1

00:00:00,125 –> 00:00:03,962

If you’re a new parent or grandparent,

you’ve probably heard

2

00:00:03,962 –> 00:00:07,382

of a new account type that is a result

of the one big, beautiful bell.

3

00:00:07,757 –> 00:00:10,719

Today we’re going to be talking about

Trump accounts, what they are,

4

00:00:10,719 –> 00:00:14,055

how they work, and if they may fit into

your family’s financial plan.

5

00:00:14,389 –> 00:00:17,392

Let’s chat.

6

00:00:22,856 –> 00:00:24,399

My name is Gina De Girolamo.

7

00:00:24,399 –> 00:00:26,985

I’m here today with Adam Larkin.

8

00:00:26,985 –> 00:00:30,864

And as I mentioned, we’re

talking all about Trump accounts today,

9

00:00:31,072 –> 00:00:36,494

which is especially relevant for you,

Adam, as you became a new dad in 2025.

10

00:00:36,661 –> 00:00:37,746

Right? That’s right.

11

00:00:37,746 –> 00:00:40,290

Awesome. Well,

why don’t we just jump right into it?

12

00:00:40,290 –> 00:00:44,753

And if you could first highlight

where these Trump accounts came from

13

00:00:44,836 –> 00:00:46,421

and what they really are.

14

00:00:46,421 –> 00:00:46,671

Yeah.

15

00:00:46,671 –> 00:00:49,215

So the Trump accounts came from the one

big beautiful Bill act.

16

00:00:49,215 –> 00:00:52,844

And, you know, the reason they’re getting

a lot of attention right now

17

00:00:52,844 –> 00:00:56,848

is just because the government has pledged

that they’ll give $1,000 credit

18

00:00:56,848 –> 00:01:00,226

to any new parents

or parents of babies born

19

00:01:00,477 –> 00:01:03,480

between 2025 and 2028.

20

00:01:03,855 –> 00:01:06,858

But what these accounts are

is that they’re they’re effectively

21

00:01:06,941 –> 00:01:10,904

pretax IRAs that are set up for children

under the age of 18.

22

00:01:11,196 –> 00:01:15,241

So even if you have a child,

under the age of 18

23

00:01:15,241 –> 00:01:20,246

that was not born in 2025 or 2026,

they can still have one of these accounts.

24

00:01:20,538 –> 00:01:25,293

The entire purpose of them is to set

young people up with retirement accounts,

25

00:01:25,627 –> 00:01:29,672

you know, sooner than what they might have

otherwise been eligible to invest in.

26

00:01:29,672 –> 00:01:30,882

And these types of accounts.

27

00:01:30,882 –> 00:01:35,053

So they’re they’re accounts

meant for young kids, to establish,

28

00:01:35,470 –> 00:01:38,890

you know, kind of the first steps

to long term retirement savings.

29

00:01:39,224 –> 00:01:42,185

So you mentioned the $1,000 contribution

30

00:01:42,352 –> 00:01:45,730

for babies born between 2025 and 2028.

31

00:01:46,397 –> 00:01:47,649

What does that look like?

32

00:01:47,649 –> 00:01:51,653

If you’re a parent that just wants

to contribute to this type of account?

33

00:01:51,861 –> 00:01:52,237

Yeah.

34

00:01:52,237 –> 00:01:58,159

So let’s go first with if you’ve had

a baby in 2025 or 2026, so have you.

35

00:01:58,159 –> 00:02:03,373

If you’ve made the election on form

4547 of your tax return from your 2025

36

00:02:03,373 –> 00:02:08,253

tax return, then you’ve had this account

set up and effectively what’s happened

37

00:02:08,253 –> 00:02:11,256

and I’ve gone through this myself,

is that I went in,

38

00:02:11,256 –> 00:02:14,592

I plugged in all of my own information,

my daughter’s information, and

39

00:02:14,968 –> 00:02:19,389

then was kind of told, okay, you’re

all set to receive your $1,000, right?

40

00:02:20,431 –> 00:02:22,517

And so in that case, I received that.

