firms a new reason to court parents early, before the child
turns 18 and the account converts to a standard IRA.
Employers
are piling in too, though as benefit sponsors rather than custodians. Micron
committed $250 million to seed accounts, the Dell family pledged $6.25 billion
in $250 grants for lower-income children, and Schwab, JPMorgan, Uber and
Chipotle are matching deposits for employees’ kids.
Those contributions do not settle where the
money ends up, which keeps the custody race open.
FINRA Clears a Compliance Step
Regulators
are smoothing the edges. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has amended
Rule 3210 so broker-dealer employees no longer need written permission from
their employer to open a Trump Account at an outside firm.
The change
adds Trump Accounts to a list of routine products, alongside 529 college plans
and standard investment funds, that sit outside the consent requirement. On its
own it is minor plumbing, but it fits a wider pattern in which Washington has eased constraints on financial firms under the current administration.
FINRA filed
the amendment with the Securities and Exchange Commission for immediate effect,
meaning it applied the day it landed.
The Money Lands in Index
Funds
Every
dollar at launch flows into a State Street S&P 500 exchange-traded fund by
default, with iShares, Vanguard and additional State Street funds available
once an allocation tool goes live. Private contributions are capped at $5,000 a
year from all sources combined, while the federal seed and charitable gifts sit
outside that limit.
For
brokers, the appeal is scale. Robinhood alone said it would invest an additional $100 million in the interface, betting
that early access to millions of young accounts pays off as balances grow over
decades.
Treasury
Secretary Scott Bessent, who called the accounts “now live, giving every
child a stake in the American Dream,” estimated the initial $1,000 could
reach roughly $674,000 by retirement, based on an assumed 10.5% annual return.
Critics say
the design favors families who can afford to contribute. Households that max
the yearly limit stand to gain the most, while poorer families may capture
little beyond the government seed, a point that has drawn warnings the program
could widen the wealth gap rather than close it.
