2014 ANNUAL REPORT ON 

FINANCIAL LITERACY EFFORTS 

Federal Retirement Thrift 

Investment Board

April 9, 2015
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Contents

FRTIB Annual Report on Financial Literacy Efforts 

Introduction 3

Take FIVE for Your Future and FLEC 4

Transfers/Rollover Education 5

Targeted Mailings/Videos Released 6

Uniformed Services Outreach 6-7

One-to-One Participant Communications 8

In-Person Agency Rep/Employee Briefings 8-9
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Introduction

The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Open Elections Act of 2004 contains 

the following requirement:

REPORT ON FINANCIAL LITERACY EFFORTS. 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 2014, financial literacy initiatives undertaken by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (the Board) included a large number of print 

products, web-based offerings, and in-person training sessions for employees 

and agency representatives. 

Financial literacy and numeracy are critical elements of retirement 

readiness. To that end, we are committed to delivering compelling messaging 

that encourages participants to save for retirement; to educate, communicate, 

and interact with participants to help them make smart choices; and to deliver 

innovative products and programs to assist participants in achieving their retirement goals. 

FRTIB Annual Report on Financial Literacy Efforts 
4

Take FIVE for Your Future and FLEC

FRTIB Annual Report on Financial Literacy Efforts 

For Financial Literacy Month in April, the TSP released the Take FIVE for 

Your Future campaign. It encouraged Federal civilian employees younger than 45 

to increase their retirement contributions with a simple message: Contribute at 

least 5% to get the full match from your agency. Choose from 5 funds. Make 

changes in 5 minutes.

We sent two separate mailers to FERS participants who were contributing 

less than 5%: a brief postcard for those younger than 35 and a longer leaflet for 

those aged 35-44. We also developed a special website that used high-impact 

graphics and innovative design to follow a sample young employee as he increased his retirement savings. We created a YouTube video, which we featured 

prominently on the microsite and the TSP homepage, and wrote weekly blogs on 

a popular government networking site. We used other social media (Twitter, employee websites, and human resources list-servs) to further promote our outreach. 

We also worked with the Financial Literacy and Education Commission’s 

(FLEC) Early Career Committee to help improve financial education among Federal employees. The group helped distribute the Take FIVE campaign by sharing 

it on MyMoney.gov. Our Executive Director spoke at the FLEC’s public meeting in 

October, we met with FLEC representatives in December to discuss data from our 

annual reports.
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Your TSP Investment Options 

 The C Fund: 6,013 VIEWS The S Fund: 4,604 VIEWS

 The I Fund: 4,360 VIEWS The F Fund: 4,701 VIEWS

 The G Fund: 5,827 VIEWS The L Funds: 5,456 VIEWS

Transfers/Rollover Education

In October 2014, we put together a mini-campaign educating participants about transfers into the TSP. For the first time, our fall poster for both 

agencies and services focused on the benefits of rolling eligible money into the 

TSP in a low-text, highly graphic format. More than 10,000 copies of the poster 

were distributed to agencies. We also used the image in the October Highlights newsletter, which went to 700,000 participants. The newsletter article 

included a miniature version of the poster image and provided additional background about transfers into the Plan. We added the forms for requesting a 

transfer to the “Top Forms” section of our website. We also created a website 

banner, made the necessary forms easier to find on our website, and increased related tweets during the month. Following our campaign, we saw a 

record-setting increase in transfers into the Plan. December roll-ins set an alltime record of $135 million, an almost 70% increase over the monthly average 

for January – November.

The Cost of Taking a TSP Loan

Five Tips for Completing Your TSP 

Requests Correctly. The First Time.

47, 736 VIEWS

New Videos Released

FRTIB Annual Report on Financial Literacy Efforts 

Other Videos

Take 5 For Your Future 48,246 VIEWS

Investing In Bonds 13,799 VIEWS

Combine and Save 26,471 VIEWS
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Targeted Mailings

FRTIB Annual Report on Financial Literacy Efforts 

In 2014, we began inserting special leaflets into the annual statement 

package mailed to participants. This was an inexpensive way to provide relevant education to participants without having to pay for separate postage. In 

February 2014 these included 

 a new targeted leaflet to active uniformed services members younger 

than 35, encouraging them to think long-term about their savings and tell 

friends to sign up as well;

 a leaflet participants aged 59 and older highlighting our low fees and 

warning against outside institutions enticing them away with “expensive 

funds and confusing choices” ; and

 a leaflet to separated participants explaining the benefits of leaving their 

money in the TSP. 

