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Employee contributions
- FERS employees hired on or after October 1, 2020, are automatically enrolled in the TSP by their agency, and 5% of their basic salary is deducted from their paycheck each pay period and deposited into the traditional balance of their TSP account, unless the employee makes an election to stop or change the contribution.
- CSRS employees have their accounts established by their agency after they make a contribution election using their agency’s electronic payroll system or after completing an election form.
- Blended Retirement System (BRS) servicemembers are automatically enrolled in the TSP after 60 days of service, and 5% of their basic pay is deducted from their paycheck each pay period and deposited into the traditional balance of their TSP account, unless the servicemember makes an election to stop or change the contribution. BRS servicemembers who stopped their contributions during the year will automatically be renrolled at 5% on January 1.
- Non-BRS servicemembers have their accounts established by their service after they make a contribution election using their agency’s electronic payroll system or after completing an election form.
- FERS or CSRS employees rehired on or after October 1, 2020, are automatically enrolled in the TSP, and 5% of their basic salary is deducted from their paycheck each pay period and deposited into the traditional balance of their TSP account.
You may make traditional or Roth contributions to your TSP account. Generally, you may contribute between 1% and 100% of your basic pay to your thrift account each pay period, up to the IRS elective deferral limit for the year. In 2026, you can contribute up to $24,500. If you’re 50 or older, you can also make additional catch-up contributions ($8,000 if you’re age 50 to 59 or 64 and older or $11,250 if you turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 during the year). All contributions must be made through payroll deduction. Servicemembers may also elect to contribute 1 to 100% of any incentive pay, special pay, or bonus pay (even if you’re not currently receiving it), as long as you elect to contribute at least 1% from your basic pay.
If you make traditional contributions, these go into the TSP before tax withholding (pre-tax). This may reduce the income tax you pay on your earnings now. But when you take money out of your TSP in the future, you will pay taxes on both your contributions and earnings.
You may designate all or part of your elective deferrals as Roth contributions. Roth contributions are made on an after-tax basis, just like Roth IRA contributions. Unlike pre-tax contributions to the TSP, there’s no up-front tax benefit, but if certain conditions are met, your Roth contributions and earnings are entirely free from federal income tax when distributed from the plan. As of January 1, 2026, employees who are eligible to make catch-up contributions are required to make these as Roth contributions if they earned more than a certain amount in the prior year ($150,000 in 2026).
Separate accounts are established within the TSP (the “Roth accounts”) to track each employee’s Roth contributions and any gains or losses on those contributions. The taxation of distributions from the Roth account is also determined separately from any other plan dollars.
Note that as of January 28, 2026, TSP participants and spousal beneficiaries are able to make a Roth in-plan conversion by converting a portion of their traditional contributions to a Roth within their TSP account. Because this will have tax consequences, participants should consider consulting a tax professional before requesting a Roth in-plan conversion.
If you participate in another tax-deferred plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, your total elective deferrals to all of your plans cannot exceed the $24,500 limit (plus allowable catch-up contributions) in 2026. However, if you also participate in a Section 457(b) plan, your contributions to the TSP are not limited by any of your contributions to your section 457(b) plan.
Military personnel who receive tax-exempt pay (i.e., combat zone pay) can also contribute some or all of the tax-exempt pay to the TSP. Such contributions will also be tax exempt.
Military personnel cannot make catch-up contributions from tax-exempt pay, incentive pay, special pay, or bonus pay.
Government contributions
If you are covered under FERS or BRS, the government contributes an amount equal to 1% of the basic pay you earn each pay period to your thrift account whether you contribute a portion of your compensation to the plan or not. These contributions are referred to as Agency (or Service) Automatic contributions. You don’t have to contribute any money to your TSP to receive them, but they are subject to vesting.
If you are covered under FERS or are an eligible BRS participant, and elect to contribute a portion of your pay to the plan, you will also receive Agency (or Service) Matching Contributions. When you become eligible, your agency or service will match your contributions up to 5% of the basic pay that you contribute each pay period. The first 3% of basic pay you contribute is matched dollar-for-dollar, and the remaining 2% is matched 50 cents on the dollar. If you stop your contributions, the matching contributions will also stop.
If you are an employee covered under CSRS or are a non-BRS servicemember, the government generally doesn’t contribute anything to your plan.
Although you are always vested in contributions you make to the plan and Agency Matching Contributions (as well as any attributable earnings), most FERS and BRS employees are vested in Agency (or Service) Automatic Contributions only after a certain number of years. This means that if you leave federal service before you become vested, you won’t be entitled to receive any of the automatic contributions or their earnings in your account. However, if you die before becoming vested, all money in your TSP account will be automatically vested, and your designated beneficiary will be entitled to receive all funds in your account.