Loan Usage Up

According to the TSP, participants took out more than 300,000 loans in 2003, a 50 percent increase over 2002, and a fourth of participants paying off a loan take out another within 60 days. About 500,000 participants now have loans, nearly one in six of the 3.2 million participants-more than 500,000 of whom are retired or separated and thus ineligible to take out loans-and of those with loans, 40 percent have two loans. Altogether, there are more than 900,000 loans outstanding for a total of $5.1 billion. As of year-end 2003, the TSP was holding nearly $129 billion in investments.