Update (September 30, 2026): Under temporary regulations published September 30, Treasury opens an account for every eligible child without one starting on or about October 1, 2026. Claiming such an account can move its balance directly to a Trump Account at another trustee, as noted below.
Every Trump Account (530A) starts in the same place – an account the Treasury Department or its agent opens for the child. A family that would rather have a different institution holding it can move it, per IRS Notice 2025-68 – but the move is a single transfer of the entire balance into a new account, and it can only happen before the year the child turns 18.
The question comes up more since this month's proposed investment rules: if the fund lineup or the institution is not what a family wants, are they stuck with it?
The first account is not a choice
Per Notice 2025-68, a second Trump Account – the notice calls it a rollover Trump account – "may be established only after the initial Trump account is created by the Treasury Department or its agent for the account beneficiary." Treasury's July 4, 2026 launch announcement describes the same starting point: accounts open at TrumpAccounts.gov at no cost, with the Trump Accounts app for access afterward. From on or about October 1, 2026, Treasury opens that first account itself for every eligible child without one, per temporary regulations published September 30 – and claiming it can send the whole balance straight to a rollover Trump Account at another trustee.
So there is no version of this where a family picks its own bank on day one – the government account comes first, and any other institution comes second, by transfer.
What a move actually involves
The rules for that transfer are narrow. Per the notice, a qualified rollover contribution "must be a transfer of the entire balance of a Trump account," and it must be the first money into the receiving account – a rollover Trump account has to be funded by the rollover before it can take any other contribution. The notice states the consequence plainly: "there can only be one funded Trump account for an individual at any time."
The request comes from the account's responsible party. Per the IRS's instructions for Form 4547, the individual who made the election holds that role for the initial account and may request the transfer to a rollover Trump account; for an account Treasury opened, per the temporary regulations, it is the guardian or legal custodian who claims it.
Nothing gets left behind. A dividend that arrives after the transfer must be forwarded promptly and counts as part of the original rollover, per the notice. The old account then stops accepting new contributions and must be closed within a reasonable period.
Who is allowed to hold the account
Not every institution can. Per the notice, a trustee must be a bank as defined in section 408(n) or a person the IRS has approved as a nonbank trustee of a Trump account.
Families sometimes assume they can fold the money into an IRA or brokerage account the child already has. That does not work. The notice is explicit that an account must be designated a Trump account in its governing instrument at the time it is established, so "an existing account (such as an IRA) cannot be amended to become a Trump account."
The window closes at the growth period
The move is only available during what the statute calls the growth period, which ends before January 1 of the year the child turns 18. The notice works the example: a child born October 1, 2025 turns 18 on October 1, 2043, so the last day of that child's growth period is December 31, 2042.
After that, no new rollover Trump account can be established. What replaces it is ordinary retirement-account plumbing – per the notice, the account can be rolled over or moved by trustee-to-trustee transfer to an individual retirement arrangement or another eligible retirement plan. Our earlier coverage of what happens when the account holder turns 18 walks through the rest of that shift.
What a move does not change
Moving the account changes the institution, not the program. The $1,000 seed and every other dollar travels with the balance, because the whole balance is what transfers. The investment restrictions follow the account – our reporting on the proposed rules for eligible investments covers the 0.1% fee cap and index requirements that apply wherever the account sits. The annual contribution limit follows it too, along with the categories that sit outside that limit.
The year's paperwork follows as well. Per the notice, the receiving trustee must report a qualified rollover contribution to Treasury within 30 calendar days, and the transferring trustee must give the receiving trustee the account's basis and the contributions it took in during that calendar year – which is how a mid-year move carries its own contribution history across.
Families who have switched 529 plans will find the shape familiar, and our colleagues at SavingForCollege.com walk through that process – but the Trump Account version is stricter, since the entire balance moves at once and only one funded account may exist at a time.
What is still unsettled
Notice 2025-68 states what Treasury and the IRS intend to propose, and they have said the forthcoming proposed regulations are expected to be consistent with it. This month's rules remain proposals rather than final regulations. The notice also does not address how often an account may be moved, and nothing in it requires any bank to offer Trump accounts – whether a particular institution will accept one is that institution's decision.
Where the account is held is separate from which programs may pay into it. The Match & Bonus Finder lists the employer, state, and charitable programs we have sourced, with the sponsor named for each, so families can see which ones may apply to their child.