Tracy Wayne Mitchell: Federal Employees Maximize Retirement Funds by Contributing to Thrift Savings Plan

1. Tracy Wayne Mitchell: Federal
Employees Maximize Retirement
Funds by Contributing to Thrift
Savings Plan

2. The President of Federal Employee Benefit
Advisors in Springfield, Missouri, Tracy
Wayne Mitchell provides clients with expert
guidance in maximizing their retirement
dollars. Tracy Wayne Mitchell recently
published The Informed Fed: A Survival
Guide to Federal Employee Benefits.

3. The federal government allows its employees
to participate in a wide range of retirement
savings programs. One such program, the
thrift savings plan, known as a TSP, offers
many of the same advantages as a 401(k),
but with the added benefit of an annual
annuity option. The annuity schedule
provides monthly payments that can be used
to maintain an enrollee’s lifestyle after
retirement or can be invested to generate
greater returns on those savings.

4. The federal government deposits one percent
of each paycheck into every employee’s TSP
even if the workers choose not to contribute
to the program themselves. Employees who
elect to deposit an additional three percent of
their paychecks into their TSP garner dollar-
for-dollar matching funds from the
government; in addition, the government
matches 50 percent of contributions up to an
additional two percent of each paycheck. As
such, federal employees who contribute five
percent of each paycheck to their TSP more
than double their contributions; those funds
grow exponentially over time.