For people worried about their TSP accounts being hacked, no news is good news. If you didn't get a letter, it means you are one of the 97 percent whose data is safe. For more facts about the hack job, check out Senior Correspondent Mike Causey's column.
It's been nearly three weeks since the Thrift Savings Plan board announced a data breach of 123,000 Thrift Savings Plan, and since then, the board has been fielding questions from participants, Congress and the media. TSP's executive director answered some of the most frequently asked questions about the breach.
The cover up, as they say, is almost always worse than the crime itself. The rule of thumb, from the Watergate era, is follow the money, although people rarely do that. Following the money can be tricky. Also complicated. Especially in the computer age with multi- national players, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
Eight of the 10 Thrift Savings Plans posted negative numbers for the month of May, with the two funds posting positive numbers sliding slightly as well.
In July 2011, a computer owned by TSP contractor Serco was accessed by an unauthorized party. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board was notified of the attack by the FBI in April of this year.
One senator is questioning why it took nine months for the Thrift Savings Plan board to find out about a sophisticated cyber attack that compromised 123,000 TSP participants' accounts. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also wants to know why Congress wasn't informed of the breach until more than a month after it was reported to the board.
Host Mike Causey will talk retirement, the TSP, and more with attorney Tom O'Rourke and Federal Times senior writer Stephen Losey. May 30, 2012
Is it the crime or the coverup that counts most? In the case of the TSP hacking case should the focus be on finding out who done it, or should we go after who it was done to — as in who let it happen? Was it a coverup and who knew what when ...
Did you ever wonder why people in nudist camps play volleyball instead of poking sticks into bee hives? Think about it ... and then apply that logic to the recent identify theft attack on your Thrift Savings Plan account data.
A sophisticated cyber attack against the Thrift Savings Plan contractor responsible for maintaining the agency's data centers compromised the information of 123,000 TSP participants. However, there is no indication the data has been misused, according to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. There is also no indication that the TSP's network or its website were affected.
Six of the eight Thrift Savings Plans funds are down over the last month. The I and S funds have taken the biggest hits. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board said the rollout of the Roth TSP option has been slow, but should pick up in the next few weeks.
Joan Melanson from Long Term Care Partners and retirement benefits specialist James Marshall will talk about the retirement and insurance options that feds should consider. May 18, 2012
Do you know the difference between a Roth IRA and the Roth TSP option? Because if you don't, it could cost you thousands of dollars in taxes and in future income when you retire, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) introduced legislation Monday that would automatically increase new federal employees' contribution rate to their federal 401(k) style Thrift Savings Plan. the "Save More Tomorrow Act," would automatically escalate the contribution annually by 1 percent for the two years following enrollment. That gradually raises the contribution rate to 5 percent, making employees eligible for matching contributions from their agencies.
The Thrift Savings Plan's Roth option rolls out today. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board has been preparing for the new program for two years now, but despite the big push today many federal employees will actually have to wait to enroll in the new program. One of the largest federal payroll processors needs more time to upgrade its systems in preparation for the Roth option. Find information about which agencies are affected, as well as the five things feds should know about the Roth TSP below.