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Schwab and Robinhood Will Match U.S. Government’s $1,000 Gift to Trump Accounts

Dec 23, 2025 13:05:00 -0500 by Abby Schultz | #Financial Planning

Charles Schwab said it would match the government’s contribution to Trump accounts for its employees. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Key Points

Charles Schwab announced on Tuesday that it would match the federal government’s $1,000 contribution to Trump accounts for its employees with eligible newborn children.

The brokerage firm follows Robinhood Market s, which announced Dec. 19 on X that it would match the $1,000 federal contributions for its eligible employees.

Trump accounts are a tax-deferred savings program for children 18 and under created through tax and spending legislation this past summer. The federal government is seeding these accounts after July 4 with $1,000 for children with a Social Security number who are born between Jan. 1, 2025 and the end of 2028.

In a statement, Schwab said its contribution honors its commitment to help families “take an early confident step toward building long-term financial security.” On X, an account posted by Robinhood App said, “Our mission is to democratize finance for all and we’re honored to help extend that mission to the next generation through this initiative.”

Parents and guardians can open Trump accounts for their eligible children after July 4, and fund them with up to $5,000 a year. The contributions aren’t tax deductible. Employer contributions—made with pretax dollars—count toward the $5,000 annual cap, as do contributions from friends and family members.

These accounts become traditional individual retirement accounts when a child turns 18, and are subject to the same rules. That means any earnings from a Trump account will be included in the child’s total unearned income and taxed for the year if withdrawn before he or she turns age 59 ½. Early withdrawals may also be subject to a 10% penalty unless the funds are used for higher education.

The brokerage firm announcements follow those of a handful of other companies, including Dell Technologies, founded by Michael Dell, the computer company’s current chairman and CEO. Dell and his wife Susan announced on Dec. 2 that they are donating $6.25 billion to the program by depositing $250 into the accounts of about 25 million children under 10 who aren’t eligible for the federal seed funding.

Other companies that have committed to matching the government’s contribution include BlackRock, Bank of New York Mellon, and Charter Communications. Visa, Mastercard, Uber Technologies, and Block, have all indicated they would contribute to these accounts for their employees, according to trumpaccounts.gov. Specifics for these programs haven’t been announced.

“We foresee a day when employers offer matching contributions to Trump accounts in the same way they offer matching contributions to retirement accounts,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Dec. 17 in prepared remarks at a media event about the program.

Parents and guardians will be able to set up these accounts by filling out IRS Form 4547 and establishing it through an initial trustee, or trustees, named by the U.S. Treasury, according to a primer by UBS. The funds must be invested in a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 index or another index consisting mostly of U.S. equities, according to the IRS.

Parents of eligible newborns will also use the IRS form to elect to receive the government contribution.

Following the Dells’ announcement, hedge fund founder Ray Dalio and his wife Barbara said on Dec. 17 that they would put $250 into the accounts of about 300,000 children in their home state of Connecticut for a total of about $75 million. The Dalios announcement marked what Bessent is calling the “50 State Challenge”—an initiative to get philanthropists in each U.S. state to contribute to Trump accounts.

Write to Abby Schultz at abby.schultz@barrons.com