Current and retired federal employees have recently reported widespread problems accessing their retirement savings and account information through the federal retirement system known as the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). Congress asked GAO to examine these concerns and our work is now underway.
More than 6.2 million people save for retirement in the TSP, which manages approximately $709.6 billion in assets. The money in these accounts can frequently help retirees pay monthly bills, keep the lights on, and put food on the table. But active federal employees can also take short-term loans from their TSP savings for large expenses—such as a down payment on a house.
TSP launched a new online portal for account holders in June 2022, which caused a range of access issues and set off a wave of complaints. People who couldn’t access their money reported facing hours-long wait times to reach customer service. On March 1, TSP officials said many of the problems occurring over the summer have subsided. GAO is planning to wrap up our audit work early next year. In the meantime, TSP participants continue to report issues with the new TSP system. Today’s blog post looks at the concerns users have raised and our planned work to look into them.