Federal Retirement Thrift

Investment Board

2022 Thrift Savings Plan 

Education Efforts

 
2

 

Contents 

Introduction .............................................................................................................. 3

Communications ....................................................................................................... 4

Emails ......................................................................................................................... 4

Multimedia .................................................................................................................. 5

One-to-One Participant Communications.................................................................... 5

Training for Agency/Service Representatives and Participants ............................ 6
3

Introduction

We are pleased to provide this summary of our 

education and outreach efforts in 2022 in 

response to the following requirement contained 

in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Open Elections 

Act of 2004: 

The Board shall annually report to the Committee 

on Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

Committee on Government Reform in the House 

of Representatives on its Thrift Savings Plan 

education efforts on behalf of plan participants. 

Pub. L. 108‐469, §2, 118 Stat. 3891, 3892. 

In 2022, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) engaged and educated participants 

through the TSP website; tsp.gov; emails; multimedia assets such as videos, social media posts, and

webinars; one-to-one communications; and customized trainings for participants, agency and service 

representatives, and military financial educators. 

We are committed to delivering compelling messaging that encourages participants to save for 

retirement; to educating, communicating, and interacting with participants to help them make smart 

choices; and to creating innovative products and programs to assist participants in achieving their 

retirement goals. 

Also in 2022, our education and outreach efforts received two Pensions & Investments “Eddy” awards 

that recognize communications excellence in defined-contribution plans. We won first place in the PreRetirement Preparation category for the webinar presentation “To Retirement and Beyond,” which 

explains the many factors to consider when turning retirement savings into retirement income after 

separation. Additionally, the TSP’s multi-channel campaign that followed changes to our catch-up 

contribution program was recognized as the second-place winner for Ongoing Investment Education. 
4

Communications

Emails 

We use email to communicate news about the 

Plan and to reach and educate participants and 

beneficiaries. 

Emails to All Participants 

In 2022, we continued emailing our electronic 

newsletter, the Thrift Savings Planner, on a quarterly schedule in January, April, July, and October to 

participants with at least one email address on record and have elected to receive emails. In February, we sent 

an electronic version of the Executive Director letter to approximately 4.5 million participant email addresses to 

inform them of the upcoming availability of new digital tools like a mobile app and virtual assistant, streamlined 

processes like electronic signature and rollover assistance, and the enhanced My Account experience (the 

TSP’s secure online account management system). To help prepare participants for the TSP’s transition to a 

new recordkeeper in June, we emailed communications between February and late May that informed 

participants about the new TSP features and tools, important blackout and transition period dates, and the 

requirement for them to set up a new login and security profile to access the new My Account after the 

transition.

Targeted Email Campaigns 

In January 2022, we began a project with roughly 3,000 federal employees younger than age 50 who 

were contributing 3% of their salaries to the TSP. All participants were in the lowest estimated salary 

quintile for federal employees, had missed at least $100 in employer matching money during 2021, and 

had at least one email address on file. We contacted participants with various messages, ranging from 

personalized estimates of how much they had missed in employer matching money, to details on how 

many other federal employees were getting the full match. After 31⁄2 months, those who received our 

outreach were more than 1.5 times more likely to have increased their TSP contributions.

On June 1, 2022, we moved to a new recordkeeper. A pivotal piece of this conversion was making TSP 

participants aware of the transition and how it might affect them. To accomplish this, we researched, 

strategized, designed, and executed two communication campaigns from February 2022 to the official 

conversion date on June 1, 2022. The first campaign built awareness around the new services, functions, and 

features provided by the new recordkeeper. The second campaign informed participants of the blackout period 

when TSP services would be unavailable during the conversion and helped participants understand what 

features were changing. Further, two emails targeted a small segment of participants: one email went to 

participants with a potentially incorrect mailing address on file and encouraged them to update their mailing 

address, and one email went to participants who opted in to receive information about the new mutual fund 

window and suggested they consider the details carefully if they choose to use that option. A priority with each 

campaign was to ensure the information was valuable, understandable, and accurate, and to reach as many 
5

TSP participants as possible.

Multimedia

In 2022, we produced a video for the TSP’s YouTube channel at TSP4gov and recorded a webinar

hosted by TSP trainers to educate participants on the TSP’s move to a new recordkeeper. In addition, 

we leveraged social media, print materials, tsp.gov, and trusted third parties (HR and uniformed 

services representatives) to disseminate our messages related to the transition. 

Video 

• Set up your new My Account login today explained that completing the one-time process to set up a 

new login for the new My Account was simple and took about the time it takes to water one’s garden. 

Webinar 

• Welcome to the New TSP explained the new TSP features and tools so participants could understand 

the changes and navigate these customized options to support their retirement goals.

One-to-One Participant Communications

Our ongoing educational and outreach efforts also included engaging participants on an individual 

basis. We continue to offer participants various ways to contact us with specific inquiries about their 

TSP account. As of June 1, 2022, participants can log in to My Account and communicate in real time 

with a participant services representative during business hours. Below are the totals in each category 

for 2022. 

Emails to 

thriftline@tsp.gov 

(June – Dec. 2022)

64,122

 

Telephone 

calls

3,647,048 

Secure 

e-messages

(Jan. – May 2022)

48,124

Secure Live 

Chat Sessions

38,082
6

Training for Agency/Service 

Representatives and Participants

By law (5 U.S.C. § 8350), the Office of 

Personnel Management (OPM) is required to 

operate a training program for retirement 

counselors in employing agencies. This 

requirement ensures that employees can

obtain current information and personal 

service in response to their retirement-related 

questions. Since 1987, we have worked with 

OPM to sustain a network of TSP agency 

representatives as part of this program. We 

conduct regular meetings to provide benefits 

specialists and payroll specialists with 

information about changes to the Plan. In 2022, we hosted a coordinator’s meeting webinar with 122 

specialists receiving TSP updates for their HR offices. 

We provide free educational sessions to federal employees and uniformed services members using 

onsite and webinar sessions. We held 405 events, with 91,510 attendees. We also gave TSP 

participants unlimited access to recordings of webinars by posting them to our YouTube channel

TSP4gov. 

We continued our collaboration with the Office of Personnel Management, the Securities Exchange 

Commission, and the Social Security Administration to conduct joint trainings for Federal Executive 

Boards (FEB). These trainings extend our outreach to participants who are geographically dispersed, 

which FEBs help us reach more easily. We held these trainings online and included FEBs for Kansas 

City and Oklahoma. We offered two virtual tracks: one for early-to-mid-career participants and one for 

those nearing retirement. About 6,406 federal employees attended the 19 trainings.