Trump Accounts Explained: How the New Child Retirement Account Can Become a Roth IRA
Trump Accounts are a newly created type of tax-advantaged retirement account for children under age 18. Established under the SECURE 2.0 framework and codified in Internal Revenue Code §530A, these accounts introduce a planning opportunity that did not previously exist in retirement law. The most significant planning opportunity around Trump Accounts is not to keep the account as a Trump Account or as a Traditional IRA, as the Trump Account automatically turns into at age 18, but to convert that Trump Account to a Roth IRA.
On the surface, Trump Accounts appear limited. But with simple planning, Trump Accounts are the most powerful account you can establish for your kids. Why? Because they are flexible and at age 18 can be converted to a Roth IRA, which is widely regarded as the best tax-advantaged account any American can own.
You can contribute up to $5,000 per year per child to a Trump Account, and these contributions are made with after-tax dollars and do not generate a tax deduction for the contributor or the child. While funds inside the account grow tax-deferred, the account ultimately converts to a traditional IRA when the child reaches age 18. At that point, distributions are taxable, and early withdrawals before age 59½ are generally subject to penalties. The account functions like a traditional IRA, and turns into one at age 18, but you don’t get a tax deduction on the contributions.
In that sense, early Trump Account analysis focused on what seemed like the least favorable aspects of both traditional and Roth IRAs: no deduction on the way in (Roth IRA downside), and taxation on the way out (Traditional IRA downside). As a result, much of the early commentary emphasized the novelty of the account rather than its long-term planning potential. The ability to convert the Trump Account to a Roth transforms Trump Accounts from a simple savings vehicle into a powerful early-stage Roth planning tool, even when the child does not have earned income.
What Is a Trump Account?
A Trump Account is a statutorily created retirement account that is treated as a traditional IRA once the beneficiary reaches age 18. The account must be designated as a Trump Account at the time it is established and is governed by IRC §530A.
Important characteristics:
- Maximum contribution limit of $5,000 from individual contributors
- Contributions do not require earned income
- Contributions are not tax-deductible
- Distributions are taxable
- At age 18, the account follows Traditional IRA rules and turns into a Traditional IRA
To understand where Trump Accounts fit into a broader retirement strategy, it helps to compare them directly to Traditional and Roth IRAs. While all three accounts offer tax-advantaged growth, they differ significantly in contribution limits, earned income requirements, funding deadlines, and how distributions are ultimately taxed.
|
Trump Account |
Traditional IRA |
Roth IRA |
|
|
Contribution Amt |
$5,000 |
$7,500 |
$7,500 |
|
Earned Income Req |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Contribution Deadline |
12/31/2026 (last day of the year) |
4/15/2027 (tax return deadline) |
4/15/2027 (tax return deadline) |
|
Tax Deduction for Contribution |
No |
Yes |
No |
|
No Tax on Investment Growth |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Distributions Taxed |
Yes, except basis (Amounts contributed) is exempt |
Yes |
No |
Why Trump Accounts Matter
No Earned Income Requirement
Unlike Traditional or Roth IRAs, Trump Accounts allow contributions even when the child has no earned income. This makes it possible to begin retirement saving earlier than previously allowed under tax law.
Early Access to Roth Conversion Planning
Once the child reaches age 18, the account automatically becomes a Traditional IRA, and the account becomes eligible for Roth conversions. This creates a legal pathway into a Roth IRA that does not rely on earned income contributions.
The Growth Period: Rules Before Age 18
The Trump Account operates under a defined “growth period,” which ends on January 1 of the calendar year in which the beneficiary turns 18. During this period, special rules apply.
Contributions During the Growth Period
The first year for Trump Accounts is 2026, and in that year, contributions cannot be made before July 4, 2026, and must be made by December 31 of the applicable calendar year. Unlike IRAs, you cannot make prior-year contributions up to the tax return deadline.
Qualified contribution types include:
- Pilot program contributions funded by the U.S. Treasury (This is the $1K free contribution from the U.S. government for any U.S. child born between 2025-2028)
- Qualified general contributions from states or qualifying charities (For example, the amounts donated by Michael and Susan Dell donated to children in lower-income zip codes).
- Employer contributions under IRC §128 up to $2,500 (Many U.S. Employers have already pledged to contribute to their employee children accounts including Blackrock, Visa, and these employer contributions are not taxable to the employee or child).
- Qualified rollovers between Trump Accounts
- Standard contributions made by family members or other third parties (this is the $5,000 annual contribution a parent, grandparent or other person can make).
Standard contributions combined with employer contributions are subject to a $5,000 annual limit, indexed for inflation after 2027. Employer contributions are separately capped at $2,500 per year.
Investment Restrictions During the Growth Period (age 0-17)
Investment options during the growth period are limited and Trump Accounts cannot be invested into a single stock nor can they be self-directed into real estate, crypto, or private companies like many self-directed IRA clients do at Directed IRA.
During the growth period (age 0-17), Trump Account assets may be invested only in eligible mutual funds or ETFs that:
- Track qualifying U.S. equity indexes
- Do not use leverage
- Have total annual fees of 0.10% or less
Cash and money market funds are not permitted investments, except for brief administrative holding necessary to process contributions, dividends, or sales before reinvestment.
Distribution Restrictions
Distributions are generally prohibited during the growth period. Limited exceptions include:
- Trustee-to-Trustee rollovers between Trump Accounts (e.g. moving your Trump Account from one custodian provider to another).
- Qualified ABLE rollovers during the year the child turns 17
- Distribution of excess contributions
- Distribution upon the death of the beneficiary
Hardship distributions are not permitted.
