20% of TSP Participants Have a Loan Against Their Accounts

According to data recently released from the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board for August, approximately one in every five participants has a loan outstanding against his or her account. That amounts to a total of 891,341 people.

The average loan amount in August was $8,919, and the average across the previous five months ended in August is $8,855.
[TABLE="width: 600"]
[TR]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Total ($m)
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]$280,845
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]$287,691
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]$289,330
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]$290,455
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]$290,722
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Participants
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]4,498
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]4,493
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]4,486
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]4,477
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]4,468
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Loans Outstanding
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]891,341
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]884,181
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]878,441
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]873,269
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]868,321
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ratio
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]5.05
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]5.08
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]5.11
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]5.13
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]5.15
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Amount ($m)
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]7,950
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]7,851
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]7,774
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]7,701
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]7,648
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Average Loan Amount
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]$8,919
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]$8,879
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]$8,850
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]$8,819
[/TD]
[TD="align: right"]$8,808
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

From where do these loans originate? The TSP allows participants to borrow money from their accounts. Two types of loans are available: general purpose and residential. The former can be used for anything, requires no documentation, and has a repayment term of one to five years. The latter must be used only for the purchase or construction of a primary residence, requires documentation, and has a repayment term of one to fifteen years.

For more information about loans against your TSP account, see the TSP's web site.