Dollars & $ense - TSP Published Jan. 28, 2014 14th Comptroller Squadron COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Congratulations on making the decision to plan for your retirement! As an active duty military member or Federal employee, you can participate in the Thrift Savings Plan. TSP is a retirement savings plan similar to 401k plans offered to private sector employees. The purpose of the TSP is to give you the ability to participate in a long-term retirement savings and investment plan. Some of the advantages to saving for your retirement through TSP include: - automatic payroll deductions - a diversified choice of investment options, including professionally designed lifecycle funds - Traditional (pre-tax) contributions and tax deferred investment earnings - Roth (after-tax) contributions with tax-free earnings at retirement - low administrative and investment expenses - under certain circumstances, access to your money while you are still employed by the Federal Government - a beneficiary participant account established for your spouse in the event of your death For questions about your account or more information on TSP, visit the TSP website at tsp.gov. To sign up for TSP, change contribution amount, or to change your correspondence address visit the MyPay website (https://mypay.dfas.mil/mypay.aspx) or tsp.gov.