WSJ: Billionaire “Cash for Kids” donations going into 25 million children’s new “Trump Accounts”

This was part of the so called “Big Beautiful Bill”. And it is/was a great idea.

Michael and Susan Dell plan to donate $6.25 billion to 25 million children for savings accounts.

The founder of Dell Technologies and his wife will provide $250 for children age 10 or under who were born before Jan. 1, 2025. They will target children in zip codes with a median income of $150,000 or less. The birth date was chosen to complement the new “Trump accounts” that the feds will seed with $1,000 for children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, who are American citizens. The new accounts are a provision in the GOP tax bill that passed this year.

The theory behind the Trump accounts is to give every young American a start on building up savings they can use after they turn age 18. Until then the money will be invested in a diversified index fund that tracks U.S. stocks. Parents and others will be able to contribute up to $5,000 a year in the accounts, after tax. Employers can chip in too, and Mr. Dell has said he’ll do so for his employees’ children.

The Trump accounts aren’t without political risk since Democrats will try to expand the government donations to make the accounts another engine of income redistribution. …

**********************

The Dells, to their credit, understand they owe some of their success to the free-market system that let them take risks and benefit from them. Mr. Dell told the Journal he had $8 in a passbook savings account as an eight-year old and enjoyed watching it grow. “I became fascinated with compounded interest and learned about that at a very young age,” the computer entrepreneur said.

Other rich Americans have said they may donate to accounts for kids. The baby boom generation is poised to pass on trillions of dollars in wealth, and there are far worse causes than giving children a stake in capitalism.