The TSP Guide
The Thrift Savings Plan is the retirement account nearly every service member already holds, with some of the lowest fund costs anywhere, and under BRS, matching money that is simply gone if you don't take it. The rules, the funds, the combat-zone edge, and the exits: in everyday words.
The match, precisely
| YOU CONTRIBUTE | SERVICE ADDS | THE MECHANICS |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | 1% | The automatic 1% of basic pay arrives after 60 days of service, whether you contribute or not, and continues to 26 years of service |
| 3% | 4% | The first 3% you contribute is matched dollar for dollar (after 2 years of service under BRS) |
| 5% | 5% | The next 2% is matched at fifty cents on the dollar; at 5% you have collected everything offered |
| Above 5% | 5% | No additional match; extra contributions still grow at TSP costs |
- Vesting: your own contributions are always yours. The automatic 1% (and its earnings) vests at 2 years of service; separate earlier and it is forfeited. Matching only begins after 2 years, so once received it is yours.
- The front-loading trap: the match arrives per pay period. Hit the $24,500 cap in October and matching stops for the rest of the year: spreading contributions across all 12 months collects the full match.
- Legacy (non-BRS) members receive no match; the account, funds, and limits below still apply.
Sources: tsp.gov contribution types; TSP Bulletin 17-U-3 (vesting and match timing). Accessed July 2026.
Run your own match
A labeled estimate with the assumptions shown, not advice: monthly basic pay times the BRS rules above.
Assumes BRS, past the 60-day and 2-year marks. Current basic pay: the 2026 pay chart.
The 2026 limits
| LIMIT | 2026 | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Elective deferral (your contributions) | $24,500 | Traditional + Roth combined |
| Catch-up, age 50+ | $8,000 | On top of the $24,500 |
| Higher catch-up, ages 60-63 | $11,250 | Applies in the years you turn 60 through 63; back to $8,000 the year you turn 64 |
| Annual additions (everything, per employer) | $72,000 | Your money + automatic 1% + match; catch-up not counted. Matters most to deployed members (below) |
New in 2026: if your prior-year wages topped the IRS threshold ($150,000 for 2025), catch-up contributions must be Roth (SECURE 2.0 rule, effective January 1, 2026).
Sources: IRS, 2026 limits (Notice 2025-67); tsp.gov contribution limits. Accessed July 2026.
The funds, one line each
| FUND | WHAT IT HOLDS | EXPENSE RATIO |
|---|---|---|
| G | Government securities; capital preservation with returns above short-term Treasuries; the only fund that cannot lose value | 0.034% |
| F | U.S. bond index (Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate) | 0.035% |
| C | S&P 500 index: the 500 largest U.S. companies | 0.035% |
| S | The rest of the U.S. stock market (completion index) | 0.051% |
| I | International stocks (MSCI ACWI IMI ex USA ex China ex Hong Kong) | 0.048% |
| L Funds | Eleven pre-mixed portfolios (L Income, then L 2030 to L 2075 in five-year steps) that automatically shift toward lower risk as their target year approaches | Blend of the above |
For scale: those costs are hundredths of a percent. Which mix fits you is a personal decision this page will not make; a free Military OneSource financial counselor (800-342-9647) will talk it through with no product to sell.
Source: tsp.gov individual funds (ratios as shown July 2026).
The combat-zone edge
- Traditional contributions from tax-exempt combat pay bypass the $24,500 limit, all the way up to the $72,000 annual additions ceiling. A deployment is the one time most members can legally shelter far beyond the normal cap.
- Roth contributions from combat pay still count toward the $24,500, but they carry a rare prize: the money went in tax-free, and qualified Roth earnings come out tax-free: potentially never taxed at all.
- At withdrawal: traditional tax-exempt contributions come back tax-free, but their earnings are taxable; and the 10% early-withdrawal penalty never touches the combat-zone tax-exempt portion.
- Catch-up contributions while receiving combat-zone pay must be Roth.
Pair this with the Deployment Money Guide (SDP, CZTE, and the rest of the deployment stack).
Sources: tsp.gov contribution limits; TSP booklet, Tax Rules About TSP Payments (April 2026 edition). Accessed July 2026.
