Close Menu
    Military Finance

    Why is the TSP match only for traditional? I think we should have the option to choose ROTH match as well.

    View 10 Comments

    10 Comments

    1. ThanksForFish on

      Its good to have some amount of mix of ROTH and traditional for tax optimization so having the agency match go to traditional while your contributions go to ROTH isn’t the end of the world.

    2. Scruffy725 on

      Many of us on here feel the same way, there was talk about it becoming a thing a little while ago. At least we can contribute to ROTH and still get the match though. From what I understand, most commercial 401ks only let you contribute to traditional

    3. kjaxx5923 on

      The potential is there but government moves slow. To allow for Roth match, they’d have to figure out how to withhold the extra taxes for it and account for the match as compensation on W2s.

      Can you imagine the confusion in the antiquated pay systems when things get messed up?

    4. mrcluelessness on

      It’s also how it’s done on the civilian side. I don’t know every company and if it can be done legally, but I have never heard of roth matching being a thing.

    5. KCPilot17 on

      It was law until about a year ago. Since then, administrators have had the option to match Roth. The TSP/government has yet to implement it, as have most civilian companies as well.

      BL is it’s brand new and will take time.

    6. DadOf3-1978 on

      If they did that they would add the match on to your w2 as it’s free income.

    7. 1N_Nothing on

      Tax implications are the reason. First, they’d have to figure out how to tax you now for the matching contribution; imo, the end result would be a reduced match. Second, do you think your government prefers the tax on $1 now or the tax on $1 plus it’s growth in the future? The answer to that question alone tells you why Traditional is matched.

    8. Noveltyrobot on

      The law literally just changed. You can actually lobby for it if you wanna see that change.

    9. _DannyG_ on

      Wait… I’m dumb. So you have to contributed at least 5% to traditional to get the match? Or the match just goes into the traditional? Because I’ve been doing 23% into Roth only.

    Leave A Reply
    Share via