Thrift Savings Plan

What Is It?

Like private sector 401(k) plans, a Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a government-sponsored, defined contribution investment instrument. It is another potential retirement income stream for federal workers enrolled in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). They are both defined benefit pension plans, offering annuities upon retirement.

The Thrift Savings Plan is a critical component of your benefit package, whether you are a civilian employee or a member of the uniformed services. However, if it is not properly managed, you could be hurting your chances of attaining a financially secure retirement.

Who is Eligible?

Federal workers enrolled in the FERS and CSRS can open a TSP account and invest in a wide range of funds. However, by law, workers enrolled in the FERS can receive contributions into their TSP investment from their agency. Workers participating in the CSRS, many of whom were hired prior to the early 1980s, are not eligible to receive contributions from their agencies.

Whether or not you receive an agency contribution, the TSP is still a valuable financial instrument that can work toward maintaining a similar standard of living in retirement that you were accustomed to during your career. According to a recent Office of Personnel Management survey, the TSP had the highest rate of participation among federal benefit programs.

How We Can Help

Franklin Retirement Services will guide you through the nuances of the TSP and recommend other approaches to managing your TSP money so that you receive everything you deserve from your investment in this important government benefit.

We can help you understand what the TSP can do for your retirement and what it will cost you today in order to prudently invest in it. We’ll lay out your options during a complimentary one-on-one benefits consultation. By law, we can’t pick your plan, but we can review your options.

We also may recommend positioning you away from the TSP at some point because of severe restrictions with the plan that come into effect when you decide to retire. Depending on your goals and financial situation, we may recommend other financial products that could optimize the investment you have made in your TSP.

There are several aspects to be aware of regarding your TSP investment. Namely, you must decide when it is appropriate to withdraw from your fund. You must also decide how you should withdraw: as a life annuity, a single lump-sum payment, or in a series of monthly payments that is either for a fixed number of months or a fixed dollar amount until your TSP account is exhausted.

Our role is to help you navigate these murky waters, riddled with regulations and unclear answers to your questions. We’ll also suggest other options that can help bolster this part of your retirement package.

During our one-on-one consultation with you, we’ll review all your federal benefits including your available TSP options.