Here's how many in Massachusetts signed up for Trump Accounts
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Tens of thousands of Massachusetts families are among the first to apply for Trump Accounts, a new federal investment program for babies.
Why it matters: The program, which offers $1,000 to eligible babies, is meant to give American children a financial head start.
Catch up quick: The program launched in July.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Axios it's "the most important benefit for young people since the GI Bill."
The latest: The Treasury Department automatically created accounts for eligible U.S. children earlier this month.
- Yes, but: Parents have to claim the accounts before they can manage them and get the $1,000 federal payment.
By the numbers: Massachusetts had 90,000 forms processed as of July 30, about 7.6% of eligible children in the state.
- That mirrors the national share.
How it works: U.S.-citizen children born between 2025 and 2028 qualify for the one-time government contribution, which is invested in the stock market.
- Families and employers can add more money, but first they have to verify their identities and relationship to their children.
Flashback: Massachusetts launched a similar program in 2018 (remember #SeedMABaby?).
- But the state program offers a savings account under the Mass. Educational Financing Authority, managed by Fidelity Investments.
- The program, now named BabySteps, gives parents a $50 deposit six weeks after they open the fund to save for college, vocational or other educational costs down the road.
The fine print: Robinhood, the online investing platform, is the federal program's trustee and brokerage provider.
- Robinhood's privacy policy says it collects information including Social Security numbers, dates of birth and government IDs, and can extract facial biometric data from submitted images to "detect/prevent fraud."
- The company says it doesn't sell Trump Accounts information or use it for advertising, but certain information can be shared with Treasury and service providers.
- The accounts are subject to federal financial privacy protections. Robinhood says it cannot fulfill requests to delete account information and may retain certain records for years after an account relationship ends.