MORTON (25News Now) – A new federal pilot program designed to give children a financial headstart will roll out this summer.
Parents can now enroll their babies born between Jan. 2025 and 2028 to open a Trump Account in the child’s name. Those accounts will receive $1,000 automatically, and the children will be able to access the money when they are 18 years old. Parents can also add up to $5,000 to those accounts each year.
Phil Cooper, a financial advisor and founder of 210 Financial in Morton, said those accounts are essentially based on government investments.
“How much rate of return those investments garner, you take that percentage of return and divide it by 72,” he said. “It’ll tell you how long it takes those dollars to double. For example, if that investment gets 7% per year, it’ll take that money about 10 years to double.”
Cooper said the accounts are also a chance for children to learn about important financial literacy.
“Teach that child how investments work, how compound interest can work in their favor, why they should work a part-time job, add to that account, and show them how that grows over time,” he said. “Educate, educate, educate.”
The accounts, Cooper said, will be beneficial to children when they become adults, especially those who may continue on to higher education, for example.
“They could change the complete trajectory of a child’s life,” he said. “Today, kids are walking out of college with huge debts. They potentially won’t have to do that.”
Cooper said parents interested in setting up a Trump Account can sign up while filing their taxes or anytime through a form on the IRS website. Once those forms are filled out, money will not go into the accounts until July of this year.
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