Another Reason to Check Your LES

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After the February mid-month Roth Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) snafu, it looked like things would be sorted after the end-of-month pay was disbursed last Friday.  However, it has come to my attention that things were NOT completely sorted for everyone.

It seems that some of the people who dutifully made new Roth TSP contribution elections in January did not have their information "stick" in the system.  When my husband did his the first time, something seemed off, so he did it a second time, and I didn't think anything of it.  I'm now getting reports that some people did not have any Roth TSP deducted from their February pay.

Now, it is possible that some of the affected folks just forgot to submit their new instructions.  Goodness knows that time goes by too fast and sometimes things don't get done in a timely manner.  However, I've had enough reliable reports from people who believe that they did make new elections to think that there was some sort of problem.

The upshot of this is that if you think that you are contributing to a TSP account, please check your February Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) and make sure that money is being deducted as you think.  It'll only take a minute, and it will prevent some sort of shock at the end of the year when you might discover that you've not been contributing all this time.

If you find that you didn't have TSP contributions withheld from your February pay, then be sure to go back into your MyPay account and update your TSP instructions so that the right amount will be deducted for March.  Be sure to note the effective date that will be listed on the screen.  I'd also recommend checking again in a few days to ensure that your election was properly processed through the system.

As a side note, please let this be a good reminder that you should be checking your LES for errors and omissions every month.  There are so many things that can, and do, go wrong.  It is a lot less painful to fix a problem that's new than a problem that has been going on for a long time.  Plus, it helps you maintain your situation awareness about your pay, and that's always a good thing.

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