Developed and instituted in 1987 during the Reagan administration under the guidance of Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush, the Thrift Savings Plan is much like a 401(k) account for federal employees. You can read all about it under the Federal Government’s Personnel Department web pages at – http://www.tsp.gov/
Since that time, the TSP has grown and is recorded as one of the real trust funds that the federal government manages. As of the close of fiscal 2004, these trust were as follows:
Not all federal employees are allowed to participate in this plan. Postal workers and others are excluded.
Policies change, but the last time I looked at it the following was in affect.
Participants are allowed to invest up to ten percent of their salaries with the first four points matched by taxpayer dollars and they are allowed to choose between investment options. Originally, there were four options including the stock market and Treasury securities, but today there are at least six options and possibly more. Participants are also allowed to shift their options and investments almost at will.
Investment in the stock market is managed by Barclay Bank of
At least until fiscal 2003, the TSP accounting was overseen by the Arthur Anderson accounting firm of Enron and corporate corruption fame.