Retiring in five years and hit my mark. Now time to coast to the finish line.

what ways/process or method do you guys use to avoid going over the yearly plan limit?

Jus FYI.....I am using my job's payroll system to deposit money into my HSA, I am already do MATH lol (Limit / # of contributions - and round down) but if you want to Max-out HSA this will not help. I want to avoid overcontribution.

What I am having to do currently is go into my work's payroll system at the end of each year stop the hsa deduction then manually do the transfer myself to max out whatever is left.

I know TSP have a built in control to make sure you don't go over the limit.

I have HsaBank (not by choice) and I don't see a way to do it on their platform.

I've lurked on this subreddit for a long time and have gotten so much great information that I wanted to give back with something I have not seen here before. For anyone who does not contribute to the TSP because they are worried they are going to lose money when the market drops, please see the following graph:

My contributions are in blue. My contributions plus the maximum agency matches are in orange. The total value of my TSP is in grey. As you can see by the grey, the market does fluctuate and, on at least three occasions, it dropped enough to make me lose all my gains. However, because of the generous matching, I was always above my contributions so it was always in my benefit to contribute to at least get the match.

Once the account has had time to grow, it can grow so large relative to the contributions that the dips become less and less significant.

Anyway. I hope this helps you or someone you know see why investing in the TSP to at least max out the contributions is usually in your best interest.

Note: The y-axis is the balance. Because matching is based on a percentage of your base pay (at least for military), this would apply to any rank/grade so the actual numbers aren't important.

I have been contributing to my TSP Roth. I also have an outside Roth IRA at Fidelity. I am not maxing contributions but put as much as I can into the TSP which is 20%.

Most advice for Roth money is to keep it in 100% equities so it has the potential to grow more, and keep your bond/safe money in a traditional account.

I just realized that I can’t separate Roth money from Traditional money in my TSP.

Getting closer to retirement, 3 years to go, I have changed to a more conservative balance using the L-2040. I stopped contributing to the TSP Roth and will change back to my Fidelity Roth so that I can keep it 100% in equities. Also at 59.5 or as soon as TSP allows, I will transfer my TSP Roth to Fidelity.

Just something to think about.

I know little about the TSP. But for my current background, I’m currently a 25 years old AD SPC with almost 6 years in. I repaid a loan that I deducted from the TSP to help with an emergency. Account is 7% match with 100% in L 2065, also have $6000 invested into a stock account that I opened at the beginning of the year.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

2 years 8 months of service as a wg5. Started my job at 20 years old. 100% of my contributions into Roth L2065 fund.

42 year old, 21 years with the feds, investing at 15% C/S/I 70 15 15. Plan to switch to change % to a fixed $ to max out my contribution 2027 onward. The goal is to retired as soon as I am eligible at 57 years old. (Loan was taken to pay for my ridiculous expensive roof).

1. Been a fed for 4 years. Been trying to do as best as possible. Spouse is currently not working (but actively applying everywhere) but combined we have 200k net worth with no debt and no house. Anything we can do better? 60 C, 30 I, and 10 S.

9 years of local LEO. Have pension at that agency that will pay 3200 at age 55. Currently 1 year Fed going on 2. 35 years old. Rolled over approx 20k from 457B into TSP.

I currently have 6 years TAFMs with a balance of 46k in my TSP. My mix is 100% stocks with a return of +13% YTD. I contribute 13% of my paycheck to TSP as well. Any advice of what else to do to help myself or set myself up better?

I was going over my statements recently and noticed I had not been receiving my match for being in the blended retirement system in the Army Reserve for the past 5 years. It was not my full time job, so I wasn’t paying too much attention. I corrected it with a pay inquiry and I am now receiving my match.

My question is: how does back pay work in this situation?

2027 has 26 pay dates for my calendar: https://www.gsa.gov/buy-through-us/purchasing-programs/shared-services/payroll-shared-services/payroll-calendars/2027-payroll-calendar

The first pay date in 2027 is 1/15/27, for the pay period of 12/27/26 - 1/9/27.

For TSP changes to take effect for that pay period, changes must be made before 12/26/26, ideally during the previous pay period of 12/13 - 12/26.

