I am writing regarding the Aug. 2, 2024, article titled "Thrift Savings Plan's rocky rollout of new system caused by mismanagement, GAO says."
The article painted an incomplete picture of the results of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board transition to a new record-keeping system in 2022 and failed to include any clarifying information provided by us to the Government Accountability Office which could have been found in the report. All the topics raised by GAO and highlighted in your article were known to the FRTIB and had been, or are being, addressed. Your article ignores the changes made over the past two years. As stated in our letter to GAO, the FRTIB will use GAO's report to inform our ever-evolving improvements to the Thrift Savings Plan.
Among the omitted facts and details are the following:
On June 1, 2022, more than 26 billion records and $743 billion for 6.56 million participants converted successfully. All record-keeping functions were operational and secure, including posting of payroll contributions, investment elections, fund reallocations, loans, disbursements and rollovers.
The transition to a new record keeper was of utmost importance to TSP participants to ensure their services were housed in a secure and adaptable system. These benefits have been achieved. Our new zero trust architecture makes optimization of security capabilities more cost-effective and flexible.
We have always viewed participant satisfaction as a barometer for other interactions with the TSP. As the record keeper has improved and matured its service, participant satisfaction has been at or above 92% for the past six months.
Some of the new services participants have gained are: the use of a concierge service for roll-ins; separated participants can continue to repay outstanding TSP loans; a retirement income calculator in the TSP My Account that minimizes the participant's need to enter TSP-related data; and a loan status tracker to allow the participant to follow processing in real time.
We appreciate P&I printing this letter as the reporter did not allow sufficient time for the FRTIB to respond to the request for comment, nor did the article include reference to our detailed response included in the GAO report.
Sincerely,
Ravindra Deo
Executive Director, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
