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This is an iHeart podcast.
Hoda Kotb
Guaranteed Human earners.
Rashad
What's up?
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Financial Educator
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Financial Educator
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Market Analyst
talk about this Trump situation. So first thing I want to talk about is the Trump accounts. So Trump accounts have launched. Yeah, if you're not familiar. So the Trump accounts is $1,000. They will be invested into eligible newborns. Any if you sign up, you have a child. $1,000 gets invested into an account. It gets invested in the US Index fund grows over the course of, I think, until the child takes it out. Until you take it out.
Financial Educator
Yeah, yeah. If they. I'm just saying they could take it out anytime before 18, but it's penalized, obviously, like I always do.
Market Analyst
But you can leave it in longer than 18.
Financial Educator
Absolutely.
Rashad
Yeah. You should.
Market Analyst
From. And it's actually retroactive as well. 2025 to 2028 is the qualifying years. It's investing in US index fund. And you can add money to it, to it as well. $5,000 limit as far as how much money you can add. And access begins at age 18. So this made a lot of news, and we had a conversation in Atlanta about. I would be interested to know how many people is actually taking advantage of this because we talked to somebody who was actually a mother. She had vaguely heard of it, but she's like, I feel like there's a lot of people that are not familiar with this or are not totally enthusiastic because it's Trump's name behind it. So they're not even going to follow the process. Or it's just a barrier of you got to actually go online and you got to sign up. And it's like, that's a hurdle within itself. So the people that need it the most, that can benefit from this the most, I have a strong suspicion that they might be signing up the least.
Rashad
Yeah. Do you think they have a brand and a messaging problem? I want to ask you guys this. Like, do you think a lot of our community won't sign up just because he blasted his name on it? Like, if it was called a financial freedom fund for children or something like that, do you think it would have had more traction?
Financial Educator
That's kind of how the conversation was kind of came about. It was the idea of, number one, who's going to sign up for it. But I think the missing piece is the education.
Empower Advertiser/Host
I think most people don't even understand
Financial Educator
what it is or what it's for. Had it been named something else, I think there's a certain segment of the population that would have said, okay, we need to do this. Obviously, there's a. There's an emotional attachment to a certain demographic of the population when you hear the name. And so the question is, can you separate something that might be good from the person that is actually putting their name on it? That's tough for a lot of people. There's a barrier there. There's also the barrier of trying to figure out, how do I get it now, the kids who are born January 1st of 2027 automatically are enrolled. The children that are born between, that's that. That works. But the children that are born between. And again, you said everybody can sign up for it. The people that are born between 2025-2028 get the $1000 government funding the process of signing up for it. And shout out to pjk, he called me, he was like, I'm signing my daughter up for it. But, yo, this form is crazy. So the form, like if you, if you're a cpa, this is new.
Market Analyst
Barrier of entry.
Financial Educator
This is new. So this is new. So the forms got released today. So you can see how to sign up for it. It's called the 4547 Form Pro Marketing. Again, he's 45 and he's 47, and this is his form and these are the accounts. But again, how many people are going to actually go to the website, sign up for it and say, okay, now what do I do? So I think where I landed on it was the education piece is what's needed. Can we educate enough people for them to understand that this is an account that can be beneficial for your child? Yes, there are 60 million people eligible. I think they said 6.1 million people have signed up already. Out of the 6 million that are signed up, only 1.4 million were eligible for that 1,000. So that means that those kids were born between that 2025, January 1st to it goes to present day, which is interesting.
Empower Advertiser/Host
But there are barriers right there.
Financial Educator
You have to make a certain amount or under a certain amount to even qualify for it. So I think most of the people out of that 1.5 that are signed up had made under 200,000. Now, we know a lot of people in our community make less than that. So it's about getting the information out. Now, is that our job? I think that's what we kind of were figuring out where our debate was going. Like, is it our job? Is it mandatory that we explain it to people? And I said, I mean, I landed on, if education is what we do, then, yeah, part of it is to educate the people on what this is and how it could be beneficial.
Rashad
But also, is the barrier to entry and the lack of education intentional? Kudos to Brad Gerstner because this was his idea and his baby from Altimeter Capital. But then with all the resources that you have, like you said, there's very little education on it. The barrier to entry is difficult. There's also a thought of why only a thousand or why kids of a certain age were not automatically included. My thing, if you're. If you're creating a platform for financial freedom for the kids, which is a brilliant idea. Are some of these roadblocks done intentionally and by design?
