🏦 President Donald Trump Introduces His "MAGA Accounts" For Kids

In today’s newsletter I discuss President Donald Trump’s introduction of "MAGA Accounts" for kids, pizza is a surprisingly accurate economic indicator, the 'John Wick' story 'Ballerina' fails to kill it at the boxoffice, Microsoft is intruding 2 new handheld gaming units in times for the 2025 holiday season, the Winklevoss' twins crypto firm Gemini files for an IPO with the SEC, and Aaron Rodgers signs a $13.65 million dollar 1-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers because he did so great with the New York Jets?!?!

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WHAT’S ON OUR MIND

🏦 President Donald Trump Introduces His "MAGA Accounts" For Kids

A new proposal by President Donald Trump called the "Trump accounts", but more cringingly referred to as the "Money Accounts for Growth and Advancement" or "MAGA Accounts" in earlier versions of the proposal, aims to establish tax-deferred investment accounts for American children when they’re born. Under the plan, every U.S. citizen born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, would receive a one-time federal contribution of $1,000 dollars. This initial seed money would be invested in a low-cost index fund tracking the overall stock market. Beyond the government's contribution, parents, relatives, and even philanthropic organizations could contribute an additional $5,000 dollars annually to these accounts. Funds could be accessed at age 18 for qualified expenses like education, job training, or a down payment on a first home, with full access granted at age 30. If this sounds like a junior version of a 529 Plan, then you’re not wrong. It’s modeled after the tax-advantaged savings plans designed to help families save for future education expenses, including college or trade schools.

Given that approximately 3.6 million babies are born in the U.S. each year, the initial federal outlay for this program could exceed $3 billion dollars annually. While the $1,000 dollars seed money is a start, its long-term growth is modest; assuming a 7% annual return, it would grow to roughly $3,570 dollars over 18 years. The true beneficiaries are those families who can afford to consistently contribute the maximum annual amount of $5,000 dollars. Read: once again the rich get richer while the poor stay poor.  According to Brad Gerstner, founder of Invest America, claims that with an additional $750 dollars in annual savings, these accounts could be worth $50,000 dollars by age 18. Now that’s a nice graduation gift!

This disparity in potential growth highlights that the program, despite its universal initial deposit, is structured to disproportionately benefit wealthier families. Duh! While it's touted as a way to "produce new capitalists" and "level the playing field" critics like economist Darrick Hamilton of The New School, argue that it could actually exacerbate the wealth gap. That’s pretty much a given for anyone who’s ever taken Economics 101.

If you really wanted to address financial inequality, you should probably start by giving more to the people who actually need it the most, instead of letting those who come from more privileged families supercharge their kids' portfolios. Just sayin’.

🍕 Business

Pizza is a surprisingly accurate economic indicator. It provides a lens into economic shifts facing our country at any given time. For example, Laszlo Hanyecz famously spent 10,000 Bitcoins on two Papa John’s pizzas in 2010, then valued at $41 dollars. Today those same 10,000 Bitcoins would be worth over $1.1 billion dollars. The "Pizza Principle" in New York suggests the price of a pizza slice, which currently stands at around $2.75 dollars per slice in NYC, often mirrors the cost of a subway ticket, which is currently $2.90 a ticket. Add to that the increase in frozen pizza sales in supermarkets, and it’s clear Americans are tightening their purse strings amid uncertain economic times.

🩰 Entertainment

The 'John Wick' story 'Ballerina,' starring Ana de Armas, opened with a soft $51 million dollars at the global box office, falling short of its reported $90 million dollars production budget. It’s not a good look for the ‘John Wick’ franchise when Disney's 'Lilo & Stitch' assassinated them at the boxoffice, with an impressive $772 million dollars in ticket sales globally. 

Who’d want to go see a foul-mouthed alien with a bad attitude, instead of a ballet-dancing assassin. Turns out, everyone.

I think this is a case of “time will tell”. I know when both movies come out on streaming I’ll be watching ‘Ballerina’ over 'Lilo & Stitch' personally, but I’ll bet my young nieces and nephews will watch 'Lilo & Stitch' a lot more times than I’ll ever watch ‘Ballerina’, even if Ana de Armas, who’s one of my favorite actresses right now, does kill it in the movie.

🎮 Tech

Microsoft just shook the handheld gaming world with their announcement of their new handheld gaming units, in collaboration with their partner ASUS, called the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X handhelds. Microsoft plans to launch these new handhelds in time for the 2025 Holiday season. This comes as Microsoft Gaming's revenue grew by 5% from January to March of this year, even while Xbox hardware sales have decreased by 6%, which highlights their reliance on Xbox Game Pass and content, which has seen an 8% increase in revenue for Xbox content and services in the last year.

So once again Microsoft Gaming proves they're still in the console business, which is just adorable in 2025.

🪙 Crypto

Twin brothers Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss's crypto firm, Gemini, has confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC. The company was last valued at $7.1 billion dollars in November 2021 after a $400 million dollar funding round. The Winklevoss twins are famous for their legal fight with Mark Zuckerberg over the creation of Facebook, a saga that was later dramatized in the 2010 movie "The Social Network."

One only has to go back to 2023 when the SEC, under the Biden administration, sued Gemini for their Gemini Earn program, which allowed their customers to lend cryptocurrency to Genesis in exchange for interest payments, while Gemini took a fee. Gemini settled for a $21 million dollar fine earlier this year. Oh how the crypto times have changed.

🏈 Sports

Aaron Rodgers has reportedly signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers worth $13.65 million dollars, with $10 million dollars guaranteed and up to $5.85 million dollars in incentives. He will wear jersey number 8 for the team. This comes after a challenging two-year stint with the New York Jets, where his first season was cut short by an Achilles tear just four snaps in, and his second year saw the team finish with a 6-12 record despite his 3,897 passing yards and 28 touchdowns. 

This definitely seems like a great deal for washed up quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and a bad deal for the Rooney family who owns the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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irl Media NEWSLETTER is written, edited, and published by Chris Thompson.