Trump Account Growth Calculator

• Applies the current IRS rules: the one-time $1,000 pilot deposit for U.S. citizen children born 2025 through 2028, the $5,000 yearly limit and the $2,500 employer limit.
• Projects growth year by year until December 31 of the year the child turns 17, when contributions must stop, and optionally on to 25, 30, 45 or 65.
• Shows the balance in future dollars and in today's money, and splits it between the pilot deposit, family money, employer money, gifts and growth.
• Estimates the tax if everything is withdrawn, separating the after-tax contributions that come back tax-free from the money that is taxed.

How to use this calculator

Enter the child's birth year, how much the family plans to put in each year, any amount a parent's employer will contribute, the return you expect from the fund, and the age at which you want to see the balance. That is enough for a first answer.

Open Advanced to say whether the child is a U.S. citizen with a Social Security number (needed for the $1,000 pilot deposit), add a one-time gift from a charity or government program, change the fund's fees, set an inflation rate, or choose the income tax rate used for the after-tax estimate. The result shows the projected balance, what it is worth in today's money, a year-by-year table, and how the balance changes at different contribution levels.

What a Trump account is

A Trump account is a new kind of individual retirement account for children, created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 and set out in section 530A of the tax code. A parent or guardian elects to open one for a child, using IRS Form 4547 or the government's online process, and the child must be under 18 at the end of the year the election is made. Each child can have only one.

The account has two phases. During the growth period, which runs until December 31 of the year the child turns 17, money can go in but generally cannot come out, and it must be invested in low-cost funds that track U.S. stocks. From January 1 of the year the child turns 18, the account is generally treated like a traditional IRA belonging to the young adult.

The rules this calculator uses

• $1,000 pilot deposit. The Treasury makes a one-time $1,000 contribution for each eligible child who is a U.S. citizen, has a Social Security number and was born from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2028, once a parent makes the election.
• Start date. No contributions, including the pilot deposit, could be made before July 4, 2026.
• $5,000 a year. Contributions from parents, relatives, friends, the child and employers together are limited to $5,000 a year. The limit is due to rise with inflation after 2027, but the new amounts have not been published, so the calculator keeps $5,000.
• $2,500 from an employer. An employer can contribute up to $2,500 a year for an employee or the employee's dependent, and the employee does not pay income tax on it. It counts toward the $5,000. Proposed rules issued in August 2026 treat the $2,500 as a limit per employee, not per child.
• Outside the limit. The pilot deposit, rollovers between Trump accounts and "qualified general contributions" made by governments or charities to a defined group of children do not count toward the $5,000.
• Investments. Until the growth period ends, the account may only hold mutual funds or exchange-traded funds that track the S&P 500 or another index of mainly U.S. companies, with no leverage and annual fees and expenses of no more than 0.1%.

How the projection is calculated

First year      = later of 2026 and the birth year
Last year       = birth year + 17 (growth period ends December 31)
Net return      = expected return - fund fees
Each year       = balance x (1 + net return) + contributions x (1 + net return)^0.5
Contributions   = family + employer (+ $1,000 pilot and any gift in the first year)
After 18        = balance x (1 + net return)^(years past 18), no new money
Today's money   = balance / (1 + inflation)^years
Taxable at withdrawal = balance - family contributions (basis)

Contributions are assumed to arrive in the middle of each year, so they earn half a year of growth in the year they are made. The return is the same every year, which real markets never deliver, so treat the answer as a planning estimate rather than a forecast.

A worked example

A baby born in 2026 qualifies for the $1,000 pilot deposit. The family adds $1,000 a year from 2026 through 2043, the year the child turns 17, and the money earns 7% a year before fees of 0.05%. That is $19,000 put in, and the calculator projects a balance of $38,233 at 18, about $24,514 in today's money at 2.5% inflation.

Of that balance, the $18,000 the family contributed after tax comes back out tax-free. The rest is taxable when withdrawn, and if it all came out at 18 in the 12% bracket with the 10% early-withdrawal tax on top, the tax would be about $4,451.

The amount put in makes a big difference. With only the pilot deposit and nothing else, the account grows to $3,241. With the full $5,000 a year, it reaches $178,202. Adding $1,000 a year from an employer to the family's $1,000 gives $73,225.

Time matters as much. A child born in 2018 has no pilot deposit and only until 2035 for contributions, so the same $1,000 a year grows to $14,255. If the 2026 baby leaves the money invested after 18, the projection reaches $85,627 at 30 and $899,367 at 65, with no new money after 17.

How the money is taxed

Contributions to a Trump account are not tax-deductible. In exchange, investment growth is not taxed while it stays in the account. When money comes out after the growth period, the IRS rules are:

• Family contributions are basis. Money that parents, relatives or the child put in after tax comes back out tax-free.
• Everything else is taxable. The pilot deposit, employer contributions, qualified general contributions and all earnings have never been taxed, so they are taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn.
• Early withdrawals. As with a traditional IRA, a withdrawal before age 59½ can owe an extra 10% unless an exception applies. Common exceptions include qualified higher-education costs and up to $10,000 toward a first home.
• Pro-rata rule. Once the account becomes an IRA, the tax-free share of each withdrawal is worked out across all of the person's traditional IRAs, not just this one.

Because the account becomes an IRA at 18, nothing forces a withdrawal then. Leaving it invested keeps the growth tax-deferred, and later rules on IRAs, such as Roth conversions, may become options. Those decisions are well outside this calculator, so check with a tax professional.

How it compares with a 529 plan or a custodial account

A Trump account is not the only way to save for a child. A 529 college savings plan grows tax-free and pays out tax-free for qualified education, and many states give a deduction for contributions. A custodial (UTMA or UGMA) account can be invested in anything but its income can be taxed each year, and the child takes control at 18 or 21. The Trump account's strengths are the $1,000 pilot deposit, tax-free employer money and very low fund costs. Its limits are the narrow investment choice, the lock-up until 18 and the tax on withdrawal. For many families, claiming the free pilot deposit and then deciding where extra savings work best is a sensible order.

Assumptions and limitations

• The rules are new and may change. They come from IRS Notice 2025-68 and proposed regulations from August 2026 that are not final. Confirm the current rules at trumpaccounts.gov and irs.gov.
• Flat limits. The $5,000 and $2,500 limits are held at their 2026 amounts, even though they will rise with inflation after 2027.
• Steady returns. The fund earns the same return every year. U.S. stock index funds have had long-run returns around 10% a year, with losses of 30% or more in bad years.
• Timing. Contributions arrive mid-year and the pilot deposit arrives in the first year. The actual date the Treasury deposits the $1,000 can be later.
• Simple tax estimate. One flat income tax rate is applied to the taxable part, and the young adult's other IRAs are ignored.
• No state tax. State treatment of Trump accounts can differ.

Common mistakes

Not making the election. The $1,000 pilot deposit is not automatic: a parent or guardian has to elect it, on Form 4547 or online, and the child needs a Social Security number.

Going over the limit. Grandparents, parents and an employer all share one $5,000 yearly limit. Coordinate who is giving what.

Expecting the money to be tax-free. Only the after-tax family contributions come back out tax-free. Growth, the pilot deposit and employer money are taxed when withdrawn.

Planning to spend it at 17. Money is locked until January 1 of the year the child turns 18, and early IRA withdrawals can carry an extra 10% tax.

Counting on the projected figure. A projection at a steady return hides the ups and downs of the stock market.

Frequently asked questions