Market Analyst
I think anything with government is going to have a tremendous amount of roadblocks. Even the people that's automatically enrolled. What does that even mean? Right. Because you could be automatically enrolled. Like John Hope Brian had spoke about when he was on the show last year. How many people are eligible for the child tax credit that never take advantage of it, and it's billions of dollars in unclaimed money. I have a strong suspicion it's going to be the same thing with this. Yes, you might be automatically enrolled in it, but you still have to sign up. You still got to actually go and fill out. There's going to be a. A variety of people that do not do that. People don't trust the system already, for sure. People don't want to just automatically input their child's Social Security number. All the information. All of that is. You're going to lose half the people just by doing the form. They gonna get. Like PJ said, Kev said. He's like, I'm halfway like, what the hell is this? It's too much. It's a good idea in theory for sure. Even a thousand dollars. Like, I just did the math. If it's a thousand dollars, if 12 compounded. Let's just say 20 years. Let's make it a even number. A thousand dollars in 20 years is. Is $9,650. 10,000 ain't never been. $10,000 has never been bad for anybody in life.
Financial Educator
And that's 18. That's no country.
Market Analyst
That's no contribution.
Financial Educator
Yeah.
Market Analyst
So at 20, so. But at 20 years old, the vast. I didn't have $10,000 at 20 years old. The vast majority of people don't have $10,000 at twenty years old. Just waiting for Xander.
Rashad
You hear that?
Financial Educator
It's the thing.
Empower Advertiser/Host
That's the reality.
Financial Educator
We.
Empower Advertiser/Host
I know adults that don't have $10,000
Financial Educator
saved right now, in their 30s, in their 40s. So imagine having that at 18. And like you said again, that's with no contribution.
Empower Advertiser/Host
That's just if the thousand dollars just
Financial Educator
sits you, you can contribute to it.
Market Analyst
Well, that's. So that's what I'm doing next. So 50amonth. If you add 50amonth. Just 50amonth. If like, okay, the government's going to give you $1,000. You as a parent, if you add $50 a month to that.
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Market Analyst
At 20 now that's 53 700. Yeah, now that's 50. Now that's $50 a month. Just as low as $50 a month makes it $53,000 at age 20 and a hundred dollars a month makes it $109,000. So no, it's real.
Rashad
I mean it's real or it's a small investment over a long period of time. Is life changing? Like I put the post up three weeks ago, $250 in per month is 350 grand. Like I don't know where everyone is financially. 350 grand at any part in adulthood is a windfall that would change a lot of people's lives.
Market Analyst
But look, but this is just. Just reading the comments, this is the distrust. Sounds like a setup to me. Another Trump scam. So. And not even judging whether they right or wrong. But I'm just saying that's the sentiment.
Rashad
That's the sentiment.
Market Analyst
Sentiment is why there's going to be people that's like, I'm not, I'm not doing this.
Financial Educator
I'm not, I'm fully like with you on that. Like, I, I don't disagree that people have a negative connotation when it comes to it. Like I can't say this guy's name in front of my mom. Like she doesn't even want to hear this man's name in her house.
Rashad
Right.
Financial Educator
So let alone that there's going to be an account associated. Now obviously I'm not eligible, but kids are eligible. And so this is the other piece to it. And I always said watch the room. And we were talking about this earlier, but look at who was in the room with them. Right? Kirschner was there.
Empower Advertiser/Host
Michael Dell was there.
Financial Educator
Why is Michael Dell there? Well, he's saying, look, we're going to donate 7 billion. Well, where's the 7 billion going if the government's given a thousand? Well, there's still people who are eligible that will be able to have money from private institutions that will put money in the account. So they're, they're, I think they're allocating 250 to accounts that qualify. Then you have Micron saying that they're going to donate 600 million. And so you're starting to see more institutions. I know Chipotle is adding to it. More institutions are finding a way. I'm sure there's an incentive for them to do it maybe from a tax standpoint to be part of this and help fund the next generation.
Market Analyst
But only thing that's going to do is make the wealth gap even wider if people that need it the most don't take advantage of it. Because true, if you want to get upper middle class people that's going to now have $20,000 to give their kids when a poor person, they don't have anything.
Financial Educator
I think it's a cap though. So I think there might be like you have to make under $200,000.
Market Analyst
200,000. Okay. That's upper middle class. That's upper middle class. If you live in Ohio. So if you make $200,000 and you live in most part of America, you know, you living a pretty decent life for sure. And now that community is educated enough to take advantage of the situation and now they're giving their kids even they already had a head start and they gave an even more of a head start where the person that's making $37,000, that's just struggling to really survive, either uneducated or fearful or doesn't have the wherewithal to figure it out, doesn't take advantage of it. So now the wealth gap is actually just increasing over the course of time because you already given the people that already had a head start, even more of a head start.
