As HR leaders face pressure to deliver financial wellness benefits that meaningfully support workers, recent research from Chime Workplace™ highlights a new opportunity: employer matching contributions to Trump Accounts.
The findings point to a clear conclusion: While awareness of Trump Accounts is growing, employer matching is the key driver to persuade people of the importance of the accounts. Moreover, satisfying that workforce demand may affect employee performance and wellbeing, leading to measurable business impact.
Trump Accounts are custodial investment accounts designed to help children build long-term savings. A parent or legal guardian can open an account for a child under age 18 who has a Social Security number. Contributions are invested in low-cost diversified index funds, like those that track the S&P 500.
Employers have three ways to offer Trump Accounts as an employee benefit:
- Enable employee contributions tax-free via a payroll deduction. This can be offered even without employer funding. Employers also save on FICA taxes, similar to employee HSA contributions.
- Make a one-time, pre-tax employer contribution upon the birth of an employee's child. Many leading companies have announced their commitment to match the $1,000 government seed for eligible employees.
- Make ongoing pre-tax employer contributions. These can be structured as a match and are subject to a $2,500 annual cap per employee.
For employers, they represent a new category of financial wellness benefit, one that can complement existing offerings like retirement plans and emergency savings programs. For employees, the combination of a government seed plus employer match can make participation feel both accessible and immediately valuable.
Chime Workplace surveyed employees across company sizes to understand expectations around employer matching for Trump Accounts. The results show a significant gap between what employees want and what employers currently offer:
- 67% of eligible employees at large companies* believe their employer should offer a $1,000 match. (*500+ employees).
- Yet only 4% of employers currently provide matching contributions.
This gap represents a missed opportunity, especially for enterprise HR leaders competing for talent and retention in a tight labor market. One of the clearest findings from the survey is that matching contributions are the primary unlock for engagement. Without an employer match, about 40% of eligible employees say they would enroll. With a $1,000 match, about 75% say they would likely enroll – a nearly two times increase in participation rates.
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