Thread: The new TSP website is an unmitigated disaster!

Originally Posted by Rcf3

I received an email this morning stating that my monthly payment had been issued. There is nothing in my bank yet, but I checked the TSP website and it now shows one payment on 6/15 for the correct amount. It looks like the money is on the way to my bank.

This begs the question, how is it possible that the TSP representative I spoke to was so unfamiliar with the new system that she did not know how the most basic, and arguably most important feature of the new system works? I am astonished that the TSP did not train its employees before this rollout.

yep received my email today
Your payment from the Thrift Savings Plan completed as of June 15, 2022.
Your monies will be issued on June 21, 2022. Allow for standard mailing time for any portion of your payment that is scheduled to be mailed. Allow 1-2 business days for any portion that will be direct deposited into your account.
You can see the details of your payment on tsp.gov.

problem is I cannot see details on my account and I want to increase the payment amount to yrs end, which site will not allow me to do.

Originally Posted by Valkyrie

yep received my email today
Your payment from the Thrift Savings Plan completed as of June 15, 2022.
Your monies will be issued on June 21, 2022. Allow for standard mailing time for any portion of your payment that is scheduled to be mailed. Allow 1-2 business days for any portion that will be direct deposited into your account.
You can see the details of your payment on tsp.gov.

problem is I cannot see details on my account and I want to increase the payment amount to yrs end, which site will not allow me to do.

I may want to tweak my payments too. The new website is less than intuitive and as we know the TSP line employees have yet to be trained on it. Add to that the fact that it takes hours to get through to them right now. We are on our own. Let me know if you figure out how the payment edit works.

Having said that, the last time I tried something like this was on the old site after I had submitted my initial application for monthly disbursements. Apparently, I inadvertently reopened my application which negated it. I had to start all over, to include a newly notarized form. Since then I am very careful with the TSP website because it can jump up and bite you!

I was able to do an IFT this morning without a problem, mainly just figuring out the navigation of the new site.

Not sure if anyone talked about this yet, so my apologies, but if you have an outstanding loan, you can now do a direct transfer from your bank account to make additional payments or to pay it off. You don't have to mail in a check unless you want to.

Originally Posted by Valkyrie

yep received my email today
Your payment from the Thrift Savings Plan completed as of June 15, 2022.
Your monies will be issued on June 21, 2022. Allow for standard mailing time for any portion of your payment that is scheduled to be mailed. Allow 1-2 business days for any portion that will be direct deposited into your account.
You can see the details of your payment on tsp.gov.

problem is I cannot see details on my account and I want to increase the payment amount to yrs end, which site will not allow me to do.

This may help. I found this by accessing the TSP website chat assistant known as AVA. It seems that you need to call the TSP line to make any changes in your payments. I hope this is just temporary because if it isn’t it is a step backwards.

“If you need to stop, change cancel, stop or make changes to your withholding or payment destination, you must call the ThriftLine.”

Originally Posted by James48843

It gets worse.

It’s now telling me that I can’t even request an additional one-time partial withdrawl - ( which I wanted to do today because of their failure to pay my monthly scheduled payment) because I HAVE TO WAIT 30 days since I took an emergency partial two weeks ago to fix my roof.

This means - NO access to my money for 30 days. NO scheduled monthly payment. Hair my monthly income MISSING and I’ve got bills to pay.

Attachment 54701

Can we call the Securities and Exchange Commission? My Congressman?

How about a lawyer? Can we do a lawsuit? Anybody else want to join me?


Sent from my iPhone using TSP Talk Forums

I sent a letter to the FRTIB Board yesterday with copies to both my Senators, along with a request that the Senators speak with the Board and ask them how they plan to mitigate the disaster that is the new website. I suggest others do the same. There are lots of comments on an article on the FedSmith site, but GovExec.com pretty much whitewashed the entire issue. So I suggest telling the Board and Senators, clearly and politely, exactly what you have experienced. And BTW, don't blame the current administration - Biden's FRTIB Board nominees are just now concluding the confirmation process. The Board has been pretty apolitical, as far as I have been able to tell. I have been happy with their management up to now, but this contractor is a pretty big screw-up.

