PillarWealthContent Hub
203 articles on TSP rules, benchmarks, strategy, pensions and taxes, plus a daily TSP market recap.
Weekly TSP recap email
A short Saturday email with each fund's weekly move, a chart of the funds you pick, and links to the daily recaps.
15 articles
Historical Legislation & Milestones
The SECURE Act of 2019: What Actually Changed for Federal Savers
Two retired coworkers at the same agency, born six months apart, sat down for coffee in early 2020 and compared notes. One, born in June 1949, had just taken her first required minimum distribution from her TSP and IRA. ...
5 min · 2026-09-28
Historical Legislation & Milestones
SECURE 2.0 Explained Without the Legalese
Marcus retired from a GS-13 position at an Air Force depot in 2021. He'd circled his 70½ birthday in red for years, because everyone told him that's when the IRS forces you to start pulling money out of your TSP and IRA....
5 min · 2026-09-27
Historical Legislation & Milestones
How the RMD Age Climbed From 70½ to 73 (and Soon 75)
Two coworkers at the same agency retire in the same month. Dana was born June 30, 1949. Marcus was born one day later, July 1, 1949. They've shared an office, a commute, and a lot of gripes about the same GS pay scale. B...
6 min · 2026-09-23
Historical Legislation & Milestones
The New Roth Catch-Up Rule for High Earners
Dana is 56, a hospital finance director earning $168,000, and she has made catch-up contributions to her 401(k) for years. Every January she bumps the election, enjoys the smaller tax bill that follows, and moves on. The...
5 min · 2026-09-19
Historical Legislation & Milestones
Inside the 2022 TSP Portal Migration: What Went Wrong and What Got Better
Picture a Defense Department civilian, three months from retirement, sitting down on a Sunday night to check her TSP balance and run the numbers for her withdrawal plan. She types in her credentials. Nothing. She tries a...
5 min · 2026-09-18
Historical Legislation & Milestones
The Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of 1986: Where the TSP Began
Picture a Treasury Department clerk in the spring of 1987. She was hired three years ago, so she's under the new retirement system, and a form lands on her desk with a name she has never heard: the Thrift Savings Plan. H...
5 min · 2026-09-13
Historical Legislation & Milestones
The Blended Retirement System: Why the Military Joined the TSP
Dana was a Navy petty officer with eight years in and a job offer from a logistics company back home. The pay was better, the hours were predictable, and her spouse was ready to stop moving every three years. The only th...
6 min · 2026-09-12
Historical Legislation & Milestones
The TSP Modernization Act of 2017 and Your Withdrawal Options
Marcus retired from a regional VA office in the spring of 2017 with a TSP balance just over $500,000 and a leaking roof. He wanted $30,000 out to fix it. He also wanted the option to pull a little more later, maybe for a...
4 min · 2026-09-07
Historical Legislation & Milestones
When Roth TSP Arrived: A 2012 Milestone Worth Remembering
Picture a payroll office in early May 2012. A GS-9 named Marcus, 31, a few years into his career, gets an email from his agency: a new TSP option called Roth is going live on the 7th. He reads it twice. He knows the trad...
5 min · 2026-09-04
Historical Legislation & Milestones
The I Fund Benchmark Switch: From EAFE to ACWI ex-US
Picture a GS-13 in Denver, a few years from retirement, going through her quarterly TSP statement. She's been putting 10 percent of her balance in the I Fund for a decade, and she's always described it to her spouse as "...
6 min · 2026-09-03
Historical Legislation & Milestones
The Mutual Fund Window: Who It's For and Why It Costs Extra
A federal engineer I'll call Dana had $240,000 in her TSP and a nagging itch. She'd read about a small-cap value fund she liked, and a sustainable energy fund a coworker swore by, and neither lived in the TSP lineup. The...
5 min · 2026-08-29
Historical Legislation & Milestones
Super Catch-Up Contributions for Ages 60 to 63
Dana turned 61 in March. The mortgage was paid off two years ago, the last tuition bill went out in May, and for the first time in her career the household budget had slack in it. She sat down with her TSP contribution s...
5 min · 2026-08-27