What YOU can do to fight back - IFT limit

[Show-me]

http://www.governmentexecutive.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=38858&dcn=todaysnews

TSP officials hear from participants on interfund restrictions
By Brittany R. Ballenstedt bballenstedt@govexec.com December 17, 2007

Thrift Savings Plan officials said Monday they were receiving both positive and negative feedback on a new proposal to limit the number of interfund transfers that participants can conduct each month.
Officials overseeing the 401(k)-style plan said so far the TSP has received two letters in favor of and 10 letters opposed to interfund transfer restrictions. They pointed specifically to a letter sent Nov. 27 by one participant, who opposed the plan's taking away the rights of participants to "protect their investments."
"Please let me control my money," the TSP member wrote. "If cost is an issue, charge participants when they move their money from one investment vehicle to another."

My response in the comments section. I'm feeling like a fight tonight.

Goes to show you how oblivious most TSP participants are to the changes the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) are trying to impose. TSP participants do not have any input because they do not even know who the Employee Thrift Advisory Council (ETAC) members are or how to contact them. How about a web site with a contact list ETAC. What a great way to make TSP changes without the participants knowing they are happening. How about doing a marketing campaign similar to when the L Funds were rolled out before the Board makes any changes to TSP policy or procedures. Maybe they don’t want everyone to know. How much is the daily rebalancing of the L Funds costing participants? Don’t tell me nothing, I know better.

 

[tsptalk]

The problem is, their arguments seem so reasonable to those who don't care about, or don't follow their TSP account. ["We are trying to save the TSP money so your returns are higher" (as long as the traders' returns aren't higher).]
It's tough to argue that point with Joe Sixpack who sees us as people scarfing up their money. We know it's not about that.

If you look at the Ebbchart system, probably the most active account we track, it has more than tripled the return of every L-fund in 2007. How can they take that away from someone willing to do the work?

 

[James48843]

Tracy Ray did another interview with Federal Radio last week:
http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?sid=1308389&nid=250

 

[Show-me]

anidoc,
BINGO! FERS will fail if people do not get active in their retirement planning with TSP. How nice that the politicians get a nice 1.7% per service year for themselves and other high stess jobs that do deserve it, but the rest of use get 1% for our FERS retirement.

Baby boomer will be the test subjects.

 

[oreo]

I don't know how good this site is, but I thought it was interesting and might help people to contact their representatives. It seems to do a lot of the legwork for you.

http://committeecaller.com/

CommitteeCaller.com is a site that allows one person to target an entire congressional committee over the phone. The web application utilizes the open source Asterisk PBX system to connect you to every senator or house member on a particular committee. No more digging around the 'net entering zip-codes to retrieve phone numbers of representatives -- CommitteeCaller.com automates the tedium of repetitively dialing your favorite politicians.

Select a committee, enter in your phone number and click "Put me in touch with democracy!" and you'll be called by our system and sequentially patched through to the front office of each member on that committee. You can even rate how each call went -- information that will enable us to rank representatives on how accountable and responsive they are to their constituents.

For more information about how Committee Caller works, click here.

To begin, follow these steps:

1. <LI $included="null">Select the committee you wish to target on the left. <LI $included="null">Enter your phone number below. <LI $included="null">Press 'Put me in touch with democracy!' <LI $included="null">Wait for Committee Caller's automated voice application to call you. <LI $included="null">Pick up the phone and wait for Committee Caller to ask you to press 1 to begin calling.
2. Stay on after each representative hangs up to rate each call and move on to the next member of the committee.

Once connected Committee Caller will tell you which representive you are calling, who their legislative director or chief of staff is, and what district they represent. At any point you can use the * to hang up the call and move on to the next one. After each call you will have the opportunity to rate how your call went.

 

[Aspiration]

I've sent my e-mails now. The basic format was:

"Dear Mr. Long,

I am writing to express my strong opposition to the FRTIB's decision to begin a push to impose IFT transfer limits on TSP participants. Please leave the program (and its respective IFT transfer limitations) as it is.

Respectfully,"

Hopefully they will take the hint. This is very annoying that they are crippling our ability to manage our own risk since they have no problem using our TSP money to pay for L fund rebalancing and advice!

