60 million kids become investors tomorrow

If I asked you what the biggest investing event of the year is, you'd probably say the Anthropic IPO. The actual answer happens tomorrow, and it involves 60 million kids.

That includes my son, Roman. Roman turned one this month. He already has more investments than most adults I know.

I didn't have any of that growing up. I was the first person in my family to graduate high school, and at 17, I wrote a letter to a billionaire asking for a college scholarship because I couldn't see any other way in.

On October 1, the US Treasury will automatically open a Trump Account for nearly every child in America under 18 who has a Social Security number and doesn't already have one. That's more than 60 million investment accounts opened in a single move.

Almost nobody is explaining this part: having an account in your kid's name and having money in it are two very different things.

The $1,000 still needs you.

Kids born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028 qualify for a one-time $1,000 federal deposit, invested in an S&P 500 index fund. Treasury can open the account for your family. It can't claim the money for you. In Treasury's own words, "a parent still has to file for the $1,000," using IRS Form 4547 through the Trump Accounts app or the IRS website.

As of March, the IRS said just over 1 million children had claimed it. The US has roughly 3.6 million births a year. That leaves millions of eligible babies with free money waiting that no one has claimed.

There's one more catch. Accounts opened automatically only take government and charity money until a parent activates them. If your employer offers a contribution, or grandma wants to chip in, none of it goes in until you claim the account.

Roman was born in 2025, so he qualifies. (I'll tell you whether I'm claiming it at the end.)

Let's be honest about what $1,000 buys.


The administration's own estimate says $1,000 left alone grows to about $6,000 by age 18. That's a nice start. It isn't generational wealth.

The contribution limits are the real feature. Family and friends can put in up to $5,000 a year combined, and employers can add up to $2,500 a year tax-free. Max it out for 18 years and the same estimate lands around $271,000.

The account turns into a traditional IRA the year your kid turns 18. Leave that $271,000 alone until 65 at a 7% average annual return, and it grows to roughly $6.5 million. The $6,000 account, left alone the same way, ends up around $144,000.

Every kid gets the same account, and what separates the $144,000 from the $6.5 million is who puts money in during the first 18 years. That's why economists warn the program may disproportionately benefit well-off Americans.

This is how wealthy families have always done it.

This decade, $6.6 trillion is expected to pass from billionaires to roughly 5,000 heirs, according to Altrata's 2026 Billionaire Census. Most of it moves through trusts, family businesses and investment accounts set up decades before anyone inherits a dollar.

Wealthy families start early, invest in things that grow for decades, and teach their kids how the money works long before they control it. A Trump Account puts one piece of that setup in every family's hands. It's just one piece, though.

Why this one is personal.


While I was planning Roman's first birthday, I kept thinking about how different his starting line is from mine.

My son is growing up 10 minutes away from the Kardashians, in a world I only ever knew on television. He has no idea how he was brought into this world. His dad fled a war-torn country as a child and grew up in a motel. His mom grew up with a blind father and parents who never graduated high school. He doesn't know yet how hard his mom and dad fought to survive.

My goal for him is simple: I don't want him to fight to survive like I did.

Here are the tools I'm using to get him there.

The generational wealth stack.

Trump Account. The default. Claim the $1,000, take any employer contribution (companies like Vanguard and IntraFi are already putting in $1,500 to $2,500 per employee's kid), and let it grow. After 18, your kid can convert it to a Roth IRA, which is worth doing in a low-income year like the first year out of college.

Custodial Roth IRA. The most powerful account for a kid, and the most overlooked. It requires earned income, so your kid needs a real job: babysitting, a summer job, or real work in your business at a reasonable wage. I broke down exactly how I did this with Roman in The $5M Baby Blueprint, which is free to download. In 2026 kids can contribute up to $7,500 or their total earnings, whichever is less, and it grows tax-free for decades.

529 plan. For education. Growth is tax-free when spent on school, and unused money can roll into your kid's Roth IRA, up to $35,000 over their lifetime, once the account has been open 15 years.

UTMA/UGMA. A custodial account for almost anything that benefits your kid: a car, rent, a first home. The trade-off is that your kid gets full control at 18 or 21, depending on the state, ready or not.

Wealthy families use several of these at once. Now every family can do some version of that.

Every family's tax situation is different, so check with a tax professional before you hire your kid or move money between accounts.

My take.

I'm not on any political team here. Whatever you think of the name on it, this is the first time America has given nearly every child an investment account by default.

When I was growing up, generational wealth sounded like something other families had. It turns out to be mostly a set of accounts, opened early, funded consistently, and left alone long enough for compounding to do the heavy lifting.

The families who come out ahead in 18 years will be the ones who claim the $1,000, open a custodial Roth the first summer their kid earns a paycheck, and ask relatives for index fund money instead of another plastic toy at birthday parties.

So, am I opening a Trump Account for Roman? Yes. His $1,000 is getting claimed, and it's going to sit right next to the rest of his investments for the next 17 years.

Hit reply and tell me: which of these accounts have you opened for your kids, or wish your parents had opened for you? I read every single response.

Jenny

P.S. If your company doesn't contribute to Trump Accounts yet, ask HR this week. Up to $2,500 a year per child goes in tax-free, and someone has to ask first.

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