The Thrift Savings Plan, or TSP, has been mentioned a lot recently. In short, it is a retirement plan for those who have been employed in the United States Government as well as members of the uniformed services – similar to a 401k plan.

Some of the benefits of choosing a TSP include:

•    The chance to save money on income tax.
•    Having a choice of 5 different investment funds.
•    No income tax is deducted from your contributions from your pay.
•    There is no tax to pay until the money has been withdrawn during retirement.
•    Personal loans can last up to 5 years.
•    Loans to purchase a home can last up to 15 years.
•    Loaning money from your TSP comes with a low interest rate.

Investing into your TSP is a simple process, and it is Thrift Savings Plan possible to do so online using your MYPAY account. If you wish to calculate your contribution per paycheck then you should multiply the paycheck by the amount you want to contribute, for example 1% or 5%.

If you want to have a greater fund for your future then it is up to you whether you want to invest things like bonus pay, special duty pay and so on. You can set a proportion of all of these extra Thrift Savings Plan payments to be sent to your TSP, up to a maximum of 100%. However, even if you just put in half of what you earn this should still be a great fund for your future.