KELLY O'GRADY:
00:00:14
Today, President Trump touted his new Trump accounts, designed to grow a nest egg for young Americans. We're going to give every newborn American child a financial stake in the future.
KELLY O'GRADY:
00:00:25
When filing taxes, parents with an American child under 18 can opt in to opening a Trump account, a tax-deferred investment account. We sat down with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. What, for families viewing, is your one-sentence pitch on the Trump accounts? Well, for the families who have children between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, you've got $1,000 coming from the government. It's going to be invested into an index fund.
KELLY O'GRADY:
00:00:55
Michael and Susan Dell and other philanthropists have also pledged donations that they can specify for certain groups, while parents, employers, and nonprofits can make contributions in any Trump account up to $5,000 annually. If the government's initial $1,000 deposit is left alone, it could grow to $5,800 in 18 years. If you contribute the maximum each year, it could grow to over $300,000. How are you going to prevent the wealth gap from widening with this program? Well, I think that that is a terrible criticism, and it shows how out of touch anyone who says that is because if they say only $5,000, these are families-- a huge number of families in America wouldn't have $500 to meet a medical emergency.
KELLY O'GRADY:
00:01:39
Secretary Bessent hopes these accounts will improve financial literacy. 38% of the households who don't have stocks, Wall Street is this abstract notion. All of a sudden, they have participated for 18 years in the financial markets. So it's a constant financial education. Tony, the pushback from critics is that without significant investment, the biggest benefits are still out of reach for most. By the way, major companies like Visa, Chase, Bank of America have all signed on to contribute. Tony. All right, Kelly, thank you very much.