Financial Educator
So then that becomes. That becomes what? What, what's the. Then what role do we play in it? Right. Do we educate? Because I think the education piece is important to give as much information that we know so we can tell people and. And hopefully they make their own decision where other people I know are just going to ignore it and missed the opportunity.
Rashad
This other part, real quick.
Market Analyst
Got you.
Rashad
Y' all mean to cut you off. We've done our part. The great part. Okay. Right. Write these four down. Spym IVV it O T SPTM as soon as I saw the layout, I said, damn, it's too Tattoo Index. I've been telling you V O V T I VGT before Trump Fake news had the fund for Make America Great Again. I already gave you the plan for your kids to get rich. Are you investing into it? Pick the amount whether. And people say, well, I can't afford it. You can afford 200, 100, because all the other services and AU and childcare cost way more than that and they don't give you as great as a return. Pick the four that you're going to marry. But even if you don't want to do this Trump account directly, you can do spym. You can do qqqm. Bilal talked about qqqi. Pick an asset that you're gonna marry and just put money into it every month and just automate it. You never have to worry about it.
Market Analyst
Yeah, but what I'll say this too. You have to have enough mental fortitude to follow the process. We can only do so much as far as we obviously have a dedicated audience that listens. So hopefully by us explaining it, if people want to take advantage of it, they might have some more information or if they want to tell their friends, co workers or family members. But let's be honest, the vast majority of the people we still haven't gotten through to yet. And there's certain level of wherewithal that you are in the bottom level of the economic spectrum of society. Be honest. Your top priority is not to listen to Market Mondays.
Rashad
And that's stress.
Market Analyst
You stressed out. You trying to figure out how to pay rent. You know what I mean? Like you down on your luck or you. It's just a variety of different things. Those people are not listening to Market Mondays. So those are the people, and I know people personally that are going to have children. And I know for a fact they're not going to take advantage of it. This is a complex conversation or the
Rashad
information that we get. That's the heartbreaking part. I'm in need. I'm like, bro, I've gave you the money to put into your kids account.
Financial Educator
Anyone will do it. You know, I. I will say this about the accounts. It's not an end all, be all. It's a part of the investment story.
Rashad
Yeah.
Financial Educator
Should you have a brokerage account? Absolutely. Should you have 529 plans? Should you be doing all those things up my accounts? Yeah, you should be. Right. And I'm talking to the audience that is obviously has some financial wherewithal. It's not the end all be all. It is a part of the story and it could. It's free. Right. So should you take advantage of it? Yeah, I would definitely educate myself if the opportunity is there, if I need it, and if it feels like something that could be a part of the investment journey, especially for my kids.
Market Analyst
I mean, but that's another thing, too. People don't even think about their kids. Like, no, I'm just.
Shell Advertiser
I'm not.
Financial Educator
I'm laughing.
Empower Advertiser/Host
You got to be real. You have to be real.
Market Analyst
That's part of it.
Rashad
They're living for the weekend themselves.
Market Analyst
They're not. That's not. Bro, you talking about saving money. A thousand dollars and they going, kids gonna get it in 20 years.
Financial Educator
And that's the life insurance piece.
Market Analyst
Yeah, yeah. They're not even. That's not even on their register. You could give them money. You can give them, hey, we're gonna give you a thousand dollars for your kid. What's the catch?
Rashad
$6,000 last year.
Market Analyst
What do I get out of it? How am I going to benefit from it if I'm not going to benefit from it? I don't care what, What. It's the same thing with life insurance. People say, like, I gotta die for somebody else to get rich.
Rashad
My friend touch you and told you that was literally what he said. He like, yo, that's the real. That's for my kid. I was behind. I'm like, you weren't behind. You was just at camp three weeks ago.
Empower Advertiser/Host
Or you know what happens?
Financial Educator
The other piece of it is that we don't have discipline. And so we might open the account in two years. It might be 1500. And we're like, y' all need that 1500. And we take the 1500 out and then it gets taxed and we're like, wait, hold on.
Hyundai Advertiser
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Financial Educator
You know what I mean? It's just. That's why I said the education, it's so many layers and it's so important.
Market Analyst
Well, here's some info. Well, hopefully you guys now know about it. At the very least, the market Monday, faithful, you guys know about it.
Financial Educator
Each one teach one.
Market Analyst
So if you want to take advantage of it, can we get the website?
Financial Educator
Yeah, yeah.
