Trump Accounts?

Hello NFC Clients and Friends,

      Many of you have been asking about the proposed Invest America Accounts (“Trump Accounts”), and the related news flow that has followed the OBBB (“One Big Beautiful Bill”).  Namely, that Michael and Susan Dell have donated $6 billion so that all eligible children under the age of 10 will qualify for these investment accounts based on median family income limits. News alert!  If you live in North Carolina, the odds are highly in your favor. All current NFC clients qualify— I checked! 

For the rest of the country, you can check your eligibility by ZIP code here. My hope is that more non-profits and philanthropists will follow in their footsteps.  Why?  Because this is a good deal, and encourages participation in foundational financial fitness practice of saving, investing, and leveraging the power of compounding.  You can and should establish your own “(Your Name) Accounts” for each of your children, spouse, and yourself.  I started a 529 Plan for each of my 3 daughters when they were born. Permit me to testify for how grateful I am for the power of compounding in these accounts over 2 decades having just paid (12/3/25) for TWO spring semesters (Senior and Sophomore) at their respective universities.

      If I were to devise a "Norman Account" for building wealth for EVERYONE in the United States, I could do worse than following a similar approach to that of the Invest America Accounts. Start every newborn American off with a funded account invested in low cost total stock market index fund (e.g. VTSAX) or etf (e.g. VTI), and incentivize regular contributions. Then, behold the miracle of compounding over decades!  Retirement crisis solved.  Financial dignity for all Americans achieved.  Some math to prove the point, courtesy of Brad Barrett (Choose FI) and the FI Weekly--- one of the few newsletters I subscribe to and actually read. And it’s free!

“For fun, I went to a compound interest calculator to see what we’d have to invest monthly to have a $5,000 monthly income stream from our investments at age 70 (when you’d normally max out your Social Security benefits).

To assume this $5,000 monthly income stream, that means you’d pull $60,000 per year from your investments. Using the 4% rule of thumb, if you had $1,500,000 you could withdraw $60,000 annually, so we are solving for the monthly contribution at different investing age starting points to reach $1.5 million. (assuming 8% annual return and monthly compounding)

Start Investing at to reach $1.5 million by age 70: (emphasis added)

• Age 0: Monthly contributions: $38 (annual: $456)

• Age 10: Monthly contributions: $85 (annual: $1,020)

• Age 20: Monthly contributions: $189 (annual: $2,268)

• Age 30: Monthly contributions: $430 (annual: $5,160)

• Age 40: Monthly contributions: $1,007 (annual: $12,084)

• Age 50: Monthly contributions: $2,546 (annual: $30,552)

• Age 60: Monthly contributions: $8,200 (annual: $98,400)

It’s astonishing to see the power of compounding and starting early, but there’s also good news in there for “late starters”:

If you’re 40 earning $100,000 and you haven’t saved a dollar yet, but you commit to saving 12% of your income, you’ll be financially set in 30 years.

That’s staggeringly powerful and a great starting point.”  (12/9/25)

Just imagine if you had a pension and social security coming your way as well. Pretty good deal, I’d say.  

As for the “Trump Accounts,” if you want to know why I believe you should take the “free” money and open an account for your child, but also establish 529 Plan as your primary source of college funding, feel free to reach out. Or save yourself some time and read the PBS hotlinked article above, or this somewhat critical CBS piece here. 

Yours in Financial Fitness,

David Norman Financial Coaching