TSP Open Season - No More?

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Open season ends Dec 31. One of our members forwarded me this info about the future of open seasons. They are trying to do away with them to allow to make changes any time. Yeah!....


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Subject: CONGRESS APPROVES BILL TO ELIMINATE TSP OPEN SEASONS

The Senate unanimously approved on Tuesday the Thrift Savings Plan Open Elections Act of 2004 - a bill to reform the federal Thrift Savings Plan to allow participants to make changes at any time to their retirement account.


The bill passed the House of Representatives by unanimous voice vote on Nov.19 and now heads to the president's desk to be signed into law.

The act permits participants to begin or stop contributing to the TSP or to alter their contribution levels at any time, with the change to take effect "on the earliest date after the change is made." Right now, participants can only start, end or adjust their contributions during two open seasons periods each year.

"Every day, federal employees across the nation and around the globe perform critical duties that keep this nation running smoothly," said Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), sponsor of the bill. "Away from work, they experience all of life's events - births or deaths in the family, new homes, new jobs, salary adjustments, and so on. With enactment of H.R. 4324, TSP participants can adapt their retirement savings to meet their changing circumstances."

The final version of the bill does not affect when agency matching contributions take effect. Employees must wait until the second open season following their start of federal service to receive matching contributions of up to 5 percent of salary, meaning some employees receive agency matching funds after seven months, and some have to wait nearly a year. Davis intends to introduce legislation next year to address this internal inequity.
 
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It sure would be nice if the military received matching contributions!
 
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Would be real nice if there was actually money in the G fund. It is an empty vault room. I.O.U.s are hard to cash at the local bank.

Morpheus
 
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MarketTimer wrote:
Would be real nice if there was actually money in the G fund. It is an empty vault room. I.O.U.s are hard to cash at the local bank.

Morpheus
Maybe that's why it took us sooo long to get that penny this time around???:D
 
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Our account balances are nothing more than numbers until we have the cash in-hand. :^:shock:
 
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Mike wrote:
Our account balances are nothing more than numbers until we have the cash in-hand. :^:shock:
You know that... I know that... butnot everyoneacts like itthough!:l
 
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Elimination of the TSP Open Seasons: July 1, 2005

Public Law 108-469, which was signed into law on December 21, 2004, eliminates the Thrift Savings Plan open seasons and the restrictions on contribution elections which are tied to open seasons. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board will implement this law on July 1, 2005. After the close of the current TSP open season (December 31, 2004), there will be one more open season, April 15 through June 30, 2005. This means that participants may file contribution elections with their agencies or uniformed services at any time beginning April 15. Through June 30, these elections will be processed under the current rules. Beginning July 1, contribution elections will be processed under the new rules - that is, the elections must be made effective no later than the first full pay period after they are filed.

Participants must continue to file contribution elections with their agencies or services, and the agencies and services must continue to implement the elections by deducting contributions from participants' pay and reporting these amounts to the Thrift Savings Plan each pay period.

The law does not affect the waiting period new employees covered by the Federal Employees' Retirement System must serve before they become eligible for agency contributions to their accounts. In addition, the law does not affect contribution allocations or interfund transfers, which can be made at any time by using this Web site or the ThriftLine or by submitting an Investment Allocation form to the TSP.

 
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