Brad Gerstner's family will add $250 to the Trump Accounts (530A) of Indiana children born in 2023 or 2024, per a September 22 announcement from Gov. Mike Braun, who put the number of children at more than 140,000. Those birth years fall just before the federal $1,000 seed window, so this money reaches children the seed does not. The gift is made by the Brad Gerstner Family Foundation, a donor-advised fund at National Philanthropic Trust, per the announcement.
What was announced
Braun described the gift in one sentence: "More than 140,000 Hoosier kids born in 2023 and 2024 will automatically get $250 added to their Trump Accounts." Sen. Todd Young wrote earlier that day that Gerstner "is contributing $250 into the Trump Accounts program for up to 140,000 young Hoosiers," and tied the gift to an op-ed the two wrote for the Indianapolis Star.
Gerstner, whom Young described as a native of Syracuse, Indiana, confirmed the gift on X, writing that it was "our family's great honor to pay it forward to kids in Indiana." None of the posts sets out an application, a deadline or a date for the deposits.
Narrower than the January pledge
It is easy to get confused about who is covered, because the gift was first described differently. When Gerstner pledged the money in January, CNBC reported it as $250 for an estimated 406,000 Indiana children under age five. The September terms are narrower: children born in 2023 or 2024, about 140,000 of them.
That leaves a gap worth checking against your own family. A child born in 2021 or 2022 was under five in January but falls outside the announced birth years. A child born in 2025 or later is outside them too – but sits inside the federal seed window instead.
The ZIP code test
Neither Braun's nor Young's post mentions an income test, but the announcement itself sets one: the gift covers "children living in Indiana ZIP codes with a median family income of $150,000 or less, which covers nearly 99 percent of ZIP codes across the state."
That mirrors the test Invest America published for the Dell family's gift before automatic enrollment, which required a ZIP code with "a median family income (MFI) of $150,000 or less, based on the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data."
What families are told to do
The federal seed does not apply here. Per the IRS, the $1,000 pilot contribution is for children "born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028" – so a family with a child born in 2023 or 2024 never had that reason to open an account, and many have not. We explained the difference between the account and the seed in our reporting on which older children qualify.
The announcement asks families to "enroll your eligible child at TrumpAccounts.gov or in the Trump Accounts app" so the child is included when remaining accounts are "initiated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury later this year."
That Treasury step now has rules. Under temporary regulations published September 30, Treasury opens an account on or about October 1, 2026 for every child under 18 with a Social Security number who does not already have one, and a parent or guardian claims it. An account nobody has claimed can take gifts Treasury distributes on a donor's behalf to a class of children – including a class defined by state and birth years – but the announcement does not say whether this gift will be delivered that way or will wait for a claimed account. Claiming is the step within a family's control.
It may stack with the Dell gift
A child born in 2023 or 2024 also falls inside the Dell gift's birth years, which Invest America listed as 2016 through 2024. An Indiana child who meets both sets of terms may be eligible for both, though neither announcement says how the two interact. Our reporting on the Dell contributions reaching accounts covers that gift's rollout.
What it does to your own contribution room
Per IRS Notice 2025-68, a qualified general contribution – broadly, money a government or tax-exempt organization gives to a defined class of children – does not count against the $5,000/yr limit on a family's own contributions, as we explained in our reporting on what counts toward the $5,000 limit. The announcement names the funder as a donor-advised fund but does not say whether the gift will go through Treasury as that kind of contribution, so whether it fits the definition is not yet public.
Checking what applies to your child
The Gerstner gift is one of a growing number of state, employer and charitable programs adding money to these accounts, each with its own terms. Our Match and Bonus Finder at https://trumpaccounts.com/finder takes a child's age, state and ZIP code and shows which programs may apply.