Not unlike a 529 college savings plan, Trump accounts come with a tax incentive. Earnings grow tax-deferred, and qualified withdrawals are taxed as long-term capital gains.

Under both the House and Senate versions of the bill, withdrawals could begin at age 18, at which point account holders can tap up to half of the funds for education expenses or credentials, the down payment on a first home or as capital to start a small business.

At 25, account holders can use the full balance for expenses that fall under those same guidelines and at 30, they can use the money for any reason. Distributions taken for qualified purposes are taxed at the long-term capital-gains rate, while distributions for any other purpose are taxed as ordinary income.

For children born between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2028, the federal government will deposit $1,000 into the Trump account, funded by the Department of the Treasury, as part of a “newborn pilot program,” according to the Senate Finance Committee’s proposed text released on Monday.

To be eligible to receive the initial seed money, a child must be a U.S. citizen at birth and both parents must have Social Security numbers.

If a parent or guardian does not open an account, the Secretary of Treasury will establish an account on the child’s behalf. Parents may also opt out.

The White House and Republican lawmakers have said these accounts will introduce more Americans to wealth-building opportunities and the benefits of compound growth. But some experts say the Trump accounts are also overly complicated, making it harder to reach lower-income families.

Universal savings accounts, with fewer strings attached, would be a simpler alternative proposal at a lower price tag, according to Adam Michel, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute, a public policy think tank.

“I’m disappointed the Senate did not take the opportunity to improve these accounts,” Michel said. Still, “provisions that remain in both the House and Senate text, we should expect them to become law, and this provision fits that criteria.” 

Mark Higgins, senior vice president at Index Fund Advisors and author of “Investing in U.S. Financial History: Understanding the Past to Forecast the Future,” said the key is “if the benefits comfortably exceed the cost.”

According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Trump accounts would add $17 billion to the deficit over the next decade.

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One provision in Republicans’ “big beautiful” bill would narrow the relief options for struggling student loan borrowers. House and Senate Republicans both call for the elimination of both the economic hardship and unemployment deferment.

Those deferments allow federal student loan borrowers to pause their monthly bills during periods of joblessness or other financial setbacks, often without interest accruing on their debt.

Less attention has been paid to the GOP plan to do away with the deferments than its proposals to eliminate several student loan repayment plans and to establish a minimum monthly payment for borrowers.

The House advanced its version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in May. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions released its budget bill recommendations related to student loans on June 10. Senate lawmakers are preparing to debate the massive tax and spending package.

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Nixing the deferments could have major consequences, said Abby Shafroth, director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project.

“I’m concerned this is going to lead more people to default on their student loans when they encounter a job loss, surprise medical expense or other economic hardship,” Shafroth said.

The Trump administration said this spring that the number of student loan borrowers in default could soon rise from more than 5 million to roughly 10 million in the coming months.

Under the Senate Republicans’ proposal, student loans received on or after July 1, 2026 would no longer qualify for the unemployment deferment or economic hardship deferment. The House plan does away with both deferments a year earlier, on July 1, 2025.

The unemployment deferment is typically available to student loan borrowers who are seeking but unable to find full-time employment or are eligible for jobless benefits, among other requirements, according to the National Consumer Law Center. Under the deferment, borrowers can pause their payments for up to six months at a time, and for a total of three years over the life of the loan.

The absence of the relief “means that for someone who lost their job and is struggling to keep their head above water, the government will demand monthly payments on student loans,” Shafroth said.

The bill comes as the share of entry-level employees who report feeling positive about their employers’ business prospects dropped to around 43% in May, a record low, according to a recent report by Glassdoor.

The economic hardship deferment, meanwhile, is generally available to student loan borrowers who receive public assistance, earn below a certain income threshold or work in the Peace Corps. The total time a borrower can spend in an economic hardship deferment is also three years.

The end of the deferments “eliminates one of the key benefits on subsidized loans,” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

Persis Yu, deputy executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, agreed.

“The ability of borrowers to pause payments and interest on subsidized loans during financial shocks and hardship is a critical benefit of the federal loan program,” Yu said.

Around 150,000 federal student loan holders were enrolled in the unemployment deferment in the second quarter of 2025, while around 70,000 borrowers had qualified for an economic hardship deferment, according to data by the U.S. Department of Education.

The absence of the deferments will push more federal student loan borrowers into a forbearance, experts say, during which interest continues to climb on their debt and borrowers often resume repayment with a larger bill.

Republicans say doing away with the payment pauses will encourage borrowers to enroll in repayment plan they can afford.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said in a statement on June 10, that his party’s proposals would stop requiring that taxpayers who didn’t go to college foot the loan payments for those with degrees.

“Biden and Democrats unfairly attempted to shift student debt onto taxpayers that chose not to go to college,” Cassidy said.

Cassidy said the higher education legislation, which also stretches out student loan repayment timelines, would save taxpayers at least $300 billion.

Women who invest began at an average age of 31, but most wish they had started putting money in the market earlier, a recent survey said.

Nearly all — 90% — of the women investors surveyed said they’re “on the right track” to achieve their financial goals, according to the survey, by Charles Schwab, an investment and financial services firm.

However, 85% share a common regret — they said they wish they had started investing at an earlier age, the survey said.

When the age is broken down by generation, Schwab found that millennials began investing at age 27, on average, Gen Xers’ average starting age was 31, and baby boomers started at an average age of 36.

Schwab polled 1,200 women in the U.S. ages 21 to 75 in January. The report said they each had at least $5,000 in investable assets, not including retirement accounts or real estate, and were all primary or joint household financial decision-makers.

Some of the top reasons respondents said they began investing later in life than they would have liked were a lack of financial knowledge, 54%, and limited funds to invest, 53%, according to Schwab’s report.

There’s an advantage in getting started with investing as soon as you can, even if you don’t have much to contribute at first: You’ll benefit from time in the market, according to Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner and founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida.

“Start saving while you’re young because you have lots of years for your money to grow,” said McClanahan, a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council. 

An early start to investing harnesses the power of compounding.

Compound interest means your money earns interest on both the original amount you invest and on the interest you’ve already earned, said Jeannie Bidner, a managing director and head of the branch network at Charles Schwab. Compound returns are broader, and typically include other types of investment gains, such as dividends and capital gains. 

Compounding creates a “snowball effect” for your cash, she said. “The sooner you get started, the better.”

Let’s say a person begins at age 25 investing $6,000 per year, with an average 7% annual return. By the time they’re 67 years old, the account balance would be almost $1.5 million, according to Fidelity Investments. If that individual delays starting to invest until age 30, they would end up with just over $1 million by retirement.

In other words, that five-year head start offers a bonus of nearly half a million dollars.

It’s not just about getting a head start. Staying invested through major market swings and sticking to your plan are essential to meeting your financial goals.

More than half, or 58%, of the women in the survey said they learned to stay invested despite the ups and downs of the market, Schwab found, and 42% said they learned to create a plan and stick to it.

While market volatility can “feel like you’re at a casino,” it’s important to disregard the major swings and focus on your long-term outlook, Katie Gatti Tassin, author of “Rich Girl Nation: Taking Charge of Our Financial Futures,” said at an event Wednesday at 92NY, a cultural and community center in New York.

“It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme, it’s a get-rich-slowly scheme,” Gatti Tassin said.