Certain Thrift Savings Plan investors are supposed to be allowed to begin making “catch-up” contributions soon, but some agencies might not be ready to process the transactions right away.
The TSP has said it will make available this month a new form that actively employed participants aged 50 and older can use to make the special contributions-which are over and above any dollar or percentage of salary limits applying to them-of up to $2,000 this year. There are certain other restrictions, most notably that the individuals must already be investing at their maximum percentage of salary rate (8 percent of salary for CSRS and 13 percent for FERS) or at a rate that would bring them to the annual dollar limit of $12,000 this year. The TSP anticipated that payroll withholdings for that purpose could start as early as August, for those who file the form this month. However, an internal Defense Department publication has said the DoD payroll system is not expected to be ready until September and that the agency will not be accepting catch-up contribution elections through its automated benefits systems in July.
So far DoD, the executive branch’s largest employer, is the only agency to indicate that it will not be ready on time.
