TSP to Look at Window

The TSP governing board plans to take a closer look at its monthly meeting in November at creating an investment “window” through which investors could direct some of their investments in funds outside the TSP’s offerings. The TSP has been criticized for years for its limited choice of offerings and a 2009 law authorized, but did not require, it to make outside investing available. The idea has been largely on the back burner ever since, but earlier this year the TSP staff produced a report on practices of other similar retirement savings plans. That review found that adding such a feature to the TSP would raise questions about fees that might be charged for outside investing, choice of additional funds or fund families, potential limits on how much could be invested, the potential impacts on loan and withdrawal policies, and more. It’s uncertain whether the governing board will make a decision in the near future, and even if it endorsed the concept, putting it in place would be a long-term project—on the order of two years, according to the study.