41

00:02:22,517 –> 00:02:25,895

And that’s kind of the initial

funding for the account for anybody else.

42

00:02:25,895 –> 00:02:29,774

So and I guess this would apply

both for parents of, of young babies, but

43

00:02:29,774 –> 00:02:32,819

also for parents that did not have a baby

in the last two years.

44

00:02:33,278 –> 00:02:36,239

You can make contributions

of up to $5,000.

45

00:02:36,239 –> 00:02:38,199

So that would be parents or grandparents.

46

00:02:38,199 –> 00:02:42,036

But in total, the contributions

to be made into this account

47

00:02:42,328 –> 00:02:45,957

can not exceed

$5,000 of your own contribution.

48

00:02:45,957 –> 00:02:49,210

So if you receive that 1000,

that doesn’t count towards that limit.

49

00:02:49,210 –> 00:02:51,880

So you could do a thousand plus 5000.

50

00:02:51,880 –> 00:02:55,758

If you didn’t receive that 1000,

your contribution limit is still $5,000.

51

00:02:56,009 –> 00:02:56,676

Okay.

52

00:02:56,676 –> 00:03:00,889

So you mentioned that

this is an opportunity to start

53

00:03:00,889 –> 00:03:04,559

funding long term savings

and investments for a child.

54

00:03:05,268 –> 00:03:08,855

What does that the investments look like

in this type of account.

55

00:03:09,105 –> 00:03:10,982

What options would a parent have. Yeah.

56

00:03:10,982 –> 00:03:15,028

So what is going to be set up is,

you know, similar to how

57

00:03:15,028 –> 00:03:18,907

you might have select mutual funds

or ETFs available to you

58

00:03:18,907 –> 00:03:20,742

in something like a 529 plan.

59

00:03:20,742 –> 00:03:24,495

Or you might be familiar with this

in your company for one K,

60

00:03:25,079 –> 00:03:29,959

these accounts will be set up

with primarily, so I’ll use the quotes

61

00:03:29,959 –> 00:03:35,840

primarily US based equity positions,

via mutual funds or ETFs.

62

00:03:35,840 –> 00:03:40,094

So they’re going to be you know,

baskets of primarily US based stocks.

63

00:03:40,094 –> 00:03:43,223

Now what is primarily

I mean the IRS is set to,

64

00:03:43,264 –> 00:03:45,683

you know, set

some more official guidance on this.

65

00:03:45,683 –> 00:03:50,355

But what the speculation is right now

is that that’s going to be about 90%

66

00:03:50,355 –> 00:03:55,360

or more of those mutual funds

or ETFs will be US based stocks.

67

00:03:55,777 –> 00:03:59,489

So if set another way, what you’re

not going to have ability to invest in.

68

00:03:59,489 –> 00:04:05,453

And these accounts are bonds individual

stocks or primarily foreign equities okay.

69

00:04:06,496 –> 00:04:08,831

So on that note

70

00:04:08,831 –> 00:04:11,918

you also

had mentioned the comparison of a 529.

71

00:04:11,918 –> 00:04:15,838

When we’re talking about the investments,

folks may have seen this type of strategy

72

00:04:15,838 –> 00:04:20,593

in something like a 529

when we’re talking about, a parent

73

00:04:20,593 –> 00:04:25,056

or grandparent looking to start to save

and start to fund for a child.

74

00:04:25,390 –> 00:04:29,060

We often talk about things like 529,

maybe up my accounts, up

75

00:04:29,143 –> 00:04:32,855

these other type of account

structures made for minors.

76

00:04:33,106 –> 00:04:37,902

What would you say the big differences

or a key thing

77

00:04:37,902 –> 00:04:41,781

that someone should know if they want

to fund Trump accounts or not?

78

00:04:41,823 –> 00:04:42,699

Yeah.

79

00:04:42,699 –> 00:04:49,122

So as simply as I can say it, this is a

quote unquote retirement account, right?

80

00:04:49,455 –> 00:04:52,333

So a Trump account is effectively

81

00:04:52,333 –> 00:04:55,586

at the age of 18, it becomes a pretax IRA.

