Children's Savings Accounts
Floor Speech
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Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to be joined by my colleagues this evening.
Before my remarks, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Crank).
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Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Colorado is adjacent to some of the most important military apparatuses of our country, USAFA, where we share a border. I appreciate his focus on such a strong need for our military.
Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to express my excitement, which I don't often say, my excitement for this tax season. Those are not words I oftentimes say, nor do many Americans. There is reason to be excited this year in the wake of passing incredibly important, progrowth tax policy last summer, which the House Republicans led and then signed into law. This is historic relief.
The thing I wanted to highlight is what we are providing for working families and everyday Americans. In that, there is one specific thing that I wanted to highlight. That is Trump Accounts. These are the new investment accounts for children. Invest America has been an initiative for several years. It has been a thought and an idea for even longer, decades even. We were able to get this signed into law, and it will be enacted and started later this year.
Mr. Speaker, I will talk a little bit more about what the process is and what this actually is. This is a transformational investment for kids in every ZIP Code. It doesn't matter if a person lives in an apartment, a big city, or on a country road out in rural America. Our kids will have access to something that most people don't take advantage of until they are well into their careers.
Trump Accounts allow parents, guardians, and other custodians to establish a new type of tax-advantaged individual savings and investment account for children. As part of a special pilot program, every American child born between January 1, 2025--more than a year ago--and December 31, 2028, is eligible to receive an automatic deposit of $1,000 from the U.S. Government into their accounts, giving every newborn a stake in the future success of the American economy.
Parents can also contribute up to $5,000 per year and employers up to $2,500 per year. State, local, and Tribal governments, as well as charities, can also contribute.
We have seen significant interest in this program, including an incredible contribution of $6.25 billion with a b from Michael and Susan Dell and their family's private foundation. That contribution is going to be geared toward those children who were born in the last 10 years. The initiative that we passed this year will be focused on the next 4 years.
What Michael and Susan Dell have done is they contributed over $6 billion to start these accounts and seed them with money for children, essentially ages 2 through 10, in neighborhoods and communities across our country. This will get them started. They have this investment account that they will have, as I mentioned, well into their careers. I think it essentially gives them a 30-year head start on their retirements.
At the very heart of this policy is the goal of providing opportunities for Americans at that very early age. Good government policy empowers the individual. It nurtures and encourages the best of human ingenuity and, of course, human progress. That is exactly what these investment accounts aim to do.
The United States boasts the world's strongest economy. Thanks to strong capital markets and household investments, we can contribute to our communities, society, and economy. We can improve our overall quality of life and seek financial realities better than the ones from which we came.
However, wealth and opportunity gaps prevent millions of people from taking advantage of the capital markets that could help build household wealth.
Capitalism is the gateway to opportunity and helping our youth realize the power of compounding interest and how it could change their lives. These accounts will play a key role in it.
The fact that we have, at the age of 4--I have a 4-year-old. The fact that Frankie will have an account that is tied to him, and he will be able to monitor that. When he is 10, he will understand it a bit better. He won't understand it right now.
Think about it. When he goes to a fifth grade class and the teacher says: ``Hey, everybody. Pull out your investment account.'' There is a good chance they have all signed up for it if we have done our jobs. We have 435 Members of this body. If we do our jobs in communicating this benefit to our constituents, this will grow. This program will be wildly successful. They will be able to say: Hey, look, it started at X. Now it is at Y.
They have an extra 20 bucks that month for some chores that they did. They are going to put an extra 20 bucks in it. A grandparent is going to say that every grandkid gets $2,000 this year.
That is the best investment in their kids. Instead of buying an extra pair of shoes sometimes, they will put money directly into their future and, ultimately, into their retirement.
This is a historic new savings tool. More Americans will be saving. They will be investing and building a solid financial footing.
These accounts have the potential to help children accrue tens of thousands of dollars by the time they reach adulthood. That can make the difference in so many lives when it comes to paying for college, building their first home, starting their own business, and what I am most hopeful for, and what I will continue to put the focus on is as they save for their own retirement.
I think typical IRAs, Roth 401(k)'s, or Roth IRAs, anything of the like, you are typically maybe 30 years old when you start your first one. Think about starting that 30 years earlier. It is a small amount of money to start, but that is going to grow for 30 years, where they wouldn't have otherwise had that.
This is a game changer. These accounts will come online July 5 of this year, 2026, but here is the important part: Parents can create an account today for their children. Those born between 2025 and 2028 will have their accounts seeded with $1,000, but, again, every child under age 18 can have an account.
To be an American is to win life's lottery. We live in the greatest Nation in the world with tremendous freedoms and unparalleled opportunities. We have the ability to chase the American Dream from childhood through retirement, and these accounts will help more people achieve it.
I am really excited about these accounts and what this means to the next generation. It is good for Utahns. It is good for working families, and it is good for our country's future.
I urge everyone to take advantage of this and sign up today at trumpaccounts.gov.
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