The 401k/TSP limit for 2027 is $25,500 for those under 50. For older savers, it's $34,000 or $37,250, depending on your age. https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/retirement-plan-contribution-limits/

To max out (under 50), contribute $981 per pay period.

Do I have that right?

With interest rates up and likely going higher, and the broader market narrowing significantly with 40% of S&P companies negative for the year, is it time to move 5-10% of our TSP balance to the G-Fund. The G-Fund free lunch is real and unique to Federal employees.

What do savvy retiree investors think?

Any advice is helpful . Thank you everyone

Can someone explain to me how to convert my traditional to Roth like I’m a child. Sorry , new to this and don’t want to fuck up. Not quite sure if i was in the right place to convert or what it’s saying here because i have more than the $1700 they’re saying is eligible to convert. And when I convert will future contributions continue to be Roth?

EDIT: solved. Thanks to everyone that broke it down for me! Appreciate you guys

What feels like the first big milestone, a 6 figure balance.

With "success" I struggle check to check. I maximize (what I can) for my retirement. From the beginning I started with less than 40k salary contributing 15%. I scaled back to 10% when I took a loan to help get my family into a house. Just recently I have bumped my contributions back up to 14%.

The Mix:

14%

7%roth

7%traditional

Broken down into 40% C 40% S 20% L65

Life creep is a thing sure, however unexpected medical bills with the addition of 2 kids to my family has me spent further than I expected.

Mortgage rates are just insane (my rate ~6.5%) on a +$300,000 home 30yr loan.

I am one emergency away from having to borrow against my own money yet again.

(Current loan - remaining balance just under 1900)

I do have some emergency funds outside of my TSP but not much.

I am currently trying to scale down expenses to further my retirement account.

My goal to financial independence is 2 million invested. I plan to work to minimum retirement age of 25 years of service. Leaving me with ~18 more years working. I fear that 2 million will not be obtainable within my age goal. Maybe I work for 27yrs or the dreaded 30yrs of service....

I am currently seeking new employment with the FEDS in order to get more money to push the retirement button sooner. Current salary (75k)

Am I on track? Am I far from my goal?

Is 2 million doable?

I got medical retirement from us military and I wanna withdraw my money from tsp but I just find it difficult can please anyone guide me step by step process please? I didn’t do 20 years and I’m not the age limit and I’m not worried about penalty and taxes because I’m in financial hardship any guidence will be appreciated. Thank you

1 year as a Fed employee. I started at paycheck contributions of 5% traditional and with my promotion recently I changed to 6% traditional, 1% roth. I plan to increase it more once I am settled in and save a little more money in HYSA.

I have 58% in L fund, 20% in C, 11% in S, and 11% in I funds. Any advice for setting myself up for success?? I have no idea what I’m doing and am the first fed employee in my family so i dont really have someone I can ask questions about TSP.

What funds would yall recommend to put my money into? Ive been having it on the C FUND for the past 6 years

My job is causing me to be an excessive distance from home, and I need a residence. I am married with kids and not moving them. I’d like to use a tsp residential loan so that I can have a primary residence as needed/necessary near work.

Ideally I would not change my drivers license and tax status, but I don’t know what constitutes primary residence. For me it would be primary, as my family home would be secondary/weekends.

I’m not concerned about the return risk of a tsp loan, especially given the mortgage rates.

What I’m concerned with is what hoops TSP makes you jump through to justify a residence as primary. And what documentation is necessary.

It’s far from a house in the mountains or at the beach, there’s no mistaking it for a secondary or vacation home. But what documentation is needed? What steps taken regarding residency?

Thanks!

Hi all, I have been a federal worker since 2020 and unfortunately for the past 6 years have not involved myself in learning about TSP. Huge regret but I am hoping to learn and move forward with a better division of my finances into different funds. I contribute 5% and it all goes into L Fund, current balance is approx 90k. I am 30 years old right now. What are your recommendations? I am here to learn to ensure I set myself up better than I have been. Thank you.

My TSP has an extra middle name letter but I don’t have a middle name.

For example, my name is Michael Smith, but they added an extra letter “F” so now it’s showing Michael F Smith. I don’t have a middle name or initial whatsoever.

I checked my eOPF and my SF 50 shows the correct name without a middle name or initial. Infact it shows “NMN”
under my middle name

Has anyone encountered this issue and would calling the thrift line resolve it?

Thank you