Expanded Military Presence

At the end of 2013, we had a relationship with a single military website 

(MilitarySaves.com). We have now expanded our network to include 15 print 

and online military publications that have agreed to publish our content on a 

regular basis, with a potential of more than 510,000 impressions each month. 

This year we have used this network to distribute critical information to service 

members. Topics have included reasons to contribute to the TSP despite having a military pension, details on how to start or change TSP contributions, and 

how participants can update their addresses in myPay. 

In 2014, we worked with the Office of the Secretary of Defense on a 

TSP-related podcast for Military OneSource, DOD’s information resource for 

service members and their families. We also developed a relationship with the 

American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS). Since then, 10 TSPrelated public service announcements (called “hot spots”) have run on AFRTS 

channels, reaching 1.4 million people in 160 countries. Segments have highlighted the benefits of staying with the TSP after separation, the basics of investing, the importance of a long-term strategy, and more. We continue to work 

Uniformed Services Outreach
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with AFRTS to suggest new topics every 4-6 weeks. During Military Saves 

Week, we shared our videos and conducted webinars, conference calls and 

provided training with military financial counselors.

Mandatory Re-enrollment

We also worked closely with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) to publicize the mandatory re-enrollment in Roth TSP. In October 

2014, we learned that more than 130,000 military service members were at risk 

of having Roth TSP contributions terminated when a new DFAS process took 

effect in January 2015. In addition to updating the TSP enrollment form to account for this new process, we spent a significant amount of time educating 

participants about the change. We created urgent messages on our website, 

added information to the quarterly and annual statements of those who were 

affected, drafted an item for Highlights, tweeted about the change, and wrote a 

series of articles for military publications that were shared thousands of times. 

This outreach had a significant impact on DFAS retention efforts.

Uniformed Services Outreach cont’d

FRTIB Annual Report on Financial Literacy Efforts 

Uniformed Services Poster:

You signed up to SERVE. Now sign up to SAVE.
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One-to-One Participant Communications

Participant Correspondence

We offer participants various ways to submit written inquiries to the TSP. 

This year, the secure e-messaging feature enjoyed a modest increase in utilization over the prior year.

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 are able to obtain current 

information and a level of personal service in response to their retirement-related 

questions. Since 1987, we have worked jointly with OPM to sustain a network of 

TSP agency representatives within the retirement counselor community. The 

TSP agency representatives receive training and stay current by attending specialized TSP training sessions. In 2014, 349 agency representatives attended a 

total of 22 training sessions held at the Board and led by the TSP training staff. 

FRTIB Annual Report on Financial Literacy Efforts 

47,130

Personalized responses from Written Correspondence 

54,602

Personalized messages via Secure E-message

In-Person Agency Representative Training/

Employee Briefings
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We provide training sessions free to employing agencies and services 

to educate participants on the TSP. These sessions address all participants at 

any point in their career. A total of 27,266 employees attended the sessions either 

in person or remotely via webinar, conference call, or video teleconference. 

We also set up TSP exhibits at conferences, financial fairs, and open season events for civilian employees and members of the uniformed services. In 

2014, we participated in 14 such events, enabling our staff members to “talk TSP” 

with more than 4,840 attendees.

We collaborated with OPM to present 2 webcasts, which have received 

more than 5,750 views, and produce 2 TSP sessions for OPM’s virtual “Festival of 

Training”. We also worked with OPM on our separation notice statements.

FRTIB Annual Report on Financial Literacy Efforts 

5 5

4 9

2 7

5 4

1

Total Number of Training Sessions

TSP @ a Glance

Pre-Separation

Employee Briefing

Money In

Money Out

Money In & Money Out

In-Person Agency Representative Training/

Employee Briefings cont’d