TSP Problems galore

[whelandw]

First Problem: (Husband began receiving RMD 3 years ago when he reached 72 and no problems until new system was put into action). He is still waiting for the December check to cover the remaining RMD requirement for 2022. We have talked to 6 TSP representatives. The first four representatives we talked in last week of December all said the check should be there tomorrow, call back tomorrow if it doesn't show up. Rep #5 we called after New Years and he said the check was never issued. and put in request to reissue check. Last rep #6 said the order to reissue the payment went through on 18 January 2023, payment would be sent electronically to the bank on record (no check), BUT with the debt ceiling problem we shouldn't be expecting it any time soon. Hope we are not subject to the 50% penalty for not taking the total amount required for distribution.
Second Problem: Husband received January RMD the other day. TSP withheld 5% for Federal taxes. 5%??? Husband filed single with 0 exemptions PLUS additional $400. Talk about messing up withholding for Federal taxes for 2023. Holy cow what a FUBAR TSP system we have been given.
Think I will seriously think about moving my TSP funds to an IRA before I am requires to start RMD!
Rant over but still mad enough to spit nails!

[Scarfinger]

Damn that sucks. Your story confirms my intention to move my TSP to fidelity when I retire.

[Bubba]

First Problem: (Husband began receiving RMD 3 years ago when he reached 72 and no problems until new system was put into action). He is still waiting for the December check to cover the remaining RMD requirement for 2022. We have talked to 6 TSP representatives. The first four representatives we talked in last week of December all said the check should be there tomorrow, call back tomorrow if it doesn't show up. Rep #5 we called after New Years and he said the check was never issued. and put in request to reissue check. Last rep #6 said the order to reissue the payment went through on 18 January 2023, payment would be sent electronically to the bank on record (no check), BUT with the debt ceiling problem we shouldn't be expecting it any time soon. Hope we are not subject to the 50% penalty for not taking the total amount required for distribution.
Second Problem: Husband received January RMD the other day. TSP withheld 5% for Federal taxes. 5%??? Husband filed single with 0 exemptions PLUS additional $400. Talk about messing up withholding for Federal taxes for 2023. Holy cow what a FUBAR TSP system we have been given.
Think I will seriously think about moving my TSP funds to an IRA before I am requires to start RMD!
Rant over but still mad enough to spit nails!

I'm truly sorry this is happening to you. It seriously bothers me that in the US we always assume companies can do everything better and more efficient than the government. This is an example that's not always true (although in most cases it is, of course). Nonetheless, I hope you guys get some fix out of this.

Personally, I'm also thinking of putting my money into an IRA. If the TSP had never gone to Alight, I might not have gone that direction, but this is one of those moments when the fan's blowing and that pile of warm, brown gooeyness is about to do its job...

[evilanne]

whelandw
I am feeling the same about TSP, I never considered closing my TSP account until this transition but I'm locked in until 59.5 You shouldn't be subject to the 50% penalty because according to TSP they sent you the required distribution. Make sure you are using the revised IRS RMD table to calculate amount for 2022 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b# ... k100089977. Both contractors made mistakes that may offset each other.

It appears that the new contractor recalculated the RMD amount when they took over using the then current balance divided by the updated age factor which understated the RMD (per a new representative I spoke with this year) The former contractor used the 12/31/2021 balance divided by the old age factor that overstated the RMD for the year. It my case the total payments were within a few hundred dollars of what I calculated that it should have been if they had done it correctly. I have no way of making any adjustment to my Life Expectancy payment so I am considering what I actually got as my RMD.

Happy Trails

[whelandw]

If anyone is still interested, we called TSP again about Jerry's missing RMD catch-up check. Albert (TSP rep) said the missing RMD check issue was just elevated to a supervisor TODAY! Latest update says the CHECK (yes, check this time not ACH as previous TSP rep said) would take 3 days before check was approved and issued, then another 10 days before the check would arrive at address on record. This issue couldn't get elevated to a supervisor by one of the previous 6 TSP reps we spoke with since December? What about the last rep that said the check was reissued on 18 January? I'm not certain I believe what this rep said today.

TSP rep also said there was a programming error which caused the incorrect amount of withholding from Jerry's January's 2023 monthly RMD check. Should be fixed for February distribution check and TSP will withhold extra for the amount that was not withheld from January check. Is this another whopper of a tale?

I started the process of a withdrawal on MY TSP account this week, requesting $100K be sent to the broker to open a rollover IRA. You must first provide address of the broker then wait a week before you can start the withdrawal process. I received a text message on my phone that said the check would be issued Feb 1. Hmm, the check is in the mail story. Anyone else want to believe it?

Can you believe this bull&%^*? Hope you all have better luck with the TSP than we seem to be having.
Debby

[evilanne]

Let us know how it works out, if and when you get the money (ACH or check).

If you are below your RMD you may need this form https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i5329.pdf See page 8 section "Waiver of tax for reasonable cause."

