U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker’s recent weekly newsletter reminded parents of children born in 2025 that a little bit of paperwork is all it takes to set up a $1,000 gift from the government.There is much to like about this idea, whose main goal is to leave the money alone to let time work its compounding magic. Families can add to the gift over the years, giving it the chance to grow into several thousand dollars by 2043, when last year’s newborns turn 18.“Congress created these accounts, dubbed “Trump Accounts,” in the 2025 Working Families Tax Cuts law,” Wicker’s newsletter said. “They are based on a simple premise: All children need to learn the fundamentals of money management, and they can save for adulthood at the same time.”Wicker’s newsletter said the original $1,000 gift, if left alone, could become $6,000 by the child’s 18th birthday. Kids whose families add to the account regularly, and presumably aren’t allowed to cash in any of it, stand to have a much larger account.Parents of children born last year can open the account by filling out IRS Form 4547 as part of their income tax return. Or they can go to TrumpAccounts.gov to complete a form online.Here’s the problem: the federal government already is $37 trillion in debt. Yet here we go again, giving away money that we don’t have.The cost of these starter accounts is only a few drops of water in a large lake of debt. One year’s worth is 1/10,000th of our current public debt. Even that tiny fraction is questionable spending.There were about 3.65 million babies born in the United States last year. So $1,000 for each of them will cost the government $3.65 billion. Over the four years of the Trump Account program, which runs through 2028, just before the president leaves office, taxpayers will invest a total of $14.6 billion in its youngest citizens. The accounts should be worth several times more than that by every child’s 18th birthday ... barring total disaster like, say, the government defaulting on its massive and growing debt between now and then.Sorry to be a party pooper, but isn’t the government doing enough already? Isn’t this something parents, grandparents and other relatives are supposed to do when a baby arrives? Nobody in the federal government, Democrat or Republican, is willing to do anything about our spending. Or, if someone does try, as the so-called Department of Government Efficiency did last year, the results are minimal.A lot of parents don’t start saving for their children at birth, usually because they can’t afford it. And in a different time, when the country’s finances were in better shape, this would be a much better idea than it is now.The Trump Accounts are something for which the president could get his wealthy friends to pay for, framing it as an investment in America’s future. And guess what? A rich couple that has lived the American Dream is doing just that.Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell and his wife Susan have donated $6.25 billion to set up accounts for an estimated 25 million children who were born from 2014 to 2024.The Dells will put $250 into each account. They expect it to reach 80% of the children in America. Their plan is based on the median incomes in each of the nation’s zip codes: Any child who lives in a zip code with a median income below $150,000 is eligible for the gift.That makes almost all kids 11 and younger in Mississippi eligible for such an account. It’s not as large as a Trump Account’s contribution, but the fact that it’s coming from a private donor instead of public money is appreciated.Jack Ryan, Enterprise-Journal
