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Tech billionaire Michael Dell and his wife, Susan Dell, are donating more than $6 billion for investment accounts for American kids. They made that pledge on Tuesday, and they say the money will go into what are called Trump accounts. How much difference will that make? NPR's Stephan Bisaha reports.
STEPHAN BISAHA, BYLINE: Michael and Susan Dell told NPR they have big dreams for what their donation can do, like helping young people buy a home.
MICHAEL DELL: Starting a business...
SUSAN DELL: Saving for the future.
M DELL: ...Or saving for their future.
BISAHA: The money will go into Trump accounts created as part of the Republicans' tax and spending law passed this summer. Kids born between the start of 2025 and through the end of 2028 will get $1,000 put into an investment account that will ideally grow into their adulthood. The Dells' money will go to kids 10 and under who did not qualify under that law to get a thousand-dollar start.
ALEX MURESIANU: That's an extremely impressive amount of money to contribute.
BISAHA: Alex Muresianu is with the Tax Foundation. But as huge as $6 1/4 billion is, it does not go that far when spread out to a planned 25 million kids.
MURESIANU: In the context of the U.S. population and, you know, the spending capacity of the federal government, it's not as large as it might seem at first glance.
BISAHA: Each kid will get about 250 bucks from the Dells. The money will likely grow with the stock market, but it's going to take a lot more investment to make a dent in something as life-changing as a down payment on a house. Ray Boshara with the Aspen Institute has been advocating for these types of policies, and he's hopeful the Dells' donation could inspire other donors to step up.
RAY BOSHARA: I think that's exciting and, you know, families, employers, nonprofits, cities, states, they can all make these contributions. And enough people do that, you know, we're looking at pretty substantial sums by age 18.
BISAHA: And that is what Michael Dell is betting on - inspiring more investment.
M DELL: What's more important than investing in children?
BISAHA: The Dells' donation will go to children living in ZIP codes with median family incomes below $150,000. Boshara says this represents a different kind of investment than we typically see for children - not just nutrition and health, but an investment in their future wealth.
Stephan Bisaha, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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