Agency contributions to the TSP account is one of the main differences between CSRS and FERS, what can you tell us about those contributions?

Agency contributions to the TSP account is one of the main differences between CSRS and FERS, what can you tell us about those contributions?

"As a FERS employee, you would automatically receive an agency contribution to your account each pay period of an amount equal to one percent of the basic pay you earn for the pay period. This is what we have so cleverly named the 'agency automatic contribution.' This money would not come out of your pay but rather from you agency's appropriated funds. Short of going on leave without pay, there would be nothing you could do to stop these agency automatic contributions.

"Also, as a FERS employee, you could contribute up to 10 percent of the basic pay you earn each pay period to your TSP account. If you contribute your own money, your agency will make matching contributions to your account. By law, your agency must match the first five percent that you contribute to your account each pay period. The first 3 percent is matched dollar for dollar and the next two percent is matched 50 cents per dollar. Consequently, if you contribute five or more percent to your account each pay period, you will receive the maximum agency matching contributions of an amount equal to four percent of the basic pay you earn for the pay period."

-Thrift Savings Plan Liason Specialist Patty Muller

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