Officials at the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program apologized again for the struggles some participants have had accessing and using the Thrift Savings Plan’s new web-based services, following the transition to a new recordkeeper, and promised additional help was on the way.
The Thrift Savings Plan launched a number of new services with the transition from a self-managed recordkeeping system to a commercial vendor on June 1, including a more secure login process, a mobile app, the ability to sign documents electronically and make account changes using online forms, and access to more than 5,000 mutual funds. But many participants had difficulty setting up new online TSP accounts, and struggled to use the new features once they could log in.
Tee Ramos, director of participant services for the TSP, told members of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which administers the retirement savings program, at its monthly meeting Tuesday that many of the problems related to the launch came down to another outside vendor, which operates the TSP’s customer service call center known as the Thrift Line, significantly underestimating demand.