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John Grobe, Federal Career Experts
The Thrift Savings Plan has made rapid and seamless changes over the past few years – until now! If you’re reading this article, there’s at least a 50/50 chance that you had a problem transitioning to the new system.
Maybe I got complacent because of successful transitions like the implementation of the Thrift Savings Plan Modernization Act (TSPMA) in 2019. And I didn’t have many issues with the transition – but I certainly did. heard those who have. I had no problem setting up the new “My Account” earlier this month. However, the May payment arrived two days later than expected by the TSP. We will see for the June payment which is supposed to arrive on June 15th. I am preparing this article on the 14th and I am not holding my breath. From now on, all scheduled payments must be made on the 15th of each month.
In a class I taught the first week of June, several participants told me that when they checked into their account after setting up the new My Account, they were told they had no beneficiary form. on file when they knew they had it.
When I teach classes like the one last week, I like to use the calculator feature of the TSP website to illustrate some contribution and withdrawal strategies. I went to the website’s search function and clicked on the appropriate link, only to be informed that the page was not found and I used the search function to find it. I tried again on June 14 and had the same results. You speak of a “disastrous loop”!
A friend and colleague told me about his long attempt to create his account and how it ultimately took three days and correspondence via USPS to resolve the issues. You could say that the TSP meets the definition of SNAFU.
Have you heard that the historical data you can retrieve online goes back to June 1, 2022? Yes, that’s right, less than a month. You are encouraged to call the “Thriftline” to access the materials by June 1, 2022. I wouldn’t want to be a Thriftline customer service representative for the next few months; I heard a lot of disgruntled attendees, some of whom were venting their frustration on me. How difficult would it have been to make more historical information available?
Clearly, the TSP did not maintain its usual high standards when implementing the new system. Some participants feel disappointed, others feel betrayed.
A notice posted on TSP.gov reads: ThriftLine High Call Volume
ThriftLine call volume is currently very high, which means wait times are longer than normal. If you need help with the new My Account, please read the list of Known issues to see if the information you need is here. You can also ask the virtual assistant, AVA, for answers to the most common questions. Thank you for your patience.
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