 

[Aspiration]

And thanks to Show-me, James, and TSP Talk for their efforts to respond to this problem and educate others about it!

Asp

 

[jayhawker]

The quote of the day at govexec.com:

"Please let me control my money."

A Thrift Savings Plan participant, pleading with the TSP Board not to place restrictions on interfund transfers.

 

[tsptalk]

Someone emailed me this to share...

If you are againts the new proposed TSP Interfund transfer limitations, you might consider sending a message to ETAC members expressing your concerns. ETAC is meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) so time is of the essence. The message might be something like the one suggested below the "Suggested Message Body", below. A list of email addresses of the ETAC members are also provided below. You could send one message to the list, or send separate messages to each member.

Email addresses (highlight and copy into the address field of your message)
napshq@naps.org; nteu-pr@nteu.org; JSauber@NALC.org; mreid@apwu.org; nattreas@narfe.org; comments@afge.org; cmapa@postmasters.org; DarrylFMA@cox.net; napusinfo@napus.org; RLStrombotne@ieee.org; RBrown@NFFE.org; roydes@sbcglobal.net


[SIZE=+0]Suggested Message body
----------------------------------------------------
Re: Meeting of the ETAC (Employee Thrift Advisory Board)

Please DO NOT vote for the interfund transfer limitations in the TSP. We need the flexibility. Thank you for your support.

(Your name)
TSP participant

[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=+0]​

[/SIZE]

 

[wv-girl]

Done...thanks for sharing.

 

[James48843]

"Additionally, Legislative Director Thomas Trabucco said TSP officials are scheduled to meet with Senate and House committee staff Monday afternoon to discuss potential legislation that would allow automatic employee enrollment and change the default fund for indecisive investors.
Trabucco noted that committee staffers are particularly concerned with the automatic enrollment proposal, largely because of its associated cost implications. While the Congressional Budget Office has not submitted an official estimate, Trabucco said an unofficial accounting indicates the proposal could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, largely because more federal employees would be deferring some of their salary from their taxable income.

Call for information and help:

Can anyone help identify who are the staffers he talks about? Which Seante and House staffers deal with this issue? Which EXACT committe is Trabucco meeeting with? If we know the right committee, we may be able to track down the names of the right staffers.

Thanks for anyone who can help answer that question.

 

[James48843]

And another call for information.

All you amatuer slueths out there, here is a chance to use your detective skills.

There are five members of the Thrift Board listed. What we need is axact contact information, e-mail, fax, and phone, for these people (for a future use).

If you can find any of them, we're looking for work, not home, data.

Here are the Thrift Board members:

Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board​

Board Members​

Andrew M. Saul, [FONT=Adobe Garamond Pro,Adobe Garamond Pro]of New York (Chairman). Since 1986, Mr. Saul has been a General Partner in Saul Partners, L.P., New York City. In addition, he served as Chairman of the board for Caché, Inc., from 1993 to 2000. Previously, he was an Executive Vice President, 1968-80, and then President, 1980-85, for Brooks Fashion Stores, Inc. From 1985-86, he was President of BR Investors. Mr. Saul is a trustee for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sarah Neuman Nursing Home, Westchester, New York, and the United Jewish Appeal Federation, New York City. He is also Commissioner, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City, and is on the Board of Overseers for Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Saul received his B.S. (1968) from Wharton School of Finance. He was born in New York City in 1946, and currently resides in the New York area with his wife, Denise. They have two daughters.[/FONT]
[FONT=Adobe Garamond Pro,Adobe Garamond Pro][/FONT]
[FONT=Adobe Garamond Pro,Adobe Garamond Pro][/FONT]THOMAS A. FINK, [FONT=Adobe Garamond Pro,Adobe Garamond Pro]of Alaska. Mr. Fink has been semi-retired since mid-1994 after having served six years as Mayor of Anchorage. He has primarily been a life insurance salesman since 1958. Mr. Fink also spent eight years in the State Legislature, including two as speaker. He was born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1928 and has a B.S. from Bradley University (1950), a J.D. from the University of Illinois Law School (1952), and a CLU from the American College of Life Underwriters (1963). He wrote a weekly column on issues of the day in a local paper between 1975 and 2001. Mr. Fink has lived in Anchorage with his wife, Pat, since 1952. They have 11 grown children.[/FONT]
[FONT=Adobe Garamond Pro,Adobe Garamond Pro][/FONT]
[FONT=Adobe Garamond Pro,Adobe Garamond Pro][/FONT]Gordon J. WhitinG, [FONT=Adobe Garamond Pro,Adobe Garamond Pro]of New York. Mr. Whiting is a Managing Director of Angelo, Gordon & Co., a leading investment management firm specializing in non-traditional assets, which he joined in 2004. Previously, he was an Executive Director of W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC), which he joined in 1993. He was also the President of Corporate Associates 14, Incorporated, one of it's publicly-held, non-traded real estate investment trusts that invest in commercial and industrial properties. Prior to that Mr. Whiting founded an import/export company based in Hong Kong. Mr. Whiting serves on the Cornell University Council and the Board of United Neighbors of East Midtown, Inc., is the Treasurer of the Camp Fire Conservation Fund, Inc., and is an Eagle Scout. He received a B.S. in Business Management and Marketing from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from the Columbia University with a concentration in Finance. He was born in Bronxville, New York, in 1965, and currently resides in Manhattan with his wife, Cornelia.[/FONT]
[FONT=Adobe Garamond Pro,Adobe Garamond Pro][/FONT]
[FONT=Adobe Garamond Pro,Adobe Garamond Pro][/FONT]AlejandroM. Sanchez, [FONT=Adobe Garamond Pro,Adobe Garamond Pro]of Florida. Mr. Sanchez is the Chief Executive Officer of the Florida Bankers Association (FBA). He serves as one of the fiduciaries for the FBA pension plan. He has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations in Florida. He currently serves on the Board of Florida Tax Watch, and is a member of the Florida Bar. He served almost five years in the United States Air Force from 1976-81. Mr. Sanchez graduated from Troy State University (B.S., 1981) and the University of Iowa (J.D., 1983). Mr. Sanchez practiced law with the law firm of Sinclair Louis in Miami from 1984-1986, served as Inspector General and General Counsel for the Florida Department of Commerce from 1987-1988, and was Senior Corporate Counsel for GTE Information Services in Tampa from 1989-1993. He joined the FBA in 1993 and was named CEO in 1998. He was born in Havana, Cuba, on January 12, 1958, and currently resides in Florida with his wife, Mercedes, and their two children.[/FONT]
[FONT=Adobe Garamond Pro,Adobe Garamond Pro][/FONT]
[FONT=Adobe Garamond Pro,Adobe Garamond Pro][/FONT]TERRENCEA. DUFFY, [FONT=Adobe Garamond Pro,Adobe Garamond Pro]of Illinois. Mr. Duffy was elected Chairman of the Board of Chicago Mercantile Holdings Inc. (CME Holdings) and Chairman of the Board of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (CME) in April 2002. He was Vice Chairman of the Board of CME Holdings, Inc. from its formation in August 2001 and of the Board of CME from 1998 to April 2002. He has been President of TDA Trading, Inc. since 1981. He has been a CME member since 1981 and a Board member since 1995. As the company’s Vice Chairman, Duffy served on the executive, compensation, nominating, strategic planning, and regulatory oversight committees. In 2002, he was appointed by President Bush to serve on a National Saver Summit on Retirement Savings. In 2004, Mr. Duffy was appointed to the Board of Directors of World Business Chicago, the Board of Regents for Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, and the Advisory Council for the Graham School of Management of Saint Xavier University. He is also a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Executives’ Club of Chicago, and the Chicago Committee of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Duffy attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, studying business administration. He was recognized as one of the top 100 Irish Business Leaders by Irish America Magazine in 2003 and 2004. A Chicago native, Mr. Duffy and his wife have two children.[/FONT]
[FONT=Adobe Garamond Pro,Adobe Garamond Pro][/FONT]
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[FundSurfer]

https://www.floridabankers.com/StaticPages/Contact_FBA.aspx

Sanchez contact info

 

[James48843]

Ooo. Your good.

