White House update on tax refunds: Average check tops $3,700 as millions of US taxpayers claim Trump’s ‘historic’ cuts. What will you do with it?

“Nearly 63 and a half million tax returns have been processed thus far — 45% of the anticipated total number of tax returns by April 15th… The average refund this year is more than $3,700,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a press briefing on March 10 (1).

Leavitt said that Americans “are going to start benefiting from the fruits of President Trump and Republicans’ labor through the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill and these historic tax cuts.”

Signed into law on July 4, 2025, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” introduced provisions such as tax deductions for tips, overtime pay, car-loan interest and enhanced deductions for seniors.

According to Treasury Department data cited by Leavitt, taxpayers are already making use of the new provisions (2). More than 27.5 million filers have claimed at least one of Trump’s new tax cuts so far.

In particular, over 3.5 million returns have claimed no tax on tips. Over 15.5 million returns have claimed no tax on overtime. Over 9.2 million returns have claimed the enhanced deduction for seniors. And over 690,000 returns have claimed no tax on car loan interest.

The Tax Foundation has estimated that the “One Big Beautiful Bill” reduced individual taxes by $129 billion for 2025, noting that refunds “will undoubtedly rise for millions of taxpayers” (3).

Trump himself has also touted the size of this year’s refunds, saying they “are substantially greater than ever before” and even cautioning Americans: “Don’t spend all of this money in one place!” (4).

For many households, that raises an immediate question: What’s the smartest way to use a sudden cash infusion?

Whether you’re thinking about shoring up your finances, preparing for uncertainty, or putting that extra money to work, here are a few ways Americans may consider investing their potential windfall.

‘The best thing to do,’ according to Warren Buffett

The U.S. stock market has been a powerful engine of wealth creation. Trump has pointed to that strength, recently saying that “the only thing that’s really going up big? It’s the stock market and your 401(k)s” (5).

The benchmark S&P 500 returned about 16% in 2025 and has gained roughly 71% over the past five years.

Of course, consistently picking winning stocks isn’t easy. That’s why legendary investor Warren Buffett argues that most people don’t need to pick individual companies at all to benefit from the stock market’s long-term growth.

“In my view, for most people, the best thing to do is own the S&P 500 index fund,” Buffett has famously stated (6). This approach gives investors exposure to 500 of America’s largest companies across a wide range of industries, providing instant diversification without the need for constant monitoring or active trading.

The beauty of this approach is its accessibility — anyone, regardless of wealth, can take advantage of it. Even small amounts can grow over time with tools like Acorns, a popular app that automatically invests your spare change.

Signing up for Acorns takes just minutes: Link your cards and Acorns will round up each purchase to the nearest dollar, investing the difference — your spare change — into a diversified portfolio.

With Acorns, you can invest in an S&P 500 ETF with as little as $5 — and, if you sign up today with a recurring investment, Acorns will add a $20 bonus to help you begin your investment journey.

For investors interested in individual stocks, platforms like Moby aim to simplify the process. Their team of former hedge fund analysts does the heavy lifting — breaking down the market, flagging quality stocks and making the research easy to digest.

In fact, across nearly 400 stock picks over the past four years, Moby’s recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. Their research keeps you up-to-the-minute on market shifts and takes the guesswork out of choosing investments.

Plus, their reports are easy to understand for beginners, so you can become a smarter investor in just five minutes.

Build wealth through US real estate

Beyond stocks, real estate has long been another cornerstone of wealth-building in America.

In fact, Buffett often points to real estate when explaining what a productive, income-generating asset looks like. In 2022, Buffett stated that if you offered him “1% of all the apartment houses in the country” for $25 billion, he would “write you a check” (7).

Why? Because regardless of what’s happening in the broader economy, people still need a place to live and apartments can consistently produce rent money.

Real estate also offers a built-in hedge against inflation. When inflation rises, property values often increase as well, reflecting the higher costs of materials, labor and land. At the same time, rental income tends to go up, providing landlords with a revenue stream that adjusts with inflation.

Of course, you don’t need $25 billion — or even to buy a single property outright — to invest in real estate. Crowdfunding platforms like mogul offer an easier way to get exposure to this income-generating asset class.

Mogul is a real estate investment platform offering fractional ownership in blue-chip rental properties, which gives investors monthly rental income, real-time appreciation and tax benefits — without the need for a hefty down payment or 3 A.M. tenant calls.

Founded by former Goldman Sachs real estate investors, the team hand-picks the top 1% of single-family rental homes nationwide for you. In other words, you gain access to institutional-quality offerings for a fraction of the usual cost.

Each property undergoes a rigorous vetting process, requiring a minimum 12% return even in downside scenarios. Across the board, the platform features an average annual IRR of 18.8%. Offerings often sell out in under three hours, with investments typically ranging between $15,000 and $40,000 per property.

You can sign up for an account and then browse available properties here.

Another option is Lightstone DIRECT, which offers accredited investors access to institutional-quality multifamily and industrial real estate — with a minimum investment of $100,000.

Founded in 1986 by David Lichtenstein, Lightstone Group is one of the largest privately held real estate investment firms in the U.S., with more than $12 billion in assets under management.