TSP Millionaires Hit Record High: What’s Driving the Surge?

The number of TSP millionaires hit a record high of 189,836 as of October 1, 2025, an increase of over 18,800 from the previous quarter.

There were 171,023 TSP millionaires at the end of the second quarter of 2025, so the number has grown 11% in the last quarter alone. In the past five years, the number has surged nearly 600% from when it was just 27,212 at the end of March 2020.

Distribution of TSP Account Balances (Q3 2025)

The largest account balance in the TSP is now $9.93 million. This figure has been as high as over $10 million in the past, peaking at $10,975,527 at the end of 2021.

These data include participants from the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), and the Uniformed Services. For individuals who hold both civilian and Uniformed Services accounts, their balances have been combined to reflect their total TSP investment.

The figures exclude any beneficiaries and also account for rollovers from other qualified retirement plans.

Historical Growth of TSP Millionaires

Since March 2020, the S&P 500 has returned approximately 160%. In the last five years, the average annual returns of the S&P 500 have been just over 14%.

These returns have come despite various ups and downs in the market, perhaps most notably in 2022 when it was down about 23%.

The lesson from these figures and the TSP millionaires data is that it pays to invest in the TSP stock funds over a long period of time. As noted above, the average years of contributions of individuals with a TSP account balance of over $1 million is nearly 28 years, and this growth has been achieved primarily by investing in the TSP’s stock funds.

The table below shows the historical returns of the core TSP funds. As can be seen, the stock funds (C, S, and I) deliver a far greater return over a long period of time than the G and F Funds.

Although these latter two funds are considered the safer funds (the G Fund has never had a negative rate of return), investing solely in these funds will hinder one’s retirement savings growth over time.

While this sounds simple, investing in the stock funds requires discipline, especially during periods of time when the stock market drops.

While it can be distressing to watch your TSP account balance drop during stock market declines, it’s crucial to refrain from panicking and withdrawing funds during these challenging times. Doing so would result in irreversible losses.

Historically, the market has consistently rebounded after periods of decline, emphasizing the significance of maintaining long-term investment to capitalize on the subsequent gains that will emerge during the market rebound.

Core TSP Fund Returns