No matter what side of the aisle your political beliefs and values align with, there is one thing the majority of Americans can agree on: the country finds itself firmly in an affordability crisis. From a lopsided housing market and elevated used car prices to college tuition and higher energy prices fueling inflation, prices for everyday items and wealth-building milestones are near all-time highs.
To help younger generations address that issue, the Trump administration announced in December 2025 that it was establishing Trump Accounts—tax-advantaged investment vehicles for U.S. children under the age of 18.
Officially launched on July 4, the accounts offer government funding of $1,000 for eligible babies born between 2025 and 2028, with up to $5,000 in addition funding from family and friends permitted each year.
The idea behind the accounts is to give eligible children a head start. And on July 1, the U.S. Treasury Department released its list of low-cost index funds that plan participants can choose from. While the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: SPYM). is currently the default investment in Trump Accounts at launch, the Treasury intends to add four additional funds to its list of offerings in the coming months,
State Street’s Ultra-Low-Cost S&P 500 ETF
Formerly trading under the ticker SPLG, SPYM is a passively managed fund tracking the S&P 500.
At just 0.02%, it features one of the lowest expense ratios on the market. A hypothetical $50,000 invested in SPYM would render fees of just $10 annually.
The fund invests primarily in mega- and large-cap U.S. equities. As it mirrors the S&P 500, it has gained more than 10% this year and more than 20% over the trailing year.
Like the index itself, SPYM’s portfolio is heavily tilted toward tech names, including the Magnificent Seven and AI stocks like Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) and Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU).
Because of that, the fund's performance is expected to outperform weighted benchmarks during rallies and underperform during pullbacks and corrections due to its elevated tech exposure.
iShares’ S&P 500 Low-Cost Fund Offers Appealing Yield
The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: IVV) is comparable to SPYM in that it is passively managed, utilizes weighted tracking of the S&P 500, and has a very low expense ratio—its 0.03% is only marginally higher than SPYM's.
As a result, the ETF has performed almost identically year to date and over the past 12 months, while its holdings are indistinguishable from SPYM’s list.
With nearly $890 billion in assets under management (AUM), IVV is the largest fund eligible for Trump Accounts.
One place the fund differentiates itself is its dividend, which yields 1.08%—or $8.18 per share annually—compared to SPYM’s dividend, which yields 1.03%.
The ETF is also popular among the smart money. Current institutional ownership stands at more than 70%.
Vanguard’s Holistic U.S. Stock Market ETF
Whereas the first two options limit exposure to the 500 largest publicly listed U.S. companies, the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (NYSEARCA: VTI) tracks the CRSP US Total Market Index, which represents approximately 100% of the investable U.S. equity market.
In doing so, the fund provides markedly superior diversification with just shy of 3,500 holdings.
However, because it is market-weighted, there is still a bias toward tech, which accounts for nearly 36% of the portfolio, with 16% exposure allocated to the semiconductor industry.
At 1.05%, VTI’s dividend falls between SPYM’s and IVV’s and pays $3.90 per share annually.
But in the era of thematic ETFs, VTI’s broad exposure has led to below-average institutional ownership of just 28.92%.
State Street’s Broad-Based, Well-Balanced Composite Fund
With more than 1,500 holdings, the SPDR Portfolio S&P 1500 Composite Stock Market ETF (NYSEARCA: SPTM) provides superior diversification to SPYM and IVV without tracking the total U.S. market index like VTI.
The fund’s dividend yields 1.05%, or 96 cents per share annually, and its expense ratio of 0.03% falls in line with the other ETFs on this list.
But with less than $14 billion in AUM, SPTM is the smallest fund of these five options.
Where SPTM stands out is in its broader market-cap exposure.
By combining large-, mid-, and small-cap U.S. stocks, the fund offers greater diversification than SPYM and IVV, although its sector mix remains similar to that of other broad-market funds.
Technology still accounts for nearly 36% of the portfolio, followed by financials at nearly 13%, consumer discretionary at 10%, and communication services and industrials, both around 9%.
iShares’ Total Market Offering
The iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (NYSEARCA: ITOT) offers broader diversification than SPYM and IVV as it tracks the S&P Total Market Index, which provides exposure to U.S. stocks across market-cap segments.
With nearly 2,500 companies in its portfolio, ITOT offers a more balanced sector approach with allocations similar to SPTM.
However, its dividend yields just 0.99%—the lowest of all five options eligible for Trump accounts—and institutional ownership has seen nearly as much selling as buying over the past 12 months, with just over $801 million in inflows versus nearly $737 million in outflows.
The article "Trump Accounts: Comparing the 5 Selected Low-Cost Index ETFs" first appeared on MarketBeat.
