Thrift Savings Plan: 2008 Publicity Information for Human Resources Offices and the Human Resources Shared Services Center

Direct Mailings to Employees

To make Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) information available to employees, Headquarters issues two standard mailings:

  • TSP enrollment information letters with PostalEASE instructions are mailed annually in mid-December to career employees at their mailing address of record.
  • A package containing TSP BK08, Summary of the Thrift Savings Plan, as well as an enrollment information letter with PostalEASE instructions is sent to the employee’s mailing address of record soon after a newly eligible career employee’s PS Form 50, Notification of Personnel Action, is processed.

The employing office of record is the return address for undeliverable TSP enrollment information sent to newly eligible employees. When an office receives a returned kit, the office should encourage the employee to update his or her address. Employees with access to Employee Change of Address on the Intranet (from the Blue page) or to an employee self-service kiosk (available in some facilities) should use those entry methods. Other employees should submit an updated PS Form 1216, Employee’s Current Mailing Address, to the Human Resources Shared Services Center (HRSSC) for processing.

Publicity

The Material Distribution Center (MDC) regularly sends TSP posters to Human Resources (HR) at district offices, area offices, processing and distribution centers or facilities, bulk mail centers, airport mail centers or facilities, remote encoding centers, the Office of Inspector General, Postal Inspection Service divisions, Headquarters, and selected Headquarters field units. Installations that receive the posters must distribute them widely and post them on bulletin boards.

To assist in publicizing the 2008 TSP enrollment opportunity, all offices must post the following on bulletin boards through December 31, 2008:

Ordering Materials and Forms

Offices may order TSP forms and publications from the MDC as needed. Use touch-tone order entry (TTOE): call 800-273-1509. In addition, offices can check the TSP Web site, www.tsp.gov, for new or revised items.

Note: You must be registered to use TTOE. To register, call 800-332-0317, option 1, extension 2925, and follow the prompts to leave a message. (Wait 48 hours after registering before placing your first order.)

PS Form 1216, Employee’s Current Mailing Address. Find this form on the Postal Service™ Intranet at http://blue.usps.gov. Under “Essential Links,” click on Forms. Or order from the MDC using the following information:

PSIN: PS1216
PSN: 7530-02-000-7354
Unit of Measure: SE
Minimum Order Quantity: 1
Quick Pick Number: 118
Bulk Pack Quantity: 4,000
Price: $0.0187

TSP-50, Thrift Savings Plan Investment Allocation. Order from the MDC using the following information:

PSIN: TSP50
PSN: 7530-05-000-4305
Unit of Measure: EA
Minimum Order Quantity: 1
Quick Pick Number: N/A
Bulk Pack Quantity: 1,600
Price: $0.00

TSP BK08, Summary of the Thrift Savings Plan, August 2005. Order additional copies from the MDC using the following information:

PSIN: TSPBK08
PSN: 7530-03-000-9364
Unit of Measure: EA
Minimum Order Quantity: 1
Quick Pick Number: N/A
Bulk Pack Quantity: 225
Price: $0.00

Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) 2008 Enrollment Information

Elections for 2008 begin: December 19, 2007 (12:01 p.m. CT)
Elections for 2008 end: December 17, 2008 (3:59 a.m. CT)

TSP Contribution Limits

Note: If you are a Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) employee, you may lose agency match­ing contributions if your contributions reach the maximum IRS limit before the last pay period in the calen­dar year. To evenly distribute the IRS maximum contribution over all 26 pay periods, elect to contribute $597 per pay period ($15,500 divided by 26).

Note: To participate you must be age 50 or older during calendar year 2008 and must be able to self-certify that by the end of the calendar year you will have contributed the IRS annual deferral limit, $15,500, through regular contributions to TSP and/or to other plans subject to the elective deferral limit.

Who Can Participate

All career employees are eligible to contribute to TSP.

How to Enroll and Make Contribution Elections or Cancellations

To use the Employee Web the easiest way to use PostalEASE — access the system in any of these ways:

To use the telephone, call the Employee Service Line, toll-free at 877-477-3273, and select PostalEASE.

If you have a medical condition that interferes or for another reason cannot successfully complete your trans­action using PostalEASE, contact the Human Resources Shared Services Center (HRSSC) for assistance.

How to Get Your USPS Personal Identification Number (PIN)

To use PostalEASE, enter your Employee ID (found at the top of your earnings statement) and USPS PIN. If you don’t know your USPS PIN, you can get it any one of these ways:

Please Post on All Bulletin Boards Through December 31, 2008.

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How to Make Investment Allocations

To make TSP fund investment allocations, you must contact TSP directly, at any time, in any of these ways:

How to Get Your TSP Security Identifiers

You now have three TSP identifiers:

All three may be obtained by calling the ThriftLine toll-free at 877-968-3778 or the TDD toll-free line at 877-847-4385 and following the prompts. The account number and Web password can be mailed to you if you request them by accessing the TSP Web site and selecting Account Access.

Details Are in the Mail

A letter and a TSP booklet are mailed to newly hired career employees soon after they are hired, and a letter with enrollment information is mailed to all career employees in mid-December. If you do not receive this mailing, contact HRSSC.

Questions?

Contact HRSSC.

Please Post on All Bulletin Boards Through December 31, 2008.

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