Thank you.

 

[RAE]

Call for information and help:

Can anyone help identify who are the staffers he talks about? Which Seante and House staffers deal with this issue? Which EXACT committe is Trabucco meeeting with? If we know the right committee, we may be able to track down the names of the right staffers.

Thanks for anyone who can help answer that question.

Senator Carl Levin is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Govt. Affairs - here is their website

http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Subcommittees.Home&SubcommitteeID=11&Initials=PSI

I've written to Levin once already about this, and he never replied (and he is my senator, I live in Michigan).

 

[RAE]

I had written to FRTIB Exec. Director Greg Long about 3 weeks ago, and just received a reply from him yesterday. Basically, it's nothing we haven't heard already. He says that trading costs are seperate from administrative expenses, and that trading costs are rising because of frequent trading by a small number of TSP members, and that they have to do something about it. He seemed unwilling to acknowledge any of the points I raised in my letter. About the only thing he did acknowledge was that the Code of Fed. Regulations does currently allow unlimited IFT's, that that they would have to go through the formal process to change that (post a notice to the fed. register, accept comments, respond to the comments, etc.). So, we need to watch closely for when they do this, AND FLOOD THEM WITH COMMENTS OPPOSING THIS CHANGE.

I also received a brief e-mail reply yesterday from Jim Sauber of the ETAC, saying that he would raise my concerns in the meeting with FRTIB tomorrow.

 

[Show-me]

What I find interesting is that I have not heard from either of my elected representatives.

 

[Miss_Piggy]

Call for information and help:

Can anyone help identify who are the staffers he talks about? Which Seante and House staffers deal with this issue? Which EXACT committe is Trabucco meeeting with? If we know the right committee, we may be able to track down the names of the right staffers.

Thanks for anyone who can help answer that question.

Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security (FMBIS). List of Members:
http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Subcommittees.Home&SubcommitteeID=9&Initials=FMBIS

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. List of Members:
http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=About.Membership

Last Hearings were in ’03 and ’04 re FRTIB/TSP
http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Search.Home&searchtext=FRTIB&x=19&y=7

This is very interesting – the 7/04 Investigative Letter from Senator Collins into Review of the Contract Between AMS and FRTIB http://hsgac.senate.gov/_files/040707frtib.pdf


The only thing I’m not clear on is that in ‘03 and ‘04 The Committee on Government Affairs, Chaired by Senator Collins handled the investigations into the FRTIB. It seems however that the issues of FRTIB fall under the Subcommittee’s purview. I say go to the top first, the Committee on Government Affairs, Lieberman and Collins since Senator Collins handled the investigations in '04.

 

[Miss_Piggy]

PS I'll look for the contact info, teles, fax, addresses if you decide who and/or these are the congressmen you want to contact.

 

[Show-me]

anidoc,

I have bookmarked your excellent find for future reference and YES this is a big deal. I plan to contact ETAC about this but want to wait and fight one battle at a time. I feel we control the battle field at this point and I do not want to spread our limited resourses, James, to thin.

Right now we need to STOP the FRTIB from plowing through these Interfund Transfer (IT) restrictions.

We need to get the word out about www.tspshareholder.org to all of our TSP friends. I hate to be a "pump monkey", but this is the first and only TSP advocate we have right now. ETAC has been in the shadows since before 1987 and we are making advances in getting them public.

This is from the GAO report on the FRTIB audit. I know I've already posted it, but I really think this is an important point that we have not stressed enough. It might not hurt our cause to include it in our letters. We're simply doing on our own what the L funds were developed to do, and we're doing it better.

“In 2005, FRTIB introduced Lifecycle funds without an amendment to FERSA because it determined that the Lifecycle funds are combinations of the five existing funds tailored to different time horizons for withdrawal. FRTIB developed these funds partly based on its analysis of inefficient participant behavior whereby participants were not periodically shifting, or rebalancing, their investment portfolio or diversifying their balances among the five funds, which the Lifecycle funds would do automatically for the participant."