Market Analyst
If you wanted to. If you want to take advantage of it, take advantage of it. If you don't want to take advantage of it, Personal decision. But at least you're educated on it. And now you can, you know, like I said, you can tell your friends, you can add money to it. You can add up to $5,000 a year to it. It's invested in the index funds, compounds over the course of time. TrumpAccounts.gov TrumpAccounts.gov is the name of the website.
Rashad
We are not a paid affiliate. We're just.
Financial Educator
We're not.
Hyundai Advertiser
We're not.
Financial Educator
We're not. And there's information there as well.
Empower Advertiser/Host
And the app is there as well.
Financial Educator
And Robin Hood is the brokerage. So we saw Vlad on TV today. I'm talking about it. So congrats to Vlad on. On being the. The brokerage, I guess, quote, unquote, double
Rashad
since that bottom told you the stock of the year, it's gonna be.
Financial Educator
It was in the list. It was in the list.
Rashad
Rashad, you seem sad. A little bit, though. Even though you just left the tropical island, like, what's the solution to this problem? And getting the information to reach more people when it's needed more than ever.
Empower Advertiser/Host
We talk a lot about ownership, and one of the most important assets you
Financial Educator
can own is your digital real estate.
Empower Advertiser/Host
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Hoda Kotb
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Market Analyst
You can, well, you can only do what you can do. You go crazy trying to change, you know, change the whole entire world. Like you can only do what you can do. It's like the Marines. A few good men or a few good women. You, you can't, you can't change. You can't save everybody. So you can't, can't focus on that. Help. Who wants to help themselves. And then eventually, you know, people, when they want help, they'll receive it. But you know, when you have a song that encourages people to scam and to steal clothes out of, out of, out of clothing stores and that, that's the number one song in the world. It says a lot about the times that we're in, but it also says a lot about the appetite that people have because no matter how much they can talk about social programming, and that's a real conversation that we can have if you're interested in as well. Yeah, there is some level of social programming, but the social programming only goes to people that's interested in being socially programmed. So at some point, at a certain point in time, you gotta have some level of responsibility because it's like, you know, no matter. Nobody's forcing you to listen to the music, nobody's forcing you to drink liquor, nobody's forcing you to do all these things. It's there for you.
Rashad
But there's a disproportionate amount of media being pushed to us though. Like even when it happened at the BET Awards, my first thought was they cleared that to make that a moment.
Market Analyst
You know what I, you know what, you know what I found interesting in this whole, and not to get too political, but this whole Gaza thing is like they got, these people got thrown everything possible they got thrown at them and they in the rubble and they praying and they getting married with nothing. No electricity, no running water, nothing. They didn't lose their faith, no matter what. They held on to their principles and they faith.
Rashad
So regardless of circumstance.
Market Analyst
Regardless of circumstance. Regardless of circumstance. We know we got it hard, but we have a part to play in our downfall as well. Because we, we want it. No matter how much we say about the ignorant, we all we want, we as a society, we want ignorance more than we want positive things for sure. Until that changes. Yeah, until that changes, the vast majority of people still going to be in the same mental struggle that they're in.
Financial Educator
The ignorance, it becomes entertaining. It becomes, that is, that is our form of entertainment. Yes, sports and that is entertaining. And so people love it. They want to see tragedy, they want to see down force. The reason why that programming continues to feed that and continues to put that in front of you, because they know you're gonna watch it, they know you're gonna react to it. They know you're gonna get emotional about it. They know you're gonna come back for more. You coming back for more.
Market Analyst
Well, spin that, spin that, spin that. Spend it. Even if you don't got nothing to
Rashad
spend, Find it to spend.
Market Analyst
Find it to spend it. The average person doesn't have 500 saved and the number one song is spend it. Spend what? What exactly are you spending? You don't even have money to spend.
Rashad
For those who don't know, it takes 200 to 400 grand to make a song go number one. That's why I say it's a disproportionate and shout out to whoever wrote the song and the producer, it's not the greatest song of all time. So for it to go number one in this climate, it's number one.
Market Analyst
It's number one in the industry, it's number one in the street. It's number one in the streets. I'll tell you that.
Financial Educator
The more attention you give to it, obviously, the more for sure, you know what I'm saying? So, like, I don't. I haven't panned into that because I understand how it works. Right. The more you talk about it, the more places, the more growth it has, then it potentially is the number one song in the country. So.
Rashad
All right, real quick, for those who asked, once again, write it in the chat. SPYM1, number 2 IVV, number 2s, number 3, SPTM and number 4 ITOT are four that you can invest in if you want to emulate the Trump account. Return for your kid without investing to the Trump account.
Hoda Kotb
Yeah.
Financial Educator
And you cannot, you cannot change the investment, dude. It's not something that you can actively manage. The investment is done through the United States government. They're going to put it in. In index funds, and you can't do anything about that. Once the money goes in, they. They now manage.