82

00:04:55,628 –> 00:04:59,507

So once your child reaches adulthood

it becomes a pretax IRA.

83

00:04:59,799 –> 00:05:01,467

Where then all of the,

84

00:05:01,467 –> 00:05:05,305

you know, traditional IRA rules

that you would be accustomed to,

85

00:05:05,471 –> 00:05:10,351

including a 10% penalty on withdrawals

under the age of 59 and, nope.

86

00:05:10,685 –> 00:05:13,563

Sorry, 59.5 would apply.

87

00:05:13,563 –> 00:05:17,650

That means that these accounts

should be set up with long term

88

00:05:17,650 –> 00:05:21,696

investing in mind,

whereas 529 accounts and up my accounts.

89

00:05:21,696 –> 00:05:22,071

So we’ll go.

90

00:05:22,071 –> 00:05:26,200

529 first 529 accounts are meant to be

91

00:05:26,200 –> 00:05:29,996

exclusively applied towards

higher education expenses, right?

92

00:05:29,996 –> 00:05:33,249

So you would think that you can you know,

you can spend some of those dollars

93

00:05:33,541 –> 00:05:34,542

in high school.

94

00:05:34,542 –> 00:05:39,464

But primarily these are used as vehicles

to save for college expenses for for kids.

95

00:05:39,505 –> 00:05:39,881

Sure.

96

00:05:39,881 –> 00:05:44,469

And then with an Otmar

and an it becomes, you know, an account

97

00:05:44,469 –> 00:05:48,097

that, a child can use

once they’ve reached the age of majority

98

00:05:48,097 –> 00:05:49,182

and whatever state they’re in.

99

00:05:49,182 –> 00:05:50,975

So say, if that’s 18,

100

00:05:50,975 –> 00:05:53,978

those funds are theirs to kind of use

at their own discretion.

101

00:05:54,145 –> 00:05:56,356

They have any, you know,

they have the flexibility

102

00:05:56,356 –> 00:05:59,525

to use those funds on whatever

and whenever they would like.

103

00:05:59,734 –> 00:06:04,906

So, you know, there isn’t the same penalty

for taking funds pre retirement,

104

00:06:05,198 –> 00:06:07,867

which I guess again,

so that that would kind of

105

00:06:07,867 –> 00:06:10,661

be the key distinction

I would create between the 529 and the up.

106

00:06:10,661 –> 00:06:10,995

My eyes.

107

00:06:10,995 –> 00:06:15,666

Like those are a lot of times vehicles

to save for expenses.

108

00:06:15,666 –> 00:06:18,461

Maybe right after a child reaches

adulthood.

109

00:06:18,461 –> 00:06:21,339

These Trump accounts are means of,

you know, getting a head

110

00:06:21,339 –> 00:06:24,342

start on the long term retirement savings.

111

00:06:24,425 –> 00:06:27,929

So when you’re talking to parents,

just kind of going through the logistics

112

00:06:27,929 –> 00:06:29,180

of having an account like this.

113

00:06:29,180 –> 00:06:29,806

Yeah.

114

00:06:29,806 –> 00:06:33,434

Talk a little bit

about how the Trump account is titled,

115

00:06:33,434 –> 00:06:38,106

who the owner is and how that applies

to the beneficiary or the minor child.

116

00:06:38,106 –> 00:06:38,481

Sure.

117

00:06:38,481 –> 00:06:40,066

So the Trump account from the time

118

00:06:40,066 –> 00:06:43,027

that they’re set up belong

that they’re owned by the child.

119

00:06:43,277 –> 00:06:44,028

Now, that being said.

120

00:06:44,028 –> 00:06:46,239

So this would be the same

as an admin account.

121

00:06:46,239 –> 00:06:51,160

The child is technically the owner,

but until they reach the age of majority,

122

00:06:51,494 –> 00:06:56,165

the parent is the custodian

of the account, meaning that

123

00:06:56,165 –> 00:06:59,836

they they’re the ones who are responsible

for deciding, you know, how

124

00:07:00,044 –> 00:07:01,587

it should be invested

and that kind of thing.

