Growth period (Trump Account).
In plain English
The growth period is the stretch defined in the Trump Account rules that runs from the day the account opens to December 31 of the year the child turns 17. During it, the money has to stay in a low-cost index fund of mostly U.S. stocks and generally cannot be withdrawn. After it, the account becomes a normal traditional IRA.
01Why it matters
The growth period is the lock-up. It keeps the money invested through childhood, which is what lets it compound, and it sets up the tax rules that apply once the child turns 18 and the account becomes an ordinary traditional IRA.
02The math, step by step
A child born in 2026 has a Trump Account opened that year. The growth period runs until December 31, 2043, the year they turn 17. Until then the balance stays invested and locked; at 18 they can access it under traditional-IRA rules.
03What this is NOT
During the growth period the money is locked, unlike a savings account you can tap anytime. It is also not the post-18 phase, when the normal traditional-IRA withdrawal rules take over.
04Receipts
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