Yes, the Thrift Savings Plan does have a Roth option, and it is available to every federal civilian employee and uniformed services member regardless of income. You can direct some or all of your own paycheck contributions into a Roth balance, where the money goes in after taxes and later comes out tax-free if you meet the qualifying rules. Agency contributions still go to your traditional balance, and the combined annual limit across Roth and traditional contributions is $24,500 for 2026.
How the Roth TSP Works
When you elect Roth, federal and any applicable state income taxes are withheld from your pay before the contribution reaches your account. In exchange, both your contributions and their investment earnings can come out completely tax-free later, provided the withdrawal is a “qualified distribution.”1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S.C. 402A – Optional Treatment of Elective Deferrals as Roth Contributions
A qualified distribution requires two things at once. You have to be at least 59½, permanently disabled, or deceased (in which case the tax-free benefit passes to your beneficiary). And at least five taxable years must have passed since January 1 of the year you made your first Roth TSP contribution. The five-year clock starts on January 1 even if your first contribution landed in December, so contributing early in the year gives you a running start.
Take money out before both conditions are met and your original contributions still come back tax-free, since you already paid tax on them. The earnings portion, though, is taxed as ordinary income and may face a 10% early withdrawal penalty.2Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Exceptions to Tax on Early Distributions
How to Elect Roth Contributions
You have to choose Roth affirmatively. New federal civilian employees and certain re-entering uniformed services members are automatically enrolled at 5% of basic pay, and those default contributions go entirely into the traditional balance. To route them to Roth from the start, civilian employees need to make an election before the end of their first pay period, and uniformed services members within 60 days of their service date.3eCFR. 5 CFR Part 1600 Subpart E – Automatic Enrollment Program
Missing that window is not fatal. You can switch future contributions to Roth at any time through your agency’s payroll system, such as myPay for military members or Employee Express for many civilian employees, or by submitting Form TSP-1 (civilian) or TSP-U-1 (uniformed services).4Thrift Savings Plan. TSP-1 Election Form Information and Instructions5Thrift Savings Plan. TSP-U-1 Election Form Information and Instructions What you cannot do is retroactively convert traditional contributions already made. Changes typically take effect within one to two pay cycles, and your Leave and Earnings Statement will show the Roth designation under your deductions.
No Income Limits
Unlike a Roth IRA, the Roth TSP has no income cap. A Roth IRA phases out your ability to contribute once modified adjusted gross income crosses set thresholds; the Roth TSP applies no such test.6Internal Revenue Service. Roth Comparison Chart Any federal employee or uniformed services member can make Roth TSP contributions, whatever they earn.
That makes it especially useful for higher-income federal workers who are shut out of direct Roth IRA contributions. The two accounts have separate contribution limits, so you can still fund a Roth IRA on the side if your income qualifies.
2026 Contribution Limits
For 2026 the IRS sets the elective deferral limit at $24,500. That is the ceiling on what you can contribute from your own paycheck across Roth and traditional TSP combined in a calendar year. Every dollar you put into Roth reduces the room available for traditional, and vice versa.7Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
Age-based catch-up contributions sit on top of that:
- If you turn 50 or older during 2026, you can add $8,000 in catch-up contributions, for a total of $32,500.
- If you turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 during 2026, the enhanced SECURE 2.0 catch-up of $11,250 applies, bringing the total to $35,750.
These limits govern only your own contributions. Agency automatic and matching contributions do not count against your $24,500 cap; they fall under a separate, higher annual additions limit.
One boundary worth flagging for higher earners: under final IRS regulations implementing SECURE 2.0, employees whose Social Security wages exceeded $145,000 in the prior year will be required to make catch-up contributions as Roth, effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026. If your 2026 wages cross that threshold, your 2027 catch-up contributions will have to go into the Roth balance.8Internal Revenue Service. Treasury, IRS Issue Final Regulations on New Roth Catch-Up Rule, Other SECURE 2.0 Act Provisions
Matching Contributions Still Go to Traditional
FERS employees receive an automatic agency contribution of 1% of basic pay plus a match of up to 4% based on their own contribution level. Both Roth and traditional contributions count toward earning that match.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 U.S.C. 8432 – Contributions
The catch: all agency and service contributions land in your traditional balance, even if you contribute entirely to Roth. The TSP does not currently offer a Roth match.10The Thrift Savings Plan. Traditional and Roth TSP Contributions So a “Roth-only” participant still ends up with a traditional balance built from employer money, and ordinary income tax will apply to those contributions and their earnings on withdrawal.
Roth TSP and Required Minimum Distributions
Starting with tax year 2024, Roth TSP balances are no longer subject to required minimum distributions during your lifetime. Only the traditional balance is used to compute your annual RMD, and only traditional distributions count toward satisfying it, so the Roth side can keep growing tax-free for as long as you live.11The Thrift Savings Plan. SECURE 2.0 and the TSP
Spouse beneficiaries who inherit a TSP account are treated differently. For them, the RMD calculation still includes the entire balance, both Roth and traditional.
Early Withdrawal Penalty Exceptions
If you take a non-qualified Roth TSP distribution, your contributions come back tax-free, but earnings are taxed as ordinary income and generally hit with the 10% early withdrawal penalty. Several exceptions can waive that penalty:
- Separation from federal service during or after the year you turn 55.
- For federal law enforcement officers, firefighters, customs and border protection officers, corrections officers, and air traffic controllers, separation during or after the year you turn 50.
- Under SECURE 2.0, public safety employees with at least 25 years of qualifying federal service at separation, regardless of age.
- Total and permanent disability, or distributions to a beneficiary after the participant’s death.
The public safety exemptions run off codes your employing agency reports to the TSP.12The Thrift Savings Plan. SECURE Act 2.0, Section 329 – Modification of Eligible Age for Exemption From Early Withdrawal Penalty Even when the 10% penalty is waived, the earnings portion of a non-qualified Roth distribution is still taxed as ordinary income.2Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Exceptions to Tax on Early Distributions
Rolling the Roth TSP Into a Roth IRA
After you leave federal service, or once you reach 59½ while still employed, you can roll your Roth TSP balance into a Roth IRA. The TSP processes the rollover with a U.S. Treasury check made out to the receiving IRA custodian. Roth contributions transfer tax-free, and earnings transfer tax-free too if the distribution was qualified.13The Thrift Savings Plan. Rollovers From the Thrift Savings Plan to Eligible Retirement Plans
Watch the clocks. Years spent in the Roth TSP do not count toward the Roth IRA’s own five-year waiting period. Roll over into a brand-new Roth IRA and the five-year clock for tax-free earnings starts fresh. If you already made a Roth IRA contribution in a prior year, though, the clock runs from that earlier contribution, so opening and funding a small Roth IRA well before you plan to roll over the Roth TSP can preserve continuous tax-free access.14Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plans FAQs on Designated Roth Accounts