New TrumpIRA.gov Aims to Boost Retirement Savings Appeal for Self Employed
As a follow up to one of his State-of-the-Union address promises, President Trump recently issued an executive order directing the Treasury Department to develop a website to increase access to IRAs for independent contractors, self-employed individuals and others without employment-based options.Dubbed "TrumpIRA.gov", the website will be designed to encourage workers to save via IRAs and increase awareness about a possible government matching contribution.The anticipated launch of the website will correspond to the roll-out of the new saver's match created by the SECURE Act 2.0—just a few months away, on January 1, 2027.Although the website itself is not limited to individuals who qualify for the saver's match, understanding this new benefit may be critical to encouraging non-covered workers to sign up for retirement plans—and Trump has hinted that a broad federal auto-enrollment program may be the next step.
TrumpIRA.gov: The Basics
The stated intention of TrumpIRA.gov is to connect non-covered workers with "high-quality, low-cost IRAs."Rather than automatically enrolling non-covered individuals in a federally sponsored retirement plan, the website will provide a list of private institutions that offer IRAs that accept saver's match contributions.According to the White House, this will give millions of Americans access to the same types of retirement plans offered to federal employees.
Along with a basic list of options, the new website will provide certain cost and quality information about those options.This is designed to allow prospective savers to make comparisons between various IRA choices before selecting an IRA.
Listed IRAs must offer a menu of investment options, including investment fund products or model portfolios, including life cycle, balanced funds, targeted-retirement-date options and funds designed to protect the investor's principal on an ongoing basis.The listed IRAs must have low administrative costs and fees (limited to 0.15%) and not impose minimum balance or contribution requirements.
Trump's executive order also directs the Treasury to propose regulations designed to "protect workers, maintain transparency, and prevent prohibited transactions".
Understanding the Post-SECURE Act 2.0 Saver's Match
TrumpIRA.gov will also provide information about eligibility for the new saver's match.The saver's match was created by the SECURE Act 2.0 and will replace the existing saver's credit.
Starting in 2027, the existing saver's credit will be replaced by a 50% matching contribution from the federal government.The match will be deposited into existing 401(k)s and IRAs.The government will match 50% of the taxpayer's first $2,000 in savings ($4,000 per couple).In other words, the matching contribution will be limited to $1,000 per taxpayer ($2,000 per married couple).
Of course, it's critical for workers to enroll in a plan and make a contribution to receive this benefit.
The match will also be subject to a gradual phase out based on income levels (regulations governing the phase out have yet to be released).The phaseout will begin at $20,500 for individuals and $41,000 for married couples.Once an individual's income exceeds $35,500 ($71,000 per couple), they lose eligibility for the match.The income thresholds will be adjusted annually for inflation.
Taxpayers who contribute to Roth retirement accounts can qualify for the saver's match based on their Roth contributions.However, the saver's match itself cannot be deposited into a Roth account.In other words, the government's matching contributions will always be treated as pre-tax contributions that will be taxed at ordinary income tax rates when withdrawn.
The government's matching contribution does not count toward the individual's otherwise-applicable contribution limits for the year (for 2026, $7,500 for IRAs and $24,500 for 401(k)s, plus catch-up contributions for savers aged 50 and up).
Conclusion
It's estimated that only about 50% of all private employees currently participate in employer-sponsored retirement plans.A newly designed TrumpIRA.gov website could substantially increase awareness with respect to an uncovered worker's options—as well as additional quality IRA options for taxpayers who are currently funding a 401(k).