Thread: The new TSP website is an unmitigated disaster!

I had a similar situation recently and gave up holding for the withdrawals division to answer after about 60 minutes. I also cannot get any documents to go through the website. It says it's successfully uploaded and then when I refresh it's not there. I still don't understand how a regulatory agency like the SEC isn't involved at this point? I can't imagine this isn't violating fiduciary responsibilities. A private company would get raked over the coals for this situation and assume would be cited, fined, if not sued by their investors.

Originally Posted by retired34

I had a similar situation recently and gave up holding for the withdrawals division to answer after about 60 minutes. I also cannot get any documents to go through the website. It says it's successfully uploaded and then when I refresh it's not there. I still don't understand how a regulatory agency like the SEC isn't involved at this point? I can't imagine this isn't violating fiduciary responsibilities. A private company would get raked over the coals for this situation and assume would be cited, fined, if not sued by their investors.

After almost 3 hours of total hold time I got through to “withdraws”. The representative was actually a very helpful lady who unlike the other two representatives I have spoken to actually had a clue. She advised that the previous representative I had spoken to was incorrect. It is in fact withdrawals and not operations that handles changes in installment payments. Apparently, the request is processed telephonically through withdrawals and they submit it to operations for action. The withdraws representative also commented that my inability to enter my wife’s information through my personal page on the website seems to be another glitch in the system which she was going to report.

Although I was told that every day new features come online for the new website, there is no timetable for when the installments features (start, stop, change, adjust federal withholding) will be available. For now all that must be done telephonically. Dial the TSP line and select 1, select 1 again, enter your personal information, then wait for the prompt for withdrawal. At present the hold time for withdrawals is over an hour.

I just got my 2nd quarter TSP statement in the mail today. Along with the statement was a flyer. I scanned it and have attached it. Hopefully everyone can read it. I had to mess with it so it would fit the parameters to upload it. What a joke.

TSP Flyer.3.jpg

Originally Posted by nasa1974

Did you do your IFT as a percentage or a dollar amount? Sorry I haven't really explored my account as I probably should. I'm 100% "S" and it showed 100% "S". I'm so far down the rabbit hole I have to stay "S" or I'm out a lot of money. So, I really haven't explored IFT's that much.

I did it as a percentage....60G and 40C....then when I did get around to checking it a couple weeks later...it showed up as 84G and 16 C. Like I said, I have no idea how they got those numbers. I tried phoning again today and was on hold for an hour, it's exasperating. I guess I'm not losing that much, but it doesn't give a person much faith in the new system at this point.

It's as though the TSP purchased a new luxurious house for us so after negotiating several roadblocks, we move in, where we find cracked foundation, faulty electrical wiring, leaky plumbing pipes, toilets backing up, and oh, kitchen sink is missing. There is one repair guy trying to fix everything, but...

I got mine in the mail today.
My translation of what TSP sent me: This is all of the money you have lost while we have been screwing up the website, and not allowing you to do IFTs.

I still can't log in. And could potentially lose more money because of their incompetence.

I think they mailed these out so they can see how many of them bounce back to them in the mail. So they can verify addresses. But that would be kind of smart....So I don't think they will do that.

Originally Posted by ramen

It's as though the TSP purchased a new luxurious house for us so after negotiating several roadblocks, we move in, where we find cracked foundation, faulty electrical wiring, leaky plumbing pipes, toilets backing up, and oh, kitchen sink is missing. There is one repair guy trying to fix everything, but...

The representative I spoke to yesterday told me that when they first started working with the new site they couldn’t access much. Everyday something new comes on line and they think progress is being made, but everyday they find a new glitch they have to report. The classic spinning your wheels scenario. All they can offer right now is that they “hope” everything will be sorted out soon. They are literally using the members as test subjects and hoping things go well. What is it that Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”.

I went to the website today to see if any problems had been fixed since the end of last month. For over a decade I have been keeping a spreadsheet that records each change in my account, including changes in share price (G fund) and payouts. The ONLY information available for my TSP account is the balance in dollars on June 1st. That's it. It doesn't tell me how many shares I have, or when the share price changed during the past months, or when monthly payouts were made... NOTHING! How any person with even a single brain cell could consider this new website to be anything but a total failure is beyond me. I believe this "upgrade to the system" must set a new record (low) standard for total bureaucratic incompetence. Our tax dollars at work!

All about funds

why does it look like blackrock controlled TSP.gov is giving us the finger?

Originally Posted by Rcf3

After almost 3 hours of total hold time I got through to “withdraws”. The representative was actually a very helpful lady who unlike the other two representatives I have spoken to actually had a clue. She advised that the previous representative I had spoken to was incorrect. It is in fact withdrawals and not operations that handles changes in installment payments. Apparently, the request is processed telephonically through withdrawals and they submit it to operations for action. The withdraws representative also commented that my inability to enter my wife’s information through my personal page on the website seems to be another glitch in the system which she was going to report.

Although I was told that every day new features come online for the new website, there is no timetable for when the installments features (start, stop, change, adjust federal withholding) will be available. For now all that must be done telephonically. Dial the TSP line and select 1, select 1 again, enter your personal information, then wait for the prompt for withdrawal. At present the hold time for withdrawals is over an hour.

I just logged in and noticed that they added the withdrawal section for monthly payments.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

OMG Y'all, the TSP gave me back my interfund transfer capability (I think this weekend). I'm so happy!

If you are in a real dire need to talk to an agent, but don't want to hold for hours, try my 'strategy'.
I called FRTIB 202-942-1600 out of desperation and left a voicemail message briefly explaining my issues and my phone number. I believe they forwarded my voicemail directly to a TSP agent. Then I received a call from a very knowledgeable agent who told me he was responding to a voicemail I had left. (The only voice message I ever left was with FRTIB and I didn't think somebody would actually call me back.)


Anyway, to make a long story short, I told him about the official TSP booklet, he issued a ticket for the fix and here I am celebrating.