Loans: borrowing from yourself, carefully
| GENERAL PURPOSE | PRIMARY RESIDENCE | |
|---|---|---|
| Use | Anything, no documentation | Buying or building your primary residence only, documented |
| Term | 12 to 60 months | 61 to 180 months |
| Fee | $50 | $100 |
- Rate: the G Fund rate in effect on the 15th of the month before your request, fixed for the life of the loan, and the interest goes back into your own account. $1,000 minimum; the maximum tops out at $50,000 with formula limits below that.
- The separation trap: leave service with a loan outstanding and you have three choices: keep paying it on schedule, pay it off by the deadline, or let it foreclose: the unpaid balance becomes taxable income, plus a possible 10% penalty under age 59 and a half.
Source: tsp.gov loans. Accessed July 2026.
At separation: four exits and a fifth option most people miss
- Leave it right where it is (balance of $200+): you keep the funds, the costs, and control, and can even roll old 401(k)s and traditional IRAs INTO the TSP. Nothing forces a move on your last day.
- The four distribution options, combinable: partial withdrawals ($1,000 minimum), total distribution, installment payments, or an annuity purchase ($3,500 minimum per balance type).
- Rollovers out go to a traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or a new employer's plan: compare costs before moving; TSP's expense ratios are hard to beat.
- Penalty geometry: the 10% early penalty generally applies to taxable money taken before 59 and a half, with real exceptions: separating in or after the year you turn 55, life-expectancy installments, disability, and the combat-zone portion, always.
- RMDs: once separated, required minimum distributions start at age 73 (born before 1960) or 75 (born 1960 or later). Roth TSP balances have no RMDs.
Separating soon? The ETS & Separation Guide covers the whole money checklist around this decision.
Sources: tsp.gov withdrawals; taking money from your account; TSP tax booklet (April 2026). Accessed July 2026.
When the match goes wrong: who fixes what
The questions that fill r/MilitaryFinance every month, with the rule and the office that owns it. Figures checked at tsp.gov on October 25, 2026.
| What you see | The rule | Who fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Past the two-year mark and still only the automatic 1% | Under BRS the automatic 1% starts after 60 days of service and the matching on your first 5% begins after two years of service, every pay period you contribute. | Your service's payroll, through finance. The TSP only records what payroll sends; a missing match is traced on the payroll side first. Bring the LES that shows the contribution and no match, and ask finance to open a pay inquiry. If finance says "call the TSP," the answer is that the TSP cannot create a contribution that was never sent. |
| You hit the $24,500 limit in September and the match stopped | The match is paid per pay period on what you contribute that period. Once your own contributions reach the elective deferral limit, payroll stops deducting, and the match stops with it for the rest of the year. | You, in advance: set the percentage so you reach the limit in the last pay period of December. The TSP's "How much can I contribute?" calculator does the arithmetic. A mid-year change takes effect the next pay period, so a change in late September cannot undo a September cap. |
| Deployed, contributing combat-zone pay, "limit reached" shows up | Traditional contributions from combat-zone pay do not count against the $24,500 elective deferral limit; they count against the $72,000 annual additions limit (all contributions plus the match). Roth contributions from combat-zone pay do count against the $24,500. | Payroll codes the contribution; if a combat-zone month is coded as taxable, the limit math is wrong too. Fix the CZTE coding at finance first, then the TSP figures follow. |
| LES says "CHOICE" but the TSP shows only an automatic 1% balance | The RET PLAN block on the LES names the retirement system; BRS members get the 1% and, after two years, the match. A 1% balance with no match after two years is the first row of this table. | Finance, for the LES; your personnel office if the retirement system itself is recorded wrong. |
| Nobody answers | Pay inquiries have a tracking number and a clock; a Congressional inquiry is the escalation when the clock runs out, through any House or Senate office's casework form, with the LES and the inquiry number attached. | You. It is a normal step, not a last resort. |
Sources: TSP, What is a contribution? (automatic 1% after 60 days, matching on the first 5%, vesting, payroll stops at the IRS limit) and Contribution limits ($24,500 elective deferral, $72,000 annual additions, combat-zone traditional contributions excluded from the deferral limit), both read October 25, 2026. The two-year start of matching is DoD's BRS rule, on the StandWatch retired pay estimator page with its source.
Where the official answers live
- Your account, the forms, and every rule: tsp.gov
- The 2026 limits, from the source: IRS Notice 2025-67
- Free financial counselors who know the TSP: Military OneSource 800-342-9647, 24/7
- Your current basic pay: the 2026 military pay chart
