If your child was born in 2025, they're in the first cohort that the federal government seeds with $1,000 under the Trump Accounts program[1]. The 2026 filing season is the first chance for that seed to land.
Why the 2025 cohort is the first to land
The Trump Accounts program covers four birth years — 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2028 — but the seed only deposits after the IRS processes a tax return claiming the child as a dependent[2]. Babies born in 2025 are the first cohort whose parents have a tax return that closes that year.
That makes 2025 the live cohort. A 2025 baby's $1,000 deposit is on the 2026 filing season's path. If you've already filed your 2025 return with the child claimed and the SSN attached, the account opening is a Treasury back-office step — there's nothing else to file[3].
The same three eligibility rules from the full eligibility rules still apply. U.S. citizenship, the right birth window (which 2025 satisfies), and a Social Security number on the parents' return.
What to file (and when)
Two filings matter. First is the child's Social Security application, which hospitals start at birth in most states. Second is the parents' 2025 tax return, which claims the child as a dependent with the SSN attached.
If the SSN arrives during the filing year, file the regular return on time. If it's running late, file an extension — the extension preserves your eligibility for that filing year and gives the SSA more time. Filing without the SSN and amending later is a path with no IRS guidance behind it[2].
Adoptive parents have one extra rule: the adoption must be finalized in calendar 2025 (or anywhere inside the 2025–2028 window) and the SSN must be in place before that year's return is filed. A foster-to-adopt placement finalized in 2025 follows the same timeline.
How the 2025 seed stacks with everything else
The federal $1,000 is the floor, not the ceiling. For a 2025 baby:
- Employer matches add another $1,000 each from any of the committed employers — five active as of this writing (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Charles Schwab, Intel, Dell). A two-earner household where both parents work at committed employers can stack two employer matches[4]. For the mechanics of one employer's match, see how an employer match stacks on top.
- Connecticut's Dalio Family Gift adds $250 for Connecticut residents with kids under 10. A 2025 baby is inside that window for the full program duration.
- Family contributions layer on top, capped at $5,000 per child per year. The seed and any employer matches do not count against that $5,000 cap.
A 2025 baby in a Connecticut household with one committed-employer parent is looking at $1,000 (federal) + $1,000 (employer) + $250 (Dalio) + up to $5,000 (family) in year one alone. That's $7,250 in a single tax year, on $5,000 of out-of-pocket contributions.
The 2025-specific edge cases
A few situations only show up for the first cohort:
Babies born late December 2024. December 31, 2024 doesn't qualify. The statute starts at January 1, 2025 — there is no transition period or grandfathering[1]. A baby born December 31, 2024 at 11:59 pm doesn't get the seed. A baby born January 1, 2025 at 12:01 am does.
Adoptions finalized in 2024 with a 2025 placement. What matters is the adoption-finalized date, not the placement date. A 2025 finalization qualifies. A 2024 finalization with a 2025 home transition does not.
Mid-year filing changes. If the household's filing status changed mid-2025 — divorce, remarriage, death of a parent — claim the child on whichever return aligns with custody at year-end. The IRS opens one account per child per year of eligibility, so duplicate claims trigger a manual reconciliation rather than two seeds.
Late SSN issuance for international adoptions. A 2025 birth abroad with an SSN arriving in 2026 still qualifies on the 2025 cohort — the birth year sets the cohort, the SSN-bearing return triggers the seed deposit. If the SSN won't arrive until late 2026, file the 2025 return on extension and complete it once the paperwork lands.
What to do this week
Three things, in order:
- Confirm the SSN is on file. If the card hasn't arrived, follow up with the SSA. Without the SSN on the 2025 return, the seed doesn't deposit.
- Check whether your employer is on the committed-match list. The five active employers (JPMC, BofA, Schwab, Intel, Dell) plus the broader 23-company committed list are inside the eligibility checker. A match is worth $1,000 per child — worth the two minutes to check.
- Plan your $5,000 contribution path. The annual cap is real, but it doesn't have to be hit in year one. A $5,000 contribution at birth grows differently than $5,000 a year at $416/month — the Slyce calculator sketches both arcs.
The complete Trump Accounts guide covers the program end-to-end. The full eligibility rules covers every disqualifier we know about. For 2025-cohort parents, the immediate answer is: confirm the SSN, file the 2025 return, watch for the seed.
More on Trump Accounts
Pillar
Trump Accounts: the complete guide
A plain-English guide to Trump Accounts: who qualifies for the $1,000 federal seed, how employer matches stack, contribution caps, and withdrawal rules.
Explainer
Born in 2026: does my child qualify for the $1,000 Trump Account?
Children born in 2026 are in the second eligible cohort for the $1,000 federal Trump Account seed. Here's the filing timeline and the stacking math.
Explainer
Born in 2027: does my child qualify for the $1,000 Trump Account?
Children born in 2027 are in the third cohort eligible for the $1,000 federal Trump Account seed. Here's the timeline, stacking math, and what to plan now.
Explainer
Born in 2028: does my child qualify for the $1,000 Trump Account?
Children born in 2028 are the final cohort eligible for the $1,000 federal Trump Account seed. The December 31 cutoff is hard. Here's exactly what to plan.
Frequently asked
- When did the $1,000 federal seed actually deposit for kids born in 2025?
- Treasury opens accounts in the background after the IRS processes the parents' tax return for the year the child was born. For 2025 babies, that means the seed lands after the 2025 return is filed in the 2026 filing season. If you filed an extension or are still waiting on the child's Social Security number, the account opens after the SSN-bearing return is processed.
- Does my 2025 baby need to be born by a specific date in 2025 to qualify?
- No — any birth date in calendar 2025 qualifies. December 31, 2025 is fine; January 1, 2025 is fine. The statute treats the eligibility window as full calendar years 2025–2028, with no partial-year prorating inside the window.
- Can a 2025 baby still qualify if I haven't filed a 2025 return yet?
- Yes. The account opens once the return is processed. If you missed the regular filing deadline, file as soon as you can (or file an extension and complete the return). The IRS does not retroactively deposit seeds for unfiled years, but it also doesn't penalize a late filing for the seed itself — the deposit just lands when the return clears.
- What if my 2025 baby's Social Security number arrived late?
- Hospitals usually start the SSN application at birth, and the card lands within six weeks. If the SSN arrived after you'd already filed, amend the return to claim the child with the SSN on it. The Trump Account opening flow only fires for a return that lists the child as a dependent with an SSN attached — not an ITIN.
- Are 2025 employer matches retroactive for babies born early in the year?
- Each employer's plan controls timing. The committed employers — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Charles Schwab, Intel, and Dell among the active set — generally match per child once the federal account is open, regardless of when in 2025 the child was born. Confirm with HR before assuming a specific deposit date.
- Does Connecticut's Dalio Family Gift apply to a 2025 baby?
- Yes. The Dalio Family Gift adds $250 for Connecticut residents with children under 10. A 2025 baby is well inside that age window and stays inside it for the full duration of the program. The gift is administered separately from the federal seed, but both can land in the same Trump Account.
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Slyce Editorial
Published May 3, 2026 · Updated May 3, 2026