Trump Account Contribution Programs: ERISA Boundaries, Employer Design, and Administration

Kim Wilcoxon, Partner | Thompson Hine LLP

Kim Wilcoxon is a partner in the Cincinnati office of Thompson Hine LLP and focuses her practice on employee benefits and executive compensation, with additional experience involving privacy and cybersecurity issues affecting employee benefit plans. She advises employers and plan sponsors on the legal and regulatory requirements governing health and welfare plans, ERISA fiduciary responsibilities, healthcare compliance, and emerging employee benefits issues.

• Education & Credentials

Kim earned her J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 2001 and her B.A. from Miami University in 1998. She is admitted to practice in Ohio.

• Recognition & Leadership

Kim was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel in 2023. She has been recognized by Chambers USA for Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation in Ohio from 2016 through 2026 and has been included in The Best Lawyers in America for Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law from 2013 through 2027. She received Lexology’s 2020 Client Choice Award as the leading Employee Benefits lawyer in Ohio and was listed as a Next Generation Partner by The Legal 500 from 2017 through 2022.

• Professional Involvement

Kim is a member of the American Bar Association and a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel. She has served as Co-Chair of the ABA Section of Taxation’s Subcommittee on Welfare Plans since 2021 and has been a member of the American Benefits Council’s Health and Welfare Task Force since 2016. She is also active in community organizations, including Taste of Grace, Legend Community Church, and Our Daily Bread.

• Experience

Kim advises employers and plan sponsors on a broad range of health and welfare and employee benefits matters, including ERISA compliance, fiduciary responsibilities, mental health parity, healthcare transparency, HIPAA, Affordable Care Act requirements, wellness programs, COBRA, and other federal benefits regulations. She has extensive experience analyzing new legislation and regulatory guidance and helping employers implement compliant benefit programs. Kim is also a frequent speaker and author on employee benefits issues. Her presentations have addressed fiduciary oversight, mental health parity, health plan transparency, wellness programs, ACA compliance, COBRA, HIPAA, and emerging employee benefits requirements. Her recent work includes presentations on voluntary benefits and ERISA obligations, PBM disclosure and transparency, and practical responses to mental health parity regulations.

Hillary E. August, Partner | Mayer Brown LLP

Hillary E. August is an Employee Benefits partner in Mayer Brown’s Chicago office. She partners with plan sponsors and fiduciaries on meeting the regulatory compliance demands of the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and other applicable laws and guidance, and her practice spans the full lifecycle of employee benefits, from day-to-day administration to defense during regulatory investigations. Her publications include the firm’s Legal Update on the IRS proposed regulations on employer contributions to Trump Accounts and nondiscrimination rules for dependent care assistance programs (August 2026).

• Education & Credentials

Hillary earned her J.D., with honors, from The University of Chicago Law School, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and served on the editorial board of The University of Chicago Law Review. She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale University with Distinction in the Major. She is admitted to practice in Illinois and works in English and French.

• Recognition & Leadership

Hillary was among the lawyers elevated in Mayer Brown’s November 2024 partner and counsel promotion class.

• Professional Involvement

Hillary serves as an Executive Board Committee Member and Diplomatic Outreach Committee Co-Chair of the American Jewish Committee Chicago, as a Governing Member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and as a Board Member of the Yale Club of Chicago.

• Experience

Hillary’s recent work sits at the center of this program’s subject matter: she is a named author on Mayer Brown’s August 2026 Legal Update analyzing the IRS proposed regulations on employer contributions to Trump Accounts, and the firm’s October 2025 CLE program on employee benefits and executive compensation under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act appears among her recent events. Because Hillary previously spent almost a decade defending complex ERISA class actions on behalf of plan sponsors and fiduciaries, she approaches compliance with a litigator’s foresight. She structures governance documents and participant communications, advises fiduciary committees, and steers clients through ERISA’s prelitigation claims and appeals process, and she advises financial services clients on prohibited transaction issues and compliance with Title I of ERISA. A significant element of Hillary’s practice involves identifying, documenting, and resolving operational and fiduciary errors. She has experience correcting plan failures through the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), the Department of Labor’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP), and the Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program (DFVCP), addressing issues such as eligibility, vesting, distributions, and contribution calculations. Hillary also counsels plan sponsors on the design, implementation, and amendment of tax-qualified retirement plans, health and welfare plans, and executive compensation arrangements; drafts and negotiates service agreements with recordkeepers, third-party administrators, insurers, and other service providers; and regularly consults on the employee benefits aspects of major corporate transactions and post-acquisition integrations.

