Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent fielded a question on financial literacy from an unexpected source after a roundtable discussion on Monday: an eighth grade girl.
Secretary Bessent took questions after delivering remarks at the Long Island Business Roundtable just days before National Financial Literacy Month in April, where he spoke on tax cuts and the Trump administration’s economic plans. The first question came from a middle school student at Holy Child Academy who was introduced by New York GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman.
After giving her name and school, the young girl asked Bessent, “I was wondering if, as a middle schooler, can I still get a Trump account and how can I start building financial literacy at my age?”
“Great, great questions,” Bessent said to begin his answer. He explained that, while the initial $1,000 contribution from the Treasury will be available only to children born during President Donald Trump’s current administration, parents are encouraged to sign up for the program.
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“Any child under 18, the parents can open an account and contribute to those accounts, up to $5,000 every year,” Bessent said. “Employers can contribute, foundations can contribute. Michael and Susan Dell, two great philanthropists, gave $6.25 billion to fund these accounts and they specifically targeted the zip codes that are in the bottom 80% of earners, so that will be about $250 per child from age 2 until 18.”
The secretary encouraged the student to have her parents to “fill out From 4547,” the tax form used to create a Trump account, and “be a part” of the account.
“The best thing you can do is just, once the account’s open, be a part of it. Have a dinner table conversation with your family, talk about it at school with your friends,” Bessent said.
“I think this is an exciting opportunity just for you to get to get in on the ground floor. I think you’ll be a Wall Street whiz by the time you’re 21.”
Bessent called the Trump Accounts “the ultimate merger of Main Street and Wall Street.”
“They represent perhaps the most groundbreaking policy innovation of modern times,” the secretary said. “It is literally the first direct provision for younger generations since the GI bill. And they are shaped by a simple vision: ‘Every American a shareholder.’”
Bessent added that the accounts will help Americans build wealth through by encouraging “investment, financial security, and upward mobility over time.”
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