Q: Do you know of any provisions in the Federal Erroneous Retirement Coverage Corrections Act that allows one to get a Thrift Savings Plan loan with agency matching funds in their TSP account? In April, while employed with the Department of the Army, the Army Benefit Center informed me that I was entitled to retirement plan corrective action under FERCCA. In July, I submitted my FERCCA election form to enroll me into Civil Service Retirement System Offset retirement coverage from the Federal Employees Retirement System. ABC sent letters to my previous employers notifying them of this change and informing them that they need to remove any agency matching funds and the automatic one percent from my TSP account. I understand this part of the process. However, recently I attempted to get a TSP loan and was told that I am not eligible for a loan because I have agency matching funds in my TSP account. The matching funds are there from when I was covered under FERS, and workers covered under CSRS are not eligible for agency matching funds. It’s been six months since my retirement plan changed and I still cannot borrow my own money.
A: I know of no such provisions. You should contact your employing agency and/or the TSP for further advice on how to have the excess employer contributions removed from your account.
1 Comment
I am a federal employee that was originally hired under the CSRS retirement plan. I left govt service, and when I returned, I should have been placed in CSRS-offset. My HR dept. however, did not provide me with this choice. They sent me the FERS enrollment form, which I signed. At the time, I had NO knowledge that I could request CSRS offset. Now that I have talked to other employees, and want to be returned to the proper retirement system, my agency declined my request to be covered under FERCCA, and will not put me in CSRS Offset because I signed the FERS enrollement form. I am going to try to appeal this. Do you have any advice for me? Should I hire a lawyer? Are there other cases like this that you know about? Thanks for any help you can provide.