Trump Accounts Are Live. Here's What You're Allowed to Buy
Key Points
Trump Accounts help eligible American children get a head start on investing.
It's far easier to amass wealth when you start 18 years earlier.
Trump Accounts restrict investments to a select few index funds, and for good reasons.
Trump Accounts officially launched on July 4, 2026. Created as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill, they function like an individual retirement account (IRA) for eligible American children under 18. The U.S. Treasury will even deposit the first $1,000 in accounts opened for children born from 2025 through 2028.
The government wants parents and guardians to invest in their children's financial futures earlier, when there's more time for that money to grow and compound. But unlike typical brokerage accounts, Trump Accounts don't offer a broad selection of stocks, bonds, or funds to choose from.
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Image source: Official White House Photo by Patrick B. Ruddy.
What can Trump Accounts actually own?
At launch, Trump Accounts will invest all contributions in the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF. It tracks the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), an index of around 500 prominent U.S. companies. The government picked this specific index fund because it charges very low fees -- only 0.02%.
The U.S. Treasury has also listed the following index funds as additional investment choices once the selection feature becomes available:
- iShares Core S&P 500 ETF
- Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF
- State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 1500 Composite Stock Market ETF
- iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF
All these funds track the broader U.S. stock market and contain hundreds or thousands of stocks. The government probably wants to steer investors in this direction because investing in a diversified portfolio of established U.S. companies is one of the most time-tested strategies for building wealth over the long term.
What you can't buy and why
That list of index funds is intentionally narrow. It also means you can't buy individual stocks, cryptocurrencies, bonds, actively managed funds, international stocks, or other riskier assets. That could be frustrating for some, but it's important to remember that these accounts are meant to give children a financial head start in life. You don't need to take much risk when a portfolio has that much longer to grow.
Imagine how much easier it would be to build wealth if your portfolio had already been growing for nearly two decades by the time you graduated high school. Assuming the stock market grows at an annualized rate of 8%, a Trump Account opened at birth with a $1,000 deposit could grow to nearly $149,000 by the time that child turns 65. That's without any additional contributions from the parent or guardian.
Considering the typical U.S. household has only $200,000 saved for retirement at age 65, Trump Accounts look like a major win for the next generation of Americans.
Justin Pope has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.