The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) released a bulletin about forms they will no longer accept.
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At the start of this month, the TSP sent out a release that announced several old forms for managing TSP accounts are officially obsolete. A total of 21 old documents are no longer effective. The main purpose of the announcement was that TSP informed participants that if they submit one of these obsolete forms, the plan’s administrators will neither process the document nor notify the sender. Starting this month, the obsolete forms will be practically ignored if submitted. Forms submitted correctly now I have a barcode that connects the document to the appropriate account, unlike the older generic versions, so it is fairly easy for TSP staff to recognize if a document is obsolete or not.
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The February 3rd memo also reminded TSP account owners to go online to TSP My Account and ensure all of the information there is accurate, especially your designated TSP beneficiary. Agencies should also get rid of any of the old forms they may have linked on their websites or paper copies they have in their offices.
What TSP Form Do I Need?
Of the 21 defunct forms, the requests can now be handled online for 19 of them. The remaining 2 were subsumed by either another form (TSP-U-16, spousal exemption requirements, is now a part of TSP-16) or another process. (TSP-92, retirement benefits court order package, is now the ‘RBCO Model Language’ package. More information on this can be found at tsp.gov.) There are still 7 TSP form still effective, 5 of which can be printed or downloaded from the retirement plan’s website. Only 2 paper forms are still mailed out to the TSP participant’s address. One of these is TSP-17, unidentified beneficiary affidavit, which used to be titled ‘information relating to a deceased participants.’ The other form still sent through snail mail is the TSP-82, fraud complaint, which is mailed out when “unauthorized activity is detected or alleged.”
19 forms are now obsolete. What requests were handled by these forms are now processed exclusively in the “TSP My Account” portal:
- TSP-3 (beneficiary designation)
- TSP-9 (change of address)
- TSP-13-C (spouse’s payment method for court ordered payment)
- TSP-15 (name change for separated participants)
- TSP-20 (loan applications)
- TSP-21 G (general loan agreements)
- TSP-21 R (residential loan agreements)
- TSP-21 R-CL (residential loan checklist)
- TSP-25* (auto-enrollment refund request)
- TSP-60 (request for transfer into traditional TSP account)
- TSP-60 R* (request for transfer into Roth TSP account)
- TSP-75* (age-based in-service withdraw)
- TSP-76 (financial hardship withdraw)
- TSP-81 (death benefit election for non-spouse beneficiary)
- TSP-91 (address change for court ordered payee)
- TSP-92 (retirement benefits specialist authorization form)
- TSP-92B (retirement benefits specialist authorization form)
- TSP-95 (installment payment change)
- TSP-99* (withdraw from separated and beneficiary accounts)
- *Under “extenuating circumstances,” paper forms may still be used for TSP-25, TSP-60 R, TSP-75, and TSP-99 by contacting Thriftline.
And the 5 forms that will still be accepted, but have to be printed or downloaded from the “TSP My Account” portal are:
- TSP-16, spousal consent exemption
- TSP-26, loan coupons
- TSP-44 (now the TSP-44 402(g), refund request form)
- TSP-65, request to combine accounts (for those with civilian and uniformed service)
- TSP-94, request to restore abandoned accounts
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Until Next Time,
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***The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a retirement savings and investment plan for Federal employees and members of the uniformed services, including the Ready Reserve. The TSP is a defined contribution plan, meaning that the retirement income you receive from your TSP account will depend on how much you (and your agency or service, if you're eligible to receive agency or service contributions) put into your account during your working years and the earnings accumulated over that time. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) administers the TSP.***
