End of TSP Open Season Just Ahead

The current Thrift Savings Plan open season concludes at the end of this month, meaning time is running out for employees who don’t participate to join the program, or for current investors to change the level of their ongoing payroll withholdings. The open season also is effectively the last chance of the year for investors under the FERS system who may be in danger of hitting the annual dollar cap on TSP investing ($11,000 this year) to adjust their investments so that they can continue investing throughout the calendar year. If they hit the dollar limit before the end of the year, their investments cut off and so do agency matching contributions of up to 4 percent of salary (although the automatic 1 percent government contribution would continue). The dollar limit is not an issue for CSRS employees because they are limited to 7 percent of salary investments and at current federal salary rates no CSRS employees can hit the limit; also CSRS employees don’t get matching contributions in the first place.