FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO
JULY 2026

A shared attribute in our field is the desire to increase opportunity and wealth in equitable ways—to build a system where every family, in every community, has a fair shot at prosperity.

This month the federal government launched 530A (Trump) accounts.

It is a rare occurrence that a systemic tool is created with this kind of reach. But unlike Social Security or the Earned Income Tax Credit, which were built to distribute opportunity broadly, 530A wasn’t. It is passive plumbing, and what it does depends entirely on how we use it.

It is designed to allow those with great disposable income to make annual contributions and expand the wealth of their children, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars when they turn 18. Meanwhile, children growing up in households without significant disposable income—even those who receive $1,000 at birth from the government or the initial deposit from the Dell Foundation—will end up with a few thousand dollars at 18, and fall further behind. It is why, without action, we can expect these accounts will expand the wealth gap.

But that same design creates plumbing that contains a unique opportunity for both employers and funders—a test of our institutional resolve to create greater opportunity for children of low- and middle-income households. The law creates a system that explicitly allows philanthropy to act on longstanding commitments to expand opportunity and invest in children. How? In these direct ways:

  • Invest in non-profits, childcare centers, clinics and other community anchors to demystify the process and get families with children in your communities to open accounts and receive the federal or philanthropic funds;
  • Take stock as an employer and model employer engagement by providing a direct deposit to your employees’ children;
  • Work with non-profit grantees to fund a benefit that makes contributions to their employees’ children; and, more dramatically;
  • Fulfill the strategic goal of increasing the well-being and opportunities for children by contributing, either directly or through a prepared non-profit, into the accounts of low- and moderate-income children to change outcomes.

The 530A system has unanswered questions on all the rules, so the infrastructure is yet to be developed. But take note of the opportunity, and if you and your institution are up to using that plumbing, then start planning. Within our network, we are prepared to find the viable path for funders to use this tool in targeted ways to create a difference for children over the long term.

This is how our field works at its best to advance economic security and equitable wealth building. Sometimes we act in the short term when opportunity presents itself—medical debt relief, first-time homebuyer down payments, stackable deposits into a CSA (or 529 account), financial coaching paired with the tools and resources to reach a goal. Sometimes the goal is to achieve scale with public policy and government funds through piloting solutions, providing research, and funding advocacy. Yet, knowing that these actions alone are not enough when the systems we work with continue to expand wealth gaps and increase economic precarity, we also foster innovative planning, rethinking systems to root out bias and old economic assumptions, and instead design them with the desired inclusive goals. These are the big bets: Baby Bonds creating a capital endowment for children, rethinking public income supports to create a living wage income floor, advancing inclusive climate change strategies creating better jobs and cleaner energy, or advancing near-universal solutions for health and childcare.

System change often starts locally, gets proven, and then expands through effective innovation. Funders and practitioners often make new outcomes possible by entering a challenging system but, with intentional action, innovation, and investment of time, money, and messaging, achieve more equitable economic security and wealth. The promise and resilience of our asset-building field has been, and continues to be, its ability to see the possibility and design an effective response that philanthropy helped fund to work for those who become engaged. Think of Mission Asset Fund and its lending circles, Saver Life and its various saving tools, Commonwealth and its work with employers on employee benefits, or the many creative ways that CDFIs foster homeownership and help provide capital to small businesses with an equity lens in their target communities. 530A accounts are the newest place to put this strategic instinct to work.

These ideas—and many more—will be explored at AFN’s eighth biennial conference, October 6-8, including strategies around building early wealth in the new federal-accounts moment, plus a breakfast on the 530A state-of-play. If you have yet to register, please do so and join us in Philadelphia.