Auringer Proposes TAFEE Financial-Literacy Plan to Help Nearly 34,000 Hudson Valley Children Claim and Grow New Investment Accounts

KINGSTON, N.Y. — August 6, 2026 — Jackie Auringer, Republican-Conservative candidate for Congress in New York's 18th Congressional District, today unveiled a financial-literacy proposal designed to help young people build financial independence through the new Trump Accounts program.

The Trump Accounts Family Enrollment and Education Initiative — or TAFEE — would help eligible families claim the $1,000 federal investment authorized for their children, provide practical financial education for parents and young people, and enlist private-sector partners to reward families for completing financial-literacy milestones.

An estimated 34,000 children in NY-18 could be eligible during the program's four-year birth window, including more than 13,000 who may already qualify.

"Nearly 34,000 children in our district could begin life with a real investment in their future," Auringer said. "But that opportunity will be wasted if families do not know how to claim the account or how to make it grow."

"This is about more than opening accounts. It is about teaching an entire generation how saving, investing, credit, debt and compound growth work."

New York Earns a "D"

The Nation's Report Card on Financial Literacy awarded New York a "D", finding that the state did not provide substantial K-12 financial-literacy instruction.

New York has traditionally included limited personal-finance instruction within its required high-school economics course but has not required a standalone personal-finance course or guaranteed comprehensive instruction for younger students.

"New York is the financial capital of the world, yet our state earned a D for teaching young people how money works," Auringer said. "That is indefensible."

Young adults are expected to compare student loans, sign leases, establish credit, evaluate employment benefits, finance vehicles and begin saving for homes and retirement — often without understanding interest rates, credit scores, investment fees or the long-term cost of debt.

"One bad financial decision at 18 can follow someone for decades," Auringer said. "One good decision, such as beginning to save and invest early, can change the course of a family's life. Financial knowledge should not be limited to children whose parents can afford a professional adviser."

Turning the Accounts Into a Teaching Tool

The new accounts are permanent, tax-advantaged investment accounts for children with valid Social Security numbers.

Eligible U.S.-citizen children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, may receive a one-time $1,000 federal contribution. The account itself does not end in 2028; only eligibility for the federal pilot contribution is tied to the four-year birth window.

The contribution is not automatic. A parent, guardian or other authorized adult must elect to participate and activate the account. Family members, friends and employers may then make additional contributions.

"TAFEE allows children to learn financial literacy through something real," Auringer said. "Instead of simply reading about compound growth, they can watch it happen in their own accounts."

"A family contributing just $250 a year could see their child's account grow to approximately $51,000 by age 27," Auringer said. "That is the power of starting early. TAFEE would help families claim the account, understand how it works and turn a modest annual contribution into a meaningful foundation for a young person's future."

Treasury has already developed interactive educational modules covering saving, investing, diversification and compound growth. TAFEE would connect that education directly to enrollment and create incentives for families to continue learning.

The TAFEE Plan

The Trump Accounts Family Enrollment and Education Initiative would:

- Identify and enroll eligible families. Treasury and the IRS would notify potentially eligible parents, clearly explain that enrollment is not automatic and provide simple online, paper and community-based assistance. Special outreach would help non-filers, lower-income households and families facing language or technology barriers.

- Provide practical education for parents and children. Age-appropriate instruction would cover budgeting, saving, investing, credit, debt, taxes, insurance, homeownership, retirement and entrepreneurship. Families could use the child's actual account to learn how contributions, investment returns, risk and compound growth work over time.

- Create a private-sector "Learn and Earn" incentive. Banks, credit unions, employers, foundations and nonprofit organizations could become certified TAFEE partners and make voluntary deposits into children's accounts when families complete enrollment and education milestones. A private partner could contribute when a family activates an account, completes a financial-literacy course, establishes a savings goal or finishes age-appropriate lessons with the child. All incentive contributions would be privately funded — not paid for by taxpayers. Partners would be prohibited from requiring families to become customers, marketing unrelated products or collecting confidential financial information through the program.

- Build on existing systems. TAFEE would not increase the $1,000 federal contribution, create a new entitlement or establish a new federal agency. It would build upon existing Treasury and IRS enrollment systems, account technology and educational resources.

"This proposal brings families, educators and the private sector together around a simple goal: enroll every eligible child, teach every participating family and reward young people for learning how to build their own financial future."

Methodology note: Treasury and the IRS do not publish account-eligibility figures by congressional district. The estimate of nearly 34,000 potentially eligible children applies the CDC's 2024 national crude birth rate of 10.7 births per 1,000 residents to NY-18's Census population of 791,202 over the four-year January 2025 through December 2028 birth window. It is an estimate of children, not confirmed accounts, completed elections or unique households.