125

00:07:01,587 –> 00:07:06,717

So the parent kind of oversees

the account from ages 0 to 18,

126

00:07:06,717 –> 00:07:10,930

but then it legally becomes

the child’s at the age of 18,

127

00:07:11,222 –> 00:07:15,268

which means that in theory, yes, kids

could take distributions from these Trump

128

00:07:15,268 –> 00:07:19,147

accounts have become pretax IRAs,

you know, once they’ve reached age 18.

129

00:07:19,147 –> 00:07:20,356

But they would be

130

00:07:20,356 –> 00:07:23,985

subject to that 10% penalty at that time

if they were to take those distributions.

131

00:07:24,110 –> 00:07:26,654

Okay. Got it. Well, great explanations.

132

00:07:26,654 –> 00:07:30,950

If you were to give a couple key takeaways

or just highlights

133

00:07:30,950 –> 00:07:33,494

that people should know

if they’re evaluating

134

00:07:33,494 –> 00:07:37,415

whether they should fund this type

of account in excess of the $1,000

135

00:07:37,415 –> 00:07:39,834

or anything that they should know

kind of going into this.

136

00:07:39,834 –> 00:07:40,501

Yeah.

137

00:07:40,501 –> 00:07:45,089

So the key here is to understand

your full financial picture as a family.

138

00:07:45,089 –> 00:07:45,339

Right.

139

00:07:45,339 –> 00:07:46,466

So if you do want to

140

00:07:46,466 –> 00:07:50,428

save for your children,

you you want to try to develop an over,

141

00:07:50,428 –> 00:07:53,890

an understanding over time of what it is

that you’re saving for.

142

00:07:54,223 –> 00:07:57,226

Do you want to specifically

save for college?

143

00:07:57,435 –> 00:07:59,061

Do you want to specifically save

144

00:07:59,061 –> 00:08:03,441

for expenses that aren’t college,

but might be applicable?

145

00:08:03,441 –> 00:08:04,192

You know, and,

146

00:08:04,192 –> 00:08:07,820

you know, between the ages of 20 and 30,

right, where you want some flexibility

147

00:08:07,820 –> 00:08:12,200

of those funds and kind of, you know,

readily available use of those funds,

148

00:08:12,700 –> 00:08:18,122

or are you trying to help your kids

get set up with early retirement saving?

149

00:08:18,122 –> 00:08:19,999

That would be the case

for the Trump account.

150

00:08:19,999 –> 00:08:23,002

And then again, like really

it becomes, okay.

151

00:08:23,002 –> 00:08:26,047

So like it’s one thing to save

for your children, but also you have

152

00:08:26,047 –> 00:08:29,050

to understand your own family’s

financial picture.

153

00:08:29,717 –> 00:08:32,053

What what are you comfortable

contributing to?

154

00:08:32,053 –> 00:08:34,805

You know,

there are limits with the Trump account.

155

00:08:34,805 –> 00:08:39,519

You know, that there there aren’t as many

limits with the up my account or the 529.

156

00:08:40,186 –> 00:08:44,148

Outside of kind of those estate tax,

you know, gifting limits. But,

157

00:08:45,399 –> 00:08:48,486

you know, it really is a matter of, okay,

what are you comfortable contributing?

158

00:08:48,486 –> 00:08:52,031

But then what is your priority

in saving for your children?

159

00:08:52,031 –> 00:08:55,451

And, you know,

how would you want those funds to be used?

160

00:08:55,785 –> 00:08:57,578

By them?

161

00:08:57,578 –> 00:08:58,037

exactly.

162

00:08:58,037 –> 00:09:01,415

Like Adam said, this is something

that is not one size fits all,

163

00:09:01,624 –> 00:09:04,835

but really depends on your family’s

financial situation

164

00:09:04,835 –> 00:09:06,420

and how it fits into your plan.

165

00:09:06,420 –> 00:09:09,215

So thank you so much for chatting with me

today, Adam.

166

00:09:09,215 –> 00:09:11,384

Of course,

and thanks so much for watching.

167

00:09:11,384 –> 00:09:12,635

Can’t wait to chat again soon.