PART 1690—THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN Authority: 5 U.S.C. 8474. Source: 68 FR 35519, June 13, 2003, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A—General § 1690.1 Definitions. As used in this chapter: Agency automatic (1%) contributions Agency matching contributions Basic pay Beneficiary participant Beneficiary participant account Board Bonus contributions BRS BRS participant C Fund Catch-up contributions Civilian account Civilian beneficiary participant account Civilian employee Contribution election Court of competent jurisdiction CSRS CSRS employee CSRS participant Date of appointment Day Eligible employer plan Employee contributions Employer contributions Employing agency Executive Director F Fund Federal civilian retirement system FERS FERS employee FERS participant FERSA Former spouse G Fund G Fund interest rate I Fund In-service withdrawal request Investment election L Fund PEBD Plan participant participant Post-employment distribution request Posting Posting date Ready Reserve Regular employee contributions Roth 5 year non-exclusion period Roth balance (1) Roth contributions and associated earnings; and (2) Amounts rolled over to the TSP from a Roth account maintained by an eligible employer plans and earnings on those amounts. Roth contributions Roth begin date (1) The earlier of: (i) The actual date of a participant's first Roth contribution to the TSP; (ii) The “as of” date or attributable pay date (as defined in § 1605.1 of this subchapter) that established the date of the participant's first Roth contribution to the TSP; or (iii) The date used, by a plan from which the participant directly rolled over Roth money into the TSP, to measure the participant's Roth 5 year non-exclusion period. (2) If a participant has a civilian account and a uniformed services account, the Roth begin date for both accounts will be the same. Roth IRA S Fund Separation from Government service Share Share price Source of contributions Special or incentive pay Spouse Tax-deferred balance (1) All contributions and rollovers in a participant's traditional balance that would otherwise be includible in gross income if paid directly to the participant and earnings on those amounts; and (2) Earnings on any tax-exempt contributions in the traditional balance. The tax-deferred balance does not include tax-exempt contributions. Tax-deferred contributions Tax-exempt balance Tax-exempt contributions Thrift Savings Fund Fund Thrift Savings Plan, TSP, Plan ThriftLine Traditional balance (1) Tax-deferred contributions and associated earnings; (2) Tax-deferred amounts rolled over into the TSP and associated earnings; (3) Tax-exempt contributions and associated earnings; (4) Agency matching contributions and associated earnings; (5) Agency automatic (1%) contributions and associated earnings. Traditional contributions Traditional IRA TSP core fund TSP record keeper TSP record keeper TSP website Uniformed service member Uniformed services Uniformed services account Uniformed services beneficiary participant account Vested account balance [68 FR 35519, June 13, 2003, as amended at 70 FR 32218, June 1, 2005; 71 FR 50320, Aug. 25, 2006; 75 FR 78880, Dec. 17, 2010; 77 FR 26429, May 4, 2012; 78 FR 57784, Sept. 20, 2013; 82 FR 60105, Dec. 19, 2017; 87 FR 31695, May 24, 2022; 91 FR 1672, Jan. 15, 2026; 91 FR 3027, Jan. 26, 2026] Subpart B—Miscellaneous § 1690.11 Plan year. The Thrift Savings Plan's plan year is established on a calendar-year basis for all purposes, except where another applicable provision of law requires that a fiscal year or other basis be used. As used in this section, the term “calendar-year basis” means a twelve-month period beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31 of the same year. § 1690.12 Power of attorney. (a) A participant or beneficiary can appoint an agent to conduct business with the TSP on his or her behalf by using a power of attorney (POA). The agent is called an attorney-in-fact. The TSP record keeper must approve a POA before the agent can conduct business with the TSP; however, the TSP record keeper will accept a document that was signed by the agent before the TSP record keeper approved the POA. The TSP record keeper will approve a POA if it meets the following conditions: (1) The POA must give the agent either general or specific powers, as explained in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section; (2) The POA must be signed by the participant; (3) The POA must provide the names and addresses of the participant and the agent; (4) The POA must meet the state law requirements of the participant's state of domicile as determined by the address on file with the TSP record keeper; (5) The POA must be a complete document; and (6) The POA must be submitted to the TSP record keeper for approval. (b) A general POA gives an agent unlimited authority to conduct business with the TSP, including the authority to sign any TSP-related document. Additional information regarding general powers of attorney can be accessed at https://www.tsp.gov. (c) A specific power of attorney gives an agent the authority to conduct specific TSP transactions. A specific POA must expressly describe the authority it grants. Additional information regarding specifical powers of attorney, as well as a sample form, can be accessed at https://www.tsp.gov. [87 FR 31695, May 24, 2022] § 1690.13 Guardianship and conservatorship orders. (a) A court order can authorize an agent to conduct business with the TSP on behalf of an incapacitated participant or beneficiary. The agent is called a guardian or conservator and the incapacitated person is called a ward. The TSP record keeper must approve a court order before an agent can conduct business with the TSP; however, the TSP record keeper will accept a document that was signed by the agent before the TSP record keeper approved the court order. The TSP record keeper will approve a court order appointing an agent if the following conditions are met: (1) A court of competent jurisdiction (as defined at § 1690.1) must have issued the court order; (2) The court order must give the agent either general or specific powers, as explained in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section; and (3) The agent must demonstrate that he or she meets any precondition specified in the court order, such as a bonding requirement. (b) A general grant of authority gives a guardian or conservator unlimited authority to conduct business with the TSP, including the authority to sign any TSP-related document. By way of example, an order gives a general grant authority by appointing a “guardian of the ward's estate,” by permitting a guardian to “conduct business transactions” for the ward, or by authorizing a guardian to care for the ward's “personal property” or “Federal Government retirement benefits.” (c) A specific grant of authority gives a guardian or conservator authority to conduct specific TSP transactions. Such an order must expressly describe the authority it grants. By way of example, an order may authorize an agent to “obtain information about the ward's TSP account” or “borrow or withdraw funds from the ward's TSP account.” [87 FR 31696, May 24, 2022] § 1690.14 Checks made payable to the Thrift Savings Plan. (a) Accord and satisfaction. (b) TSP payment address. [70 FR 32218, June 1, 2005, as amended at 87 FR 31696, May 24, 2022] § 1690.15 Freezing an account—administrative holds. (a) The TSP record keeper may freeze (e.g., place an administrative hold on) a participant's account for any of the following reasons: (1) Pursuant to a qualifying retirement benefits court order as set forth in part 1653 of this chapter; (2) Pursuant to a request from the Department of Justice under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act; (3) Upon the death of a participant; (4) Upon suspicion or knowledge of fraudulent account activity or identity theft; (5) In response to litigation pertaining to an account; (6) For operational reasons (e.g., to correct a processing error or to stop payment on a check when account funds are insufficient); (7) Pursuant to a written request from a participant made in the manner prescribed by the TSP record keeper; and (8) For any other reason necessary to ensure the integrity of TSP accounts or compliance with law. (b) [Reserved] [87 FR 31696, May 24, 2022]