The big dreams behind 'Trump accounts' [View all]

The Trump administration is gearing up to create investment accounts for millions of children — and in the process, advocates hope, create a new generation of capitalists.

The initiative, tucked into Republicans’ domestic policy megabill, is not only aimed at building nest eggs for kids, with the government providing $1,000 in seed money for those born in the next four years. At a time when economic anxiety is mounting, the government also wants to convince young people and their families of the benefits of investing by experiencing it for themselves.

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The plan comes with some real limitations — the tax benefits, for example, are skimpy, and the government is kicking in a lot less money than Democrats would like. But with more than 60 million kids eligible for the program, advocates hope it snowballs, so that the more people participate, the bigger the political constituency it will have. That, in turn, would force lawmakers to beef up the plan’s benefits to bring in even more people.

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All of that underscores the big dreams for a plan that’s still in utero, and which some skeptics are already predicting could end up being a dud because of the limited benefits. Behind closed doors, Treasury is finalizing and preparing to release much-anticipated details about how the program will work.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/big-dreams-behind-trump-accounts-200000718.html