Rashad
Yeah. Which is great because it forces you to not rotate too much, not trade with your child's future. But more importantly, just find a way to automate this for your children on their own. It makes it so much easier.
Lyft Advertiser
Earners.
Rashad
What's up?
Financial Educator
Look, building wealth isn't just about making money.
Empower Advertiser/Host
It's about knowing where your money is working for you. That's why we partner with Empower. Empower is all about helping you invest
Financial Educator
well so you can go out and live a little.
Empower Advertiser/Host
Their free Empower Personal Dashboard gives you a complete view of your financial life in one place. Track your net worth, monitor your budget, analyze your investments, set retirement goals, and more. You've worked hard for your money, now make sure it's working hard for you. Download the Empower Personal dashboard or visit empower.com not an empower client, Paid or sponsored when traveling for events or festivals throughout the country, every dollar matters. We compare flights, prices, hotel rates and restaurant options. So why wouldn't we compare rides? Personally, I always check Lyft before booking a ride. Prices can change throughout the day depending on traffic, weather and and what's happening in the city. If you're headed to a concert, out to dinner, or catching up with your friends on a Friday night, taking a few seconds to check Lyft could leave you with more money to enjoy the experience. Save money.
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Market Analyst
Oh, hey, Sarah. Did you hear my daughter Katie got
Empower Advertiser/Host
Camper of the Week.
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Market Analyst
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Prime Video Advertiser
Okay, that Hyundai Santa Fe, I only paid.
Financial Educator
Nice deal.
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So right?
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It almost feels wrong.
Hyundai Advertiser
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Podcast Host
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Hoda Kotb
Guaranteed Human.
Title: Why the Wealth Gap Is About to Explode — The Truth Behind the New Trump Accounts
Date: July 12, 2026
Hosts: Rashad Bilal & Troy Millings
Main Theme:
A deep dive into the newly launched “Trump Accounts”—government-backed investment funds for newborns—and their potential impact on intergenerational wealth, financial access, messaging, and the widening wealth gap, especially within Black and underserved communities.
The episode focuses on the federal government's new "Trump Accounts," which allocates $1,000 to eligible newborns for investment into a US index fund, with options for families to add contributions. The Earn Your Leisure hosts and guests dissect the logistical, psychological, and historical challenges affecting the rollout, public adoption, and equity outcomes of this policy—questioning if it might ultimately worsen the wealth gap it aims to close.
[02:14 – 04:03]
[04:03 – 06:53]
Quote:
"Do you think a lot of our community won't sign up just because he blasted his name on it? Like if it was called a financial freedom fund for children or something like that, do you think it would have had more traction?"
— Rashad [04:03]
[05:23 – 06:53]
Quote:
"I have a strong suspicion that the people that need it the most...might be signing up the least."
— Market Analyst [02:50]
[06:53 – 08:49]
Quote:
"Are some of these roadblocks done intentionally and by design?"
— Rashad [06:53]
[08:49 – 09:34, 14:06 – 14:48]
Quote:
"I didn't have $10,000 at 20 years old. The vast majority of people don't have $10,000 at twenty years old...I know adults that don't have $10,000 saved right now, in their 30s, in their 40s."
— Market Analyst/Empower Advertiser/Host [08:53 – 09:12]
[16:10 – 17:20]
Quote:
"But only thing that’s going to do is make the wealth gap even wider if people that need it the most don't take advantage of it."
— Market Analyst [16:10]
[17:20 – 20:13]
Quote:
"You go crazy trying to change the whole entire world. You can only do what you can do...Help who wants to help themselves."
— Market Analyst [27:10]
[14:48 – 17:20; 19:56 – 21:37]
Quotes:
"Sounds like a setup to me. Another Trump scam."
— Market Analyst [14:48]
"People say, like, I gotta die for somebody else to get rich."
— Rashad [21:24]
[15:31 – 16:10]
[17:43 – 18:44; 31:04 – 31:40]
Quotes:
"I already gave you the plan for your kids to get rich. Are you investing into it? Pick the amount..."
— Rashad [17:43]
[28:21 – 30:22]
This episode urges listeners to recognize both the opportunities and pitfalls in new government wealth-building initiatives—emphasizing education, action, and long-term discipline above politics. The hosts challenge listeners to cut through distrust, seize the compounding power of time, and—if needed—take independent steps to build generational wealth, all while warning that neglecting such tools may lead to an increasingly entrenched wealth divide.
For More:
#EarnYourLeisurePodcast #WealthGap #TrumpAccounts #FinancialEducation