Set Up Your 5% Roth TSP: 5 Minute Military Money 1/10 #219
What if you could set yourself up for financial success in the military with just ONE action that takes 5 minutes?
Spencer and Jamie kick off their 10-part "If You Don't Have Time for Anything Else" series with the absolute first thing every military service member needs to do: Start a 5% contribution to your Roth TSP. This bite-sized episode cuts through the confusion and gives you the exact steps to take right now.
What to Do
Action: Set up 5% Roth TSP contribution
Steps:
- Go to mypay.dfas.mil
- Click TSP tab
- Select 5% to Roth TSP
- Done
Time required: 5 minutes
Key Information
What is TSP?
- Thrift Savings Plan = military's 401(k)
- Automatic retirement account from Department of Defense
- Two types: Roth and Traditional
Why 5%?
- Months 1-24: DoD contributes 1% automatic
- Month 25+: DoD contributes 5% automatic + matches your 5% (total: 9%)
- You must contribute 5% to get full match
Why Roth?
- After-tax contributions
- Tax-free growth
- Tax-free withdrawals at retirement (age 59½+)
- Best choice for most military members
Auto-Enrollment
- New members: Often auto-enrolled at 5%
- Existing members: May be re-enrolled at 5% in January
- Check MyPay to verify
Resources
- MyPay: mypay.dfas.mil
- TSP Course: militarymoneymanual.com/tsp
- Related Episode: Episode 2 of MMM - The Thrift Savings Plan (most popular episode)
- Book: The Military Money Manual
Bottom Line: 5% Roth TSP = free DoD matching money. Takes 5 minutes to set up. Do it now.
Spencer and Jamie offer one-on-one Military Money Mentor sessions. Get your personal military money and personal finance questions answered in a confidential coaching call. militarymoneymanual.com/mentor
Over 20,000 military servicemembers and military spouses have graduated from the 100% free course available at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3
In the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course, you can learn how to apply for the most premium credit cards and get special military protections, such as waived annual fees, on elite cards like The Platinum Card® from American Express and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card.
Learn how active duty military, military spouses, and Guard and Reserves on 30+ day active orders can get your annual fees waived on premium credit cards in the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3
If you want to maximize your military paycheck, check out Spencer's 5 star rated book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom on Amazon or at shop.militarymoneymanual.com.
Want to be confident with your TSP investing? Check out the Confident TSP Investing course at militarymoneymanual.com/tsp to learn all about the Thrift Savings Plan and strategies for growing your wealth while in the military. Use promo code "podcast24" for $50 off. Plus, for every course sold, we'll donate one course to an E-4 or below- for FREE!
If you have a question you would like us to answer on the podcast, please reach out on instagram.com/militarymoneymanual.
