Nearly 70 Million Kids Auto-Enrolled in Trump Accounts, But Parents Must Claim Them

The Treasury Department announced Oct. 1 that it had automatically enrolled eligible children in the tax-advantaged investment accounts, creating accounts for more than 60 million kids who did not already have one. Combined with families that signed up on their own, that brings the total to nearly 70 million accounts, according to the White House. President Donald Trump said at an Oval Office event on Oct. 7 that every eligible minor child in America is now automatically enrolled.

An account alone does not make the money accessible. A parent or guardian must first claim it through the official Trump Accounts app before they can manage it, accept contributions from family and friends, or collect the government's $1,000 seed deposit for eligible children. The shift to automatic enrollment followed slower-than-expected uptake: Treasury had processed about 5.6 million sign-up forms before the change, less than a tenth of the roughly 73.4 million eligible children, according to InvestmentNews. Fortune previously reported that some early sign-ups were still waiting on their promised $1,000.

Since the program launched on July 4, more than $4.5 billion has been deposited into Trump Accounts, the White House said, including $1.3 billion in government seed contributions, more than $600 million from family and friends and $2.6 billion in philanthropic gifts. Spread across nearly 70 million accounts, that averages about $64 per child. Much of the philanthropic money stems from Michael and Susan Dell's $6.25 billion pledge, which provides $250 to as many as 25 million children age 10 and under in ZIP codes with median household incomes below $150,000. More than 70 companies have also committed to contributing to employees' children's accounts, following early moves by firms including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.

Most money in the accounts goes into low-cost index funds, but Treasury said in July it would also accept large philanthropic donations of publicly traded stock, and the IRS released rules on Sept. 30 setting the procedures. Qualifying shares are transferred to Treasury and allocated to eligible children based on donor instructions and Treasury guidance. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in July that accepting publicly traded stock creates a practical pathway for large-scale private giving to support the next generation. The rules are narrow: donations must come from companies or charities set up by stockholders rather than relatives, must be spread across at least 5,000 accounts in a qualified geographic area and must be held at least five years before sale, according to Yahoo Finance. SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell is among the first to use the option, pledging one share each to more than 2 million children's accounts.

The administration has pitched the accounts as a path to serious wealth. The calculator on TrumpAccounts.gov projects that a lone $1,000 seed could grow to $243,000 by age 55, and that an account receiving the $5,000 annual maximum could reach $13 million, assuming the S&P 500 returns more than 10% a year uninterrupted for 55 years. Financial planners who spoke with Fortune put more conservative estimates at roughly $1.5 million to $2 million by age 55 for a maxed-out account, assuming a 7% return.