Charter Communications, which has a big merger pending before the FCC, announced today that it will match a new federal program giving $1,000 dollars to newborns for children of its employees
The “Trump Accounts” are part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act the president signed into law July 4. They are a relatively bipartisan component of the controversial legislation that extends 2017 tax cuts, adds tens of billions for border security and immigration enforcement and boosts defense spending, while slashing Medicaid and food stamps and rolling back clean energy initiatives.
Under the new class of tax-deferred investment accounts, every American born between 2025 and 2028 will automatically receive an account with $1,000 from the U.S. Treasury, which will be invested in a low-cost index fund. The funds will be held in a custodial trust until the child turns 18 when it automatically becomes a traditional IRA but can be used for specific purposes including education, starting a business or buying a first home. They accounts, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in May in the Invest America Act, will be available starting in July of 2026.
Every account can take up to $5,000 in additional contributions per year, including up to $2,500 on a tax-free basis, by a parent’s employer.
Charter, which inked a $34.5 billion deal In May to acquire Cox Communications, said the matching contribution further strengthens “its commitment to its 100% U.S.-based employee workforce.” Charter will also “offer employees additional ways to direct their own pay into their children’s Invest in America Trump Accounts.”
“When employees know their children have a pathway to financial security, it shapes how they view their future and their place at Spectrum – that’s good for customers and our communities, and that’s good business,” said CEO Chris Winfrey. “This initiative helps nurture future prosperity, supporting our employees and their families as we grow together.”
Charter said its participation in the new accounts builds on its broader commitment to employee financial security, and specifically, its frontline, U.S.-based sales and service workforce. It recently introduced an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. It also offers a retirement plan with a company contribution of up to 9% of eligible pay per year; comprehensive health benefits for which Charter has absorbed the full annual cost increase for the last 12 years; and a starting wage of at least $20 per hour — nearly three times the federal minimum wage.
