What's New

Press Release

OPERATIONS BEGIN UNDER NEW THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN RECORD KEEPING SYSTEM

     Washington, D.C. (June 16, 2003) — The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board announced that its new daily valued Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) record keeping system went into production at noon today.  Account histories for more than 3 million TSP participants have been migrated to the new database, while new contributions and loan payments made via payroll deduction since the beginning of June have been accepted, invested, and recorded in the new system.  Other functions such as interfund transfers and the disbursements of loans and withdrawals will now be performed in the new environment.

     The transition to the new record keeping system was the main topic at the regular monthly meeting of the Board members today, and was viewed by Chairman Andrew Saul and Executive Director Gary Amelio as both the achievement of a long-sought goal and the beginning of a new era of improved participant service.  Saul congratulated the project management team led by the Board’s Director of Automated Systems Larry Stiffler, as well as the contractor team led by Materials, Communication & Computers, Inc. (MATCOM) of Alexandria, Virginia.  According to Saul, “When I and the other new Board members arrived last November, we and the remaining veteran Board members carefully reviewed the situation and concluded that the staff and contractor teams were capable of completing the task.  Today we have learned that our confidence was well placed.”

     Amelio, who just this month began his service as Executive Director following a long career in the private sector, noted that the new system compares very favorably to what private sector plans offer to their participants.  “The daily valuation, timely processing of interfund transfers, loans, and withdrawals, and efficient Web-based functionalities available in this system rank with the best of what other plans have to offer,” Amelio stated.  “When combined with the historically low TSP administrative expenses, those who voluntarily participate in the Plan will get the best of both worlds.”

     Civilian employees in all three branches of government as well as members of the uniformed services are eligible to participate in the Plan.  As of May 31, 2003, balances on account in the five TSP investment funds available to the 3.1 million Plan participants totaled $112 billion.

     For the vast majority of employees, the new system simply means that the next time they want to request loans, or initiate interfund transfers or withdrawals, they will have additional options and use new forms or Web-based application processes.  Requests will be processed each business day rather than once each month as has occurred in the past.  Additional details about the new system benefits will be mailed to every Plan participant in June along with a close-out statement from the old system.

     One group of participants — those who have requested loans or withdrawals since June 1 — will need to renew their applications using the new methods.  The Board continued to accept the old forms so that pending requests could have been processed in the old system for payment in July if the decision to complete the transition to the new system had not been made for June.  In notices being mailed to each affected individual, the Board apologized for the inconvenience, which was necessary because of additional data and processing requirements.

     Stiffler noted that by making use of the Web-based application processes and the new capability for participants to receive payments via electronic funds transfer, those who promptly renew their requests may still receive their payments sooner than they would have received them under the old system.  Loan and withdrawal requests approved by the end of the month were previously always paid via paper check and normally received by the middle of the following month.

     Those who wish to renew their requests promptly need not wait to receive their notices in the mail.  They may instead go to the TSP Web site at www.tsp.gov for information on how to act now and file their loan or withdrawal requests using the new processes.

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