The Transition at Age 18
On January 1 of the year the beneficiary turns 18, the growth period ends. At that point:
- Contributions must stop
- The account becomes subject to Traditional IRA rules under IRC §408
- Distributions, rollovers, and Roth conversions are permitted
IRS Notice 2025-68 explicitly confirms this transition.
Everything that follows hinges on one planning opportunity: Roth conversions after age 18.
Roth Conversions: The Core Planning Opportunity
The year the child reaches age 18, the Trump Account turns into a Traditional IRA and all Traditional IRA rules apply. This is significant in two instances. First, you can convert the Traditional IRA into a Roth IRA. And second, you now have more investment options on how to invest the Roth IRA (that first started as a Trump Account) as Roth IRAs can be self-directed and invested into any assets allowed by law including a single stock, real estate, private companies, small businesses, rental properties, and even crypto.
The Roth conversion strategy is central to the importance of Trump Accounts as it allows the nest egg that has been set aside while the child was age 0-17 to move from a tax-deferred traditional IRA to a tax-free Roth account. And, if we strategic about how we convert the Traditional IRA (formerly a Trump Account) when the child reaches age 18 there will be no tax on the Roth conversion.
How the Strategy Works:
- Fund Early
Trump Accounts allow funding years before earned income exists, extending the compounding timeline. - Traditional IRA Treatment After Age 18
At age 18, the account will consist of two buckets of funds - After-tax basis from standard contributions (e.g. you put money in and didn’t take a deduction as that is the Trump Account rules so these funds are after-tax dollars). This is sometimes referred to as “Basis” under the rules.
- Pre-tax earnings from investment growth (e.g. the contributions were invested and grew and the earnings have not been taxed).
The distinction here between after-tax and pre-tax funds is important as you only pay tax on the Roth conversion for pre-tax dollars. In other words, when you convert the Trump Account from a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA you do not pay tax on the contributions you put into the Trump Account. You are only taxed on the pre-tax earnings and investment growth that came from the contributions.
Pro-Rata Rule and Basis Allocation
Once a Trump Account turns into a Traditional IRA the pro-rata rule for Roth conversions applies. What the means is that you have to determine what amounts you contributed after tax (which you won’t pay tax on) and what funds are the earnings and the growth in the account which have not been taxed but will be when you do a Roth conversion.
Example:
- $60,000 – Your contributions to the Trump Account over 12 years in the amount of $5,000 each year (no deduction allowed and taken). This is after tax dollars and also sometimes called basis.
- $40,000 – The earnings and growth as the contributions were invested over that 12 years which have not been taxed and are called pre-tax dollars.
- $100,000 – Total Account Value after 12 Years of investing
In this scenario, 40% of any conversion is taxable, and 60% is non-taxable. So, if I wanted to convert $50,000 to a Roth IRA I would only have tax on 40% of the conversion which would be $20,000. The other $30,000 would not be subject to tax.
How to Convert Trump Account to Roth and Pay Zero Tax
When your child reaches age 18 you are able to convert their Trump Account to a Roth IRA and age 18, 19, and 20 are optimal years to convert your child’s Trump Account to a Roth IRA. When you convert Trump Accounts, which turn into Traditional IRAs at age 18, to Roth IRAs the child who owns the account takes the amount converted into their taxable income. This is one of the downsides of Roth Conversions. However, when a child is age 18 they may be finishing high school and they may have no other taxable income so if the taxable portion of the Roth conversion is under the standard deduction ($16,100 in 2026) they will pay no tax on the amounts converted as they will be in a zero federal income tax bracket. And if your child has a large Trump Account at age 18, you could also do multiple Roth conversions over different tax years so that they stay under the standard deduction each year and are able to get all their Trump Account funds over to a Roth IRA. This could be when they are 18, 19, or even in their 20’s if they are in low or no income years. And even if they do have a job, they will likely be at the lowest tax rate of their working years and converting the funds now will pay huge dividends later as the funds in the Roth IRA grow and come out tax-free later in retirement.
Special Rule: No Aggregation With Other IRAs
A critical clarification in Notice 2025-68 is that Trump Accounts are not aggregated with other IRAs for basis allocation purposes.
This means:
- Trump Account basis is calculated separately
- Other Traditional IRAs do not affect conversion taxation
- Existing IRA balances do not dilute the strategy
This is a rare and favorable exception in retirement tax law.
Long-Term Impact
Once assets are held in a Roth IRA, future qualified distributions at age 59 ½ are tax-free. The difference between executing this correctly and not can be measured not just in tax savings, but in the financial flexibility available to your child decades later.
To understand why this strategy matters, it helps to zoom out.

Assume a child reaches age 18 with $100,000 in a Trump Account that has been fully converted to a Roth IRA using the strategy described above. No additional contributions are ever made by the child and they simply keep the $100,000 invested.
If that $100,000 remains invested for 45 years and earns a 10% annual return (e.g. an S&P 500 index fund), it will grow to approximately $8.8 million by age 65.This is the value of compounding and is what we wished our parents or grandparents did for us.
One key strategy here though is the Roth conversion and ability to receive all of the compounding and investment gains entirely tax free. Remember, the Trump Account will turn into a Traditional IRA at age 18 and if it is not converted and stays invested it will be worth $8.8M as well but millions will go to the IRS and to the state (as applicable) when distributions are made from the Traditional IRA later on.
Disclaimer
This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice. Tax results depend on individual circumstances, future legislation, and proper implementation. Consult qualified advisors before implementing any strategy. Investment outcomes depend on investment performance, contribution discipline, future tax law, and proper execution. No specific result is guaranteed.
