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Rethinking The Starting Line For Retirement Planning
The Trump Account introduces a fundamental shift in retirement planning by giving future generations a financial head start.
By Peter J. de Silva
FINANCIAL ADVISORS SPEND A SURPRISING AMOUNT of time fixing problems that were set in motion decades earlier. Clients often show up in their 40s and 50s with modest savings, scattered accounts and years of missed compounding already behind them. Advisors respond the only way they can: with discipline, education and carefully constructed plans designed to recover time that, in many cases, is already gone.
For a long time, the industry has treated this dynamic as unavoidable. We adjust return assumptions, refine withdrawal strategies and optimize portfolios inside a system that no longer reflects how people actually work or save. At some point, though, it’ s fair to ask whether advisors are being forced into permanent catch-up mode by the structure of the system itself.
The Trump Account represents one of the first attempts to address that problem at the source, rather than by asking advisors to manage around it later.
Beginning on July 4, 2026, eligible children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, will receive a $ 1,000 federal deposit at birth to establish a savings foundation. Parents can then contribute up to $ 5,000 per year. Contributions are made with after-tax dollars, but investment growth is tax-deferred. Once the beneficiary turns 18, the balance can be converted into a Roth IRA for long-term tax-free growth. Employers may also contribute up to $ 2,500 tax-free per year. The policy mechanics matter, but the real significance for advisors is simpler and more fundamental: when the first dollar gets invested.
Every advisor understands the power of an early start. Yet
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2026 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 51