I checked my notifications to see if they addressed my requested 1099-R correction. Nothing on that so I probably need to call tomorrow to see what response I get.
I got 2 new notifications in my secure mailbox:
Annual Account Statement - Thrift Savings Plan (It only covers conversion period 5/26 to 12/31, not my definition of annual)
Lifetime Income Illustration - Thrift Savings Plan I would prefer to have the old calculator back than an example that isn't relevant to me! They say "Having this information now may help you plan how much money to save for your retirement." I am retired from the federal government and I have quite a few years before I turn 67--their assumption based on my account balance

[ETOZZY]

At My Roads End It Seems. Made A Partial Withdrawal On Dec 2nd And Ever Since Calling And Asking For It To Be Deposited Into My Account At Bank. I Call Once Or Twice A week and get the same response / Rep says something along this line i will have my team reissue. Well i had my bank go over the attempts at possible deposits made. TSP keeps saying they are having trouble making the deposit. My bank said there has been no attempts to make a deposit. Other than write a congressman i have no idea when or if all this will change. Does anybody on here have any suggestions how i may resole this? The money seems to be in cyberspace dead locked unable to make any increases or placed in my hands. My wife received her notice and i have the forms for taxes to pay on it but nothing in hand. 2 solid months of what should have been a 2 business day event! Frustrated Exhausted I even ask the rep what her contractor's name was and she put me on hold came back said i cant give you that info. I said well Google says its Accenture AFS He He So She could at least know something herself. Thank You Dennis

[whelandw]

Update: Jerry's missing RMD check showed up yesterday in the mail.
After receiving text message that funds would be issued on 1 Feb for my TSP partial withdraw, I received email message that said funds would be issued 6 Feb. Allow 3-4 days to reach broker, about 8 days from then to clear and fund account. Debby
Update2: Saw the amount of MY withdrawal show up in brokerage account this afternoon! Holy cow, it actually worked!

[mjedlin66]

I'm truly sorry this is happening to you. It seriously bothers me that in the US we always assume companies can do everything better and more efficient than the government. This is an example that's not always true (although in most cases it is, of course). Nonetheless, I hope you guys get some fix out of this.

Personally, I'm also thinking of putting my money into an IRA. If the TSP had never gone to Alight, I might not have gone that direction, but this is one of those moments when the fan's blowing and that pile of warm, brown gooeyness is about to do its job...

I am fairly certain that the old system was also contracted. The difference was it was a competent contractor, or at the very least, the government employees overseeing that contract were competent.

It really appears that Alight is not being held accountable. And for that I do blame the government office.

[bloobs]

I think Alight is the product/vendor and Accenture Federal is the product implementer.

[ETOZZY]

At My Roads End It Seems. Made A Partial Withdrawal On Dec 2nd And Ever Since Calling And Asking For It To Be Deposited Into My Account At Bank. I Call Once Or Twice A week and get the same response / Rep says something along this line i will have my team reissue. Well i had my bank go over the attempts at possible deposits made. TSP keeps saying they are having trouble making the deposit. My bank said there has been no attempts to make a deposit. Other than write a congressman i have no idea when or if all this will change. Does anybody on here have any suggestions how i may resole this? The money seems to be in cyberspace dead locked unable to make any increases or placed in my hands. My wife received her notice and i have the forms for taxes to pay on it but nothing in hand. 2 solid months of what should have been a 2 business day event! Frustrated Exhausted I even ask the rep what her contractor's name was and she put me on hold came back said i cant give you that info. I said well Google says its Accenture AFS He He So She could at least know something herself. Thank You Dennis

Update After At Least A Dozen Calls And No One Else To Turn To Other Than Wasted Letters To Congressmen Which I was Hesitant To Do. The Deposit Finally Made It Today. That's Little Over Two Full Months; Unacceptable Is An Understatement! PTL Thank Yall For Listening

[evilanne]

I am fairly certain that the old system was also contracted. The difference was it was a competent contractor, or at the very least, the government employees overseeing that contract were competent.

It really appears that Alight is not being held accountable. And for that I do blame the government office.

I'm not certain about either contractor being competent but I agree that the TSP government office & TSP board are to blame for not providing appropriate oversight, the lousy contract transition & replacement.
It was the old contractor that didn't update the LE tables (even though that had been planned for several years)
The new contractor got the LE factors correct but they used them based on the balance in the account. The most recent issue is they did withholding incorrectly (either withholding too much or not enough) for January payments. They deleted default withholding of married with 3 dependents which never made sense. We'll see next week when withholding issue is supposed to be corrected. If you are getting LE or installment payments you may want to check to make sure you are getting what you are expecting.

The IRS change was known when they took over the contract see https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/expert ... ed-in-2023

OPM is using new withholding process, it takes 48-72 hours to get the calculated amount so don't wait until the last minute to make any changes.

[Aitrus]

The thing I dislike most about the new site is that it's not user friendly - the layout is not intuitive or clear to use. Also, the site is fast to begin with, but then slows down very quickly. For somebody looking at past data or who want to find their account balance or transactions history, the site slows down the longer you spend looking at various dates.