Understanding Your TSP Account |
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How will I get information
about my account?
When you are a new participant, the TSP mails you a
Personal Identification Number (PIN) after the first contribution is posted to
your account. This PIN and your Social Security number (SSN) together comprise
your secure identification for accessing your account information on this Web
site and the ThriftLine.
The TSP Web site. The best source of information about your TSP account
is the Account Access section of this Web site. You will need your SSN and
your PIN to access your account. Once you access your account, you can find out
your daily account balance, check on your loan, see the status of a loan or
withdrawal request, see what your current contribution allocation is, etc. You
can also use this Web site to perform a number of transactions, such as making
interfund transfers or contribution allocations, requesting a new
computer-generated or custom PIN, requesting that quarterly participant
statements be mailed to you, or initiating a loan or withdrawal.
This Web site is your only source for quarterly participant statements,
unless you elected to receive your statements in the mail. New
statements are posted on this Web site after the end of each calendar quarter
(i.e., March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31). The statement
shows your account balance and a detailed summary of the activity in your
account during the previous reporting period. If you have a loan, your quarterly
loan information will also be included on your participant statement.
The ThriftLine. Another good source of information about your TSP account
is the ThriftLine. You will also need your SSN and PIN to access your account on
the ThriftLine. The ThriftLine provides much of the same information and
transaction capability as this Web site. However, certain information
(such as the detail on a participant statement) and transactions (such as
requesting a loan or withdrawal)
cannot be provided through the ThriftLine.
For more detailed information on how this Web site and the ThriftLine can be
used, see the Fact Sheet, Using the TSP Web Site
and the ThriftLine.
The Earnings and Leave Statement. While you are employed, the money that
you contribute to the TSP is also shown on the earnings and leave statement that
you receive from your agency. In some cases, the money that your agency
contributes on your behalf is also shown on your earnings and leave statement.
You should compare the information on your earnings and leave statement to the
information in your quarterly participant statement to ensure that the
information that your agency is providing to the TSP agrees with the information
on your earnings and leave statement.
How do I change my address or correct
other personal information for my TSP account?
As long as you are actively employed, your agency is solely responsible
for making changes or corrections to your personal information such as your
address, name, date of birth, and Social Security number. The TSP cannot accept
these types of changes directly from the participant. This is because your
agency routinely sends personal information to the TSP for each participant. If
the agency's information about you is incorrect, it will change the information
that you provide directly to the TSP. Also, your agency submits your
contributions and any loan payments to the TSP. Therefore, if you need specific
information about contributions or loan payments, or general information
about the TSP, you should contact your agency.
However, once you are separated from service, you should contact the TSP
directly to update or correct personal information in your TSP account. Thus, if
your participant statement has old or incorrect information for you, you will
need to provide the new information directly to the TSP. In addition, once you
separate from service, the TSP is your primary contact for TSP information.
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Your TSP Address Make sure to keep your address correct for your TSP account. Otherwise, you may not receive your participant statement or other important mailings (including loan or withdrawal checks).
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What if there is a mistake
in the contributions to my account?
If there is a mistake in the amount of the contributions to your account, your agency must initiate the necessary corrections, whether you are currently employed or are separated from service.
If your agency made an error, you may also be entitled to earnings lost to your account as a result. Your agency must determine your entitlement to these earnings and must initiate payment of them. (Generally, however, your agency may not pay lost earnings on employee contributions that it failed to deduct from your pay.) Report any errors in your TSP account to your agency personnel office.
If there is a mistake in your retirement coverage classification (that is, FERS or CSRS), you may not have received money to which you are entitled, or you may have received contributions that do not belong to you. If you believe your retirement coverage is recorded incorrectly, contact your personnel office immediately.
If there is a mistake in the allocation of your contributions among the investment funds, you should contact the TSP Service Office. All error corrections will be reported on your
quarterly participant statement.Do I pay administrative
expenses to cover TSP operating costs?
Yes. Major administrative expenses of the TSP include the operating and development costs of the record keeper's computer system, the operations of the TSP Service Office, and the printing and mailing of publications and participant statements.
Two sources of funds are used to cover the expenses of the TSP. The first source is forfeitures of any nonvested Agency Automatic (1%) Contributions. FERS employees who leave Federal service before they are vested in the TSP forfeit the Agency Automatic (1%) Contributions and attributable earnings on those contributions. (See "What does "vesting" mean?".)
The second source of funds is earnings on participants' accounts. Because forfeitures are not sufficient to pay all expenses, a portion of earnings is used to pay the balance of administrative expenses. Administrative expenses, after forfeitures, are deducted from the earnings of the G, F, C, S, and I Funds in proportion to the size of those funds. Investment management fees of the F, C, S, and I Funds are borne exclusively by the participants investing in those funds. (See "How are earnings allocated to my account?".) Information on TSP expenses is provided in the annual audited financial statements of the TSP, which are posted on this Web site each April.
The effect of administrative expenses (after forfeitures) on the rates of return of the five funds is measured by the expense ratio of each investment fund. The expense ratio for a fund is the total of accrued administrative expenses charged to that fund during the period divided by that fund's average balance for that period.
Your share of TSP net administrative expenses is based on the size of your account balance. For example, the G Fund expense ratio was .10 percent in 2003. This means that in 2003, earnings in the G Fund were reduced approximately $1.00 for every $1,000 of G Fund account balance. The expense ratios for the G, F, C, S, and I Funds for the last 10 years are as follows:
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| Year | G Fund | F Fund | C Fund | S Fund | I Fund |
| 1993 | .12% | .14% | .13% | - | - |
| 1994 | .10% | .12% | .11% | - | - |
| 1995 | .09% | .11% | .10% | - | - |
| 1996 | .08% | .10% | .09% | - | - |
| 1997 | .07% | .08% | .07% | - | - |
| 1998 | .06% | .08% | .07% | - | - |
| 1999 | .05% | .07% | .06% | - | - |
| 2000 | .05% | .07% | .06% | - | - |
| 2001* | .06% | .06% | .06% | .05%** | .05%** |
| 2002 | .06% | .06% | .07% | .07% | .07% |
| 2003* | .10% | .10% | .10% | .10% | .10% |
**The 2001 expense ratios for the S and I Funds are for May 2001 (the inception of the S and I Funds) through December 2001. |
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How are earnings allocated
to my account?
At the end of each business day, after the stock and bond markets have closed, the daily earnings for each investment fund, minus administrative expenses, transaction costs, and investment management fees, are divided by the total number of shares in that fund to determine the incremental change in the share price for that day.
The daily share price for any fund may be the same as, higher than, or lower than the share price for the previous day, depending on whether there was a net gain or loss in that fund for the day. The daily earnings for each investment fund in your account are reflected in the daily change in the share price for each fund. For each day, the earnings for each investment fund equal the change in the share price times the number of shares in that fund at the beginning of that day.
Your daily account balance provided on this Web site and the ThriftLine represents the current value of your account, including all earnings and other transactions — such as contributions, loan payments, withdrawals, loans, and interfund transfers — which have been processed as of the close of business on the previous business day.
Your quarterly participant statement will show your account balance and transactions, expressed both in shares and dollars.
The returns for all five funds are reported on a monthly basis on the ThriftLine and in the TSP Fact Sheet "G, F, C, S, and I Fund Monthly Returns," which is available from this Web site and your personnel office. The returns for the related indexes are also posted in Rates of Return & Share Prices
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