TSP

One of the great fears of people planning for retirement is running out of, or low on money while they are still breathing.

For many people nearing retirement, running out of money is one of the top fears. Unless they work for the federal government.

When you leave government are you going to keep your optional retirement nest egg in the Thrift Savings Plan, or move some or all of it to an outside investment option? And does it matter?

President Donald Trump’s proposed 1% across-the-board federal pay raise is an attempt to meet Congress “halfway” on the topic, as the administration also recommended more agency funding on employee performance rewards and bonuses.

Somewhere out there, the person or persons who, in the late 1990s, predicted Uncle Sam was facing a massive wave of retirements may be happy at last. Or not!

Although the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) was launched in the 1980s, it is still considered the “new” plan by workers who remained in the old Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS).

Nobody likes to think about dying. But it happens and if you don’t do some advance planning it can cause even more longer lasting pain and grief.

The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board has launched a social science program over the past year, with the goal of sending messages and reminders to targeted groups of participants to prompt them to contribute and save more with the TSP.

Starting the new year at a low point, nearly all Thrift Savings Plan funds were down in January compared to December.

Despite high returns for the TSP’s stock index funds last year, a majority of federal workers have most of their nest egg money in the G fund.

The decision to pull the plug depends on the job, your family situation, health, financial goals and, maybe, whether you’re a glass-half-full versus glass-half-empty type.

Some experts in retirement planning believe that many feds with memories of the Great Recession of 2008-2009 are working longer than they have to.

The TSP option is a nice but not absolutely essential thing to have for those under the more generous CSRS retirement program with its higher benefit and full protection from inflation.

Starting in the mid-1990s various experts looked at the aging federal workforce and concluded that the end, for many of them, was near.