What to Know About Trump Accounts as More Than 60 Million Children Are Auto-Enrolled

Nearly all American children now have a new savings account with their name on it, as well as someone else’s: President Trump’s.The Treasury Department said on Thursday that it automatically enrolled more than 60 million children into Trump accounts, the tax-deferred savings vehicles also called 530A accounts that were introduced in July.The 530A accounts are essentially starter individual retirement accounts: Parents, guardians and others can contribute up to $5,000 annually.But other relatives, employers, philanthropists, governments and charitable groups can also make deposits, which grow tax-deferred in an ultralow-cost stock index fund.Once all children have accounts, the hope is that nonprofits and government donors will be more likely to make contributions.If you have children under 18, they probably have one now, too.

Here’s everything you need to know:What just happened?The Treasury Department created Trump accounts for all eligible children who didn’t already have one — or those who have Social Security numbers and who will not have turned 18 before the end of the calendar year.Before this week, parents or guardians had to sign up their children completely on their own.Though more than seven million children had been enrolled as of late July, that represents only about 10 percent of all eligible American children — and donors and policymakers were concerned the accounts weren’t reaching those who could benefit the most.

Just 5 percent of low-income families had opened 530A accounts for their children, according to a survey published in September by Commonwealth, a nonprofit.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subs...