The nation's largest retirement plan is only getting larger.
The Thrift Savings Plan, Washington, the retirement system for 5.4 million federal employees and members of the uniformed services, saw its assets climb 8.9% year-over-year to $578.8 billion as of Sept. 30. That's up from $375.1 billion in 2013 and $210.6 billion in 2008.
Two recent pieces of legislation likely will ensure that growth continues.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, which was passed in 2015, created a Blended Retirement System within the TSP for all uniformed services members who enter service on Jan. 1, 2018, or later. As of Jan. 23, the BRS has more than 408,000 participants, according to Kim Weaver, director of external affairs.
Moreover, following the passage of the TSP Modernization Act in 2017, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which administers the TSP, will implement what Ms. Weaver called its "additional withdrawals project" in September.
The new withdrawal policies will give participants more options for how and when they can access money from their TSP accounts.
While the bill was being discussed, it was estimated that $9 billion is transferred out of the TSP every year into higher-fee accounts when employees leave the federal government. This legislation aims to stem that.