Continued Growth in Roth TSP Investing

"...Federal employees are increasingly taking to Roth-style investing in their retirement savings program, although Thrift Savings Plan accounts remain heavily weighted toward traditional investments, according to the TSP.

The TSP says that in the year since Roth investing became available, both the number of participants using that option and the amount on investment have grown every month, to 188,000 accounts and $355 million through April..."

Read more at washingtonpost.com

TSP Roth a Popular Option

"...The Thrift Savings Plan now has nearly $100 million in Roth assets as a result of the retirement option’s increasing popularity among federal employees and servicemembers, according to the board that manages the TSP.

The amount of money in the Roth pool doubled in the last two months; in September the balance was $48.7 million and at the end of November it was $97.5 million, reported officials from the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board during its monthly meeting in Washington on Monday. “The pick up on Roth continues to be strong,” said Renee Wilder, director of the board’s Office of Enterprise Planning. There are 73,041 enrollees with Roth balances, up from about 40,000 in August.

The TSP Roth option, unveiled in May, allows beneficiaries to invest money that already has been taxed and cannot be taxed again upon withdrawal, unlike traditional TSP investments. With Roth’s addition, participants now can invest pretax or after-tax dollars in any of TSP’s offerings as long as their total contributions are within Internal Revenue Service’s limits..."

Read more at GovExec.com

TSP Investment Limit Rises in 2013

"...Federal employees will be able to invest more in 2013 through their tax-favored retirement savings plan, the IRS has announced.

Due to an inflation adjustment, the dollar limit on investing in the Thrift Savings Plan will rise to $17,500 from this year’s level of $17,000, the second straight year of a $500 increase.

Participants age 50 or older will be allowed to make additional “catch-up” investments of $5,500, the same as in 2012..."

Read more at

TSP Roth Accounts Gaining in Popularity

"...About 20,000 Thrift Savings Plan participants have opened Roth accounts since the program’s launch in May, the board governing the plan said Monday.

About $13 million has so far been deposited in TSP Roth accounts, or roughly $650 per participant on average...

The new investment option allows participants to invest after-tax earnings into funds that will grow without tax liability on future earnings. This differs from the standard TSP plan, where before-tax dollars are invested and taxed when they are withdrawn..."
Read more at Federal Times

Need Money? Look to the TSP

"...This is the second in a series of three columns on how to free up a little more spending money -- or increase the amount you’ll have available when you retire... Now let’s examine the Thrift Savings Plan...

If you think you will be in a lower tax bracket in retirement and if you have some time for the money to accumulate a substantial amount of earnings, then you might consider using the Roth TSP option to save. Unlike regular TSP contributions, you’ll pay taxes on these now, but the withdrawals later will be tax-free as long as you meet certain conditions..."

Read more at GovExec.com

TSP Roth Option Available to More Feds - July 1

"...More than 1 million federal employees who have been delayed in their ability to make Roth-style investments in their retirement savings program will have that option available to them starting July 1, according to the government’s largest payroll service provider.

The Thrift Savings Plan began accepting Roth investments on May 7, but the Defense Finance and Accounting Service was not ready to process that form of investing at the time. DFAS had said that it could accommodate Roth investing for civilian Defense Department employees and employees of other agencies it services in July, although it did not specify a date.

“Our systems will be ready to begin processing requests we receive on July 1,” DFAS spokesman Thomas LaRock said in an e-mail. He said that after a request is processed, employees “can normally expect to see the change take effect in their next paycheck, unless they submitted within a couple days of payday, in which case it would be the following paycheck.”..."

Read more at The Washington Post

TSP Funds Down Due to Europe's Economic Troubles

"...Six of the eight Thrift Savings Plan funds are down over the last month as global economic problems reverberate into the government's retirement accounts.

The I fund is likely to take the biggest hit in May as it's already down by $1.63 over the last month.

"You read the papers now and given the things going in Spain, Greece and the overall eurozone, that is obviously creating quite a churn in the market," said Kim Weaver, the director of External Affairs for the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB), in an interview with Federal News Radio.

