New active duty and reserve military members, and new federal civilian employees who are covered by the Blended Retirement System (BRS), will now automatically be enrolled in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) at five percent of their basic pay. This change will take effect Oct. 1, 2020.
“Most existing service members will not be impacted by this change. This change, while very positive for our people, only effects those who begin their employment with the federal government,” said John Byczek, the head of the Coast Guard’s Pay and Compensation Division at Coast Guard Headquaters. “This includes both our military service members as well as our civilian employees. However, all members have the ability to increase their TSP contribution if they want.”
Specifically, any military member who entered the service with a pay entry date (PEBD) on or after Oct. 1, 2020, or any member with a PEBD on or before Sept. 30, 2020, who was auto-enrolled in BRS and is not contributing to TSP as of Dec.31, 2020, will have their TSP contribution automatically increased to five percent of their basic pay, unless they have already reached the IRS contribution limit in that tax year. Also, any BRS member (opt-in or auto-enroll) who leaves service and re-enters in the future following a break in service will, upon return to service, will see the automatic five percent increase in their TSP contributions.
To read about the automatic enrollment regulations, please click here.
Resources:
Uniformed Services Blended Retirement System website