ThiftLine Service Center
Phone:
1-877-968-3778 (United States, toll-free)
+ 1-404-233-4400 (Outside the United States, not toll-free)
7 a.m. – 9 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday
Fax:
1-276-926-8948
Mail:
ThriftLine Service Center
C/O Broadridge Processing
PO Box 1600
Newark, NJ 07101-1600 <<<<<THRIFTLINE OPTIONS AT LISTED AT BEGINNING OF BOOKLET

Making Changes to Your Installments
After your installments are set up, you can make changes to them at any time by using one of the
ThriftLine options listed at the beginning of this booklet.
You can make the following changes whether you’re receiving installments of a fixed dollar amount or
based on life expectancy:
• stop installments
• change the source of installments (traditional, Roth, or both)
• start, stop, or change direct deposit of your installments
• change your federal tax withholding
The following changes can only be made if your installments are of a fixed dollar amount:
• change the dollar amount of your payments
• change the frequency of your payments
• start rolling over traditional money (not Roth) from your installments to an IRA or eligible employer
plan (only if installments are expected to last less than 10 years)
• change or stop rollovers (if currently doing rollovers)


HAVING TO CALL THE THRIFTLINE TO MAKE CHANGES TO YOUR INSTALLMENT PAYMENT IS NOT SOME GLITCH ........IT'S A FEATURE!

and I am not happy either!

I really doubt that the installment payment booklet reflects the TSP’s plan to only permit setting up and changing installment payments by phone or paper mail. That would not make any sense as it would require a significant expansion of employees to work on installments. The current installment payment program was set up a few years ago through the website and I am 100 percent certain that the intent is to continue a website based program. But the TSP is doing a terrible job of providing basic information on when installment payment options will be available on the new website. Gross mismanagement in my opinion. In the meantime they need to set up a special hotline just for installment payment issues until the website is fixed. I waited on the telephone for three hours last week to see if I could cancel my withdrawals and could not get through to anyone who could help me.

From GovExec.Com today:


TSP Woes Continue Two Weeks After Tech Transition

Participants reported delayed account disbursements a full two weeks after the transition to a new recordkeeper was complete.

ERICH WAGNER | JUNE 16, 2022

Two weeks after officials with the federal government’s 401(k)-style retirement savings program completed a long-awaited transition to a new recordkeeper, updates to the Thrift Savings Plan’s web site continue to present problems for participants, with some issues now impacting payments to federal retirees.

Multiple TSP participants told Government Executive that distributions that were scheduled to be deposited in their bank accounts on Wednesday were delayed. One participant said they were told the delay would only be for 24 hours, but a second participant said that although their payment was processed by Thursday morning, it would not actually be deposited into their bank account until June 21.

The delay of payments to at least some retirees marks the most serious complication of a project that was intended to improve participants’ online experience managing their TSP accounts. The new recordkeeper was touted as a way to keep participants’ accounts more secure, while making it easier to do things like roll over money from other retirement accounts, sign documents electronically, and access and make account changes from a mobile phone.

In addition to struggles some participants encountered setting up accounts on the new version of TSP.gov, federal workers and retirees said that beneficiaries they had designated under the old system no longer appeared, they were unable to access old account statements, and the new site miscalculates the maximum amount a participant can borrow through a TSP loan.

More: https://www.govexec.com/pay-benefits...sition/368304/


Sent from my iPhone using TSP Talk Forums

My monthly TSP payment was deposited into my checking account today (Jun 16). The amount was not what I expected, so I went to the "NEW & IMPROVED" website and after stumbling around the stupid menu options for 20 minutes finally got to a page showing the payment details. Turns out they decided all on their own to deduct 7.67% federal tax withholding from my payment. WTF? I don't know how they came up with that odd percentage number. I have been getting monthly payments for 14 years and have NEVER had tax withheld from my payments (I cover 100% my fed tax due by making quarterly payments). It's not a big deal - I'll get the money back when I file my taxes. I just don't appreciate them making a change I did not request, and not even trying to notify me that they were "adjusting" my payment.

I had a similar experience with a change in amount which I assume is FTW/H. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to change it back to the correct amount.

Starting on June 2022, installment payments are set to the 15th of each month or the preceding business day, if the 15th is on a weekend or holiday.

Jun 17, 5:13 AM

If you need to stop, change cancel, stop or make changes to your withholding or payment destination, you must call the ThriftLine.

Jun 17, 5:13 AM

For more information on the rules for changing your installment payments and the tax implications, check out the Installment Tax Information sheet.

this is straight from the online assistant. The installment tax info sheet was unavailable.