Along with the I fund, three other investment accounts are down by more than a dollar since May 1: the S fund is down $1.60; the L2040 fund is down by $1.04; and the C fund is down $1.09..."

Read more at FederalNewsRadio.com

Big Difference Between Roth TSP & Roth IRA

"...the Roth TSP now available to federal 401(k) plan investors is very, very different from a Roth IRA although they confusingly share a similar name. And it's very important that feds understand the difference. It could make or break their retirement.

The giant federal-military 401(k) plan, the Thrift Savings Plan, is introducing a Roth option, for its 4.5 million-plus investors. The TSP, like other 401(k) plans, is a way to save on taxes..."

Read more at FederalNewsRadio.com

TSP Roth Option

"...federal employees (well, some federal employees anyway) will be able to opt in to the Thrift Savings Plan’s new Roth option starting May 7...

It’s important to consider several questions when weighing whether to put some of your savings in a Roth account:..."

Read more at GovExec.com

TSP Roth implementation date

"...Q: I am a federal employee. I heard that we will be able to contribute to a Roth TSP. When is that going to happen?
A: The last word we have is that the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) will implement the Roth provision by April 2012. This new feature will allow you to designate some or all of your contributions to a Roth TSP..."

Read more at narfe.org

TSP Roth 401(k) information forthcoming

"...The Thrift Savings Plan is preparing a series of educational materials about potentially complex investment choices for federal employees related to its upcoming launch of a Roth alternative.

The 401(k)-style retirement savings plan is set to begin offering Roth investments in the April-June period, but the outreach effort has started and will become part of the program’s ongoing communications to participants, agency officials told the TSP governing board this week..."

Read more at washingtonpost.com

A Look at Traditional vs Roth TSP

"...With the introduction of Roth, you will potentially have two types of balances in your TSP account: A traditional (non-Roth) TSP balance and a Roth TSP balance. Any agency contributions you receive will always be a part of your traditional (non-Roth) balance. However, you may designate your own contributions any way you like depending on your individual tax circumstances. (Note: Money already in your account when you begin making Roth contributions will remain part of your traditional balance. You will not be able to convert it to Roth.)

The table below compares the treatment of the two different types of contributions..."

Read more at tsp.gov

Is the Roth 401(k) TSP option right for you?

"...The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) for U.S. Government employees, and members of the military, will soon be opening a Roth TSP account access.

The difference under Roth is that your contributions are taxed at the front end, and your Roth TSP balance grows tax free, instead of the conventional TSP, in which your contributions are tax free, but you are taxed as ordinary income when you receive TSP distributions..."

Watch the following video to learn more.



Source: tsp.gov

A Peek at TSP’s Roth option

"...The Roth TSP option will allow you make deferrals of after-tax dollars from your paycheck into the plan. If you meet the requirements, which include being at least age 59½ and having held the Roth for at least five years, you may withdraw both your contributions and any earnings, free from federal income tax. Traditional TSP contributions are made with pre-tax payroll deferrals, which are taxed, along with any earnings, when they are later withdrawn..."

Read more at federaltimes.com

TSP outlines new Roth investment option

"...Proposed rules set for publication Wednesday lay the groundwork for a major change in the investment options available to federal employees through the Thrift Savings Plan with the addition of a “Roth” option..."

Read more at The Washington Post

Retirement plans explained

"... Roth, IRA, 401(k), 403(b), FERS, TSP – what on earth does it all mean? I know they all have to do with retirement savings, but it’s all just a word salad to me.

This is going to be something of a “dictionary” post where I spell out, as simply as I can, what these terms mean and what it means for you..."

Read more at csmonitor.com

Roth option to launch for Thrift Savings Plan

"...Long also reported an uptick in the Federal Employees Retirement System participation rate, which stands at 85.4 percent, and progress by TSP staff on implementing the coming Roth 401(k) option..."

Read more at govexec.com