Jina Davidovich, Associate | Mayer Brown LLP

Jina Davidovich is an attorney in Mayer Brown’s Chicago office practicing in the firm’s Corporate & Securities and Employment & Benefits groups. She is an author of the firm’s article “DOL Guidance Clarifies ERISA Status of Trump Accounts” (June 30, 2026) and of its Legal Update on the IRS proposed regulations on employer contributions to Trump Accounts and nondiscrimination rules for dependent care assistance programs (August 13, 2026), and she helps clients with issues involving executive and director compensation, employee benefits, and individual contractual arrangements with senior executives.

• Education & Credentials

Jina earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif, served as Notes and Articles Editor of the Fordham International Law Journal, and received the Fordham Law Alumni Association Medal in Constitutional Law and the Henrietta Metcalf Prize in Contract Law. She received her B.A. from Yeshiva University, Stern College for Women. She is admitted to practice in New York and Illinois.

• Recognition & Leadership

Jina was recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America for 2026.

• Professional Involvement

Jina is committed to pro bono service: she has advocated for children and young adults with special needs, assisted veterans with benefit claims, and drafted a Supreme Court amicus brief in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia.

• Experience

Jina’s recent writing addresses the exact framework this program covers: the Department of Labor’s guidance on the ERISA status of Trump Accounts and the IRS proposed regulations on employer contributions to Trump Accounts and dependent care assistance program nondiscrimination rules. Clients turn to Jina for her experience in designing and documenting equity incentives, cash bonus arrangements, employee stock purchase plans, and deferred compensation plans, as well as negotiating employment, retention, change-in-control, severance, and separation agreements with C-suite executives. She also advises boards, compensation committees, and companies on the full range of executive compensation matters, including fiduciary duties, say-on-pay preparedness, and institutional investor engagement. Jina is particularly experienced in working with public companies, guiding clients at the intersection of complex securities, disclosure, tax, and governance frameworks, and providing extensive support to public companies in connection with their proxy statements for annual shareholder meetings. She also supports clients on the employee benefits and compensation aspects of key transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, financing events, spinoffs, divestitures, and initial public offerings, counseling on 280G golden parachute issues and post-closing executive compensation arrangements.

SESSION 1 – Designing a Trump Account Contribution Program that Stays Outside ERISA | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

This session covers the statutory framework for Trump Account Contribution Programs (TACPs) under IRC § 128 and § 530A, the DOL’s three-track ERISA analysis from Technical Release 2026-02, and the specific safe harbor conditions employers must satisfy to avoid ERISA plan status. Attorneys will learn how to structure a compliant written TACP, navigate the cafeteria plan bifurcation, manage the post-growthperiod transition risk, and avoid the most common design errors. Attendees will leave with a working command of the ERISA boundary lines, the contribution cap mechanics, and the open regulatory questions that require ongoing monitoring.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Implementing and Administering a Trump Account Contribution Program | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

This session focuses on the practical employer-side administration of a Trump Account Contribution Program after the initial decision to offer the benefit has been made. Building on the ERISA framework addressed in Session 1, the session examines the separate written-plan requirements, employee eligibility and designation procedures, nondiscrimination rules, contribution administration, required notices and statements, operational compliance, and correction procedures under the latest Treasury and IRS guidance. Attorneys will learn how to translate the statutory requirements into workable employer procedures, identify administrative failure points, and prepare for the implementation issues that remain subject to regulatory development.