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- Investor Brad Gerstner wants Trump Accounts expanded to every US citizen under 40.
- The plan would create early IRAs that employers and donors could fund.
- Gerstner, regarded as the architect of Trump Accounts, said the change would require new legislation.
Brad Gerstner, the investor and architect of Trump Accounts, is pushing to expand the investment accounts beyond children and make them available to every US citizen under 40.
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Gerstner said the change would require new legislation rather than a regulatory rule change.
Trump Accounts are tax-advantaged investment accounts created under President Donald Trump’s tax-and-spending law. Right now, they are available to Americans under 18, while children born between 2025 and 2028 are eligible for a $1,000 federal seed contribution.
When account holders turn 18, the accounts become traditional individual retirement accounts, or IRAs.
"Every year, 3.7 million kids age up into IRAs," Gerstner said. "Why not pull forward 20 years of IRAs? We can create all of those today, everybody under 40."
Gerstner's idea would create the accounts for adults under 40 without necessarily requiring the government to make an upfront deposit. Instead, he said, it would give employers, philanthropists and companies a ready-made vehicle through which to contribute.
That structure could allow companies or private citizens to contribute to accounts, he said, creating a "vessel" for the funding.
On Monday, Elon Musk said he planned to give one share of SpaceX stock to every American child through Trump Accounts. Giving a share to the roughly 72 million children in the US would be worth around $11.5 billion, based on SpaceX's share price in Wednesday trading.
Other major donors, including Michael and Susan Dell, Ray Dalio, and SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, have also backed the initiative.
Gerstner pointed out there has already been innovation in the investment field, mentioning the federal Saver's Match, created under the bipartisan SECURE 2.0 law, which is scheduled to begin in 2027.
The program will provide a federal match of up to $1,000 a year for eligible low- and middle-income workers who contribute to qualifying retirement accounts.
In comments to the New York Post, Gerstner said he was working on the legislation to make Trump Accounts available to anyone under 40, potentially within months. The proposal could also make account funding permanent.
The proposal's prospects in Congress, including its cost and whether lawmakers would support new matching funds, remain unclear.