The federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is continuing to grow. The TSP is a significant part of the future retirement income for federal retirees and many investors receive a government “match” that provides “free money” to future retirees so the program is very popular.
At the end of April, the TSP had almost $591 billion in the plan with over 5.6 million participants.
Average TSP Balances
Here is a breakdown of most TSP participants and their average TSP balance:
| Number of Participants | Avg. Balance | Avg. Roth Balance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| FERS | 3,417,433 | $145,233 | $13,941 |
| CSRS | 309,151 | $153,391 | $21,379 |
| Uniformed Services | 1,339,631 | $27,327 | $9,342 |
How TSP Investors Allocate Their Money
TSP investors have most of their money in the G Fund. This fund is often considered to be the safest fund because it has never lost money, although the rate of return is often higher in the stock funds.
The C Fund (which is based on the S&P 500 index of stocks) has the second highest number of dollars invested. The F Fund is the least popular fund among investors.
Here is how TSP investors have allocated their money in the TSP as of the end of April 2019:
| Fund | Dollars in Billions | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| G Fund | $187 | 31.6% |
| F Fund | $20.9 | 3.5% |
| C Fund | $171.9 | 29.1% |
| S Fund | $62.1 | 10.5% |
| I Fund | $25.7 | 4.3% |
| L Funds | $123.2 | 20.9% |
| Total | $590.8 | 100% |
Interfund Transfers in April
In April, TSP investors withdrew about $820 million from the G Fund, $183 million from the F Fund and about $29 million from the S Fund. The C Fund received about $585 million into the fund; about $448 million was transferred into the Lifecycle Funds and about $20 million into the I Fund.
