Trump account calculator.

What a Trump account is

A Trump account is an individual retirement account (IRA, not a Roth) that a parent or guardian opens for a child who has a Social Security number and has not turned 18 by the end of the year the election is made. Section 530A of the Internal Revenue Code says it is treated like an IRA unless the section says otherwise. Contributions cannot be accepted before July 4, 2026, and the money must sit in a low-cost U.S. stock index fund until the child’s 18th calendar year begins.

How the projection works

Each year the balance grows by the net return = (1 + return) × (1 − fee) − 1, and that year’s contributions are added at the start or end of the year, as you choose. The first year is a partial year: it starts on the account-opening date (mid-year for a newborn, July 4, 2026 for an older child). The last contribution year is the one before the child turns 18, and the balance is shown on January 1 of the year they turn 18. “Today’s dollars” divides that balance by (1 + inflation) for each year from now until then.

Worked example

A child born in 2026 gets the $1,000 pilot deposit. Parents add $1,200 a year ($100 a month) from 2026 through 2043 (18 contribution years) at 7% with a 0.1% fee, money added at year-end. The total put in is $22,600 ($21,600 from the parents plus the $1,000 pilot) and the projected balance on January 1, 2044 is $43,592, about $28,472 in today’s dollars. At a 4% return the same plan reaches $32,434; at 10% it reaches $59,331. With only the $1,000 pilot deposit and nothing else, it grows to about $3,210.

The rules, with sources

• $1,000 pilot deposit: a one-time amount for an eligible child who is a U.S. citizen, born after December 31, 2024 and before January 1, 2029, with a Social Security number, once an election is made (26 U.S.C. 6434). It does not count toward the $5,000 limit.
• $5,000 yearly limit: total contributions (other than the pilot deposit, rollovers and qualified general contributions) for any calendar year before the year the child turns 18 (26 U.S.C. 530A(c)(2)). It is indexed to inflation for years after 2027, which this calculator does not model, so it uses $5,000 throughout.
• $2,500 employer cap: an employer can contribute up to $2,500 a year per employee through a written program without it being taxable income to the employee (26 U.S.C. 128). IRS news release IR-2025-117 says it counts against the $5,000 limit.
• Investments: only a mutual fund or ETF tracking the S&P 500 or another index of primarily U.S. companies, with no leverage and annual expenses of 0.1% or less (26 U.S.C. 530A(b)(3)).
• No withdrawals early: no distribution before January 1 of the year the child turns 18, with narrow exceptions in the statute such as rollovers and a transfer to an ABLE account (26 U.S.C. 530A(d)). After that the account generally follows traditional IRA rules.
• Taxes: contributions are not deductible. The statute leaves the pilot deposit, employer money and qualified general contributions out of the account’s “investment in the contract” (basis), so those amounts are not treated as tax-paid basis when money is later distributed (26 U.S.C. 530A(d)(2)). How a specific withdrawal is taxed is a question for a tax professional.

What is not known yet

Trustee fees, the exact date the pilot deposit lands, and how account providers will operate are set by Treasury regulations and providers, not by the statute, and the IRS says regulations are still coming. This tool assumes the pilot deposit is in the account on opening day and that there are no fees beyond the one you enter. Check the IRS Trump accounts page for current guidance, last reviewed July 7, 2026 when this page was verified.