Form TSP-73: How to Change Your Installment Payment Amount

Form TSP-73, “Change in Monthly Payment Amount,” was declared obsolete in September 2019 and is no longer processed by the Thrift Savings Plan.¹ If you receive monthly installment payments from your TSP account and want to change the dollar amount, you now make that change by logging in to My Account at tsp.gov. The online tool walks you through the request and, where needed, generates its own summary form for you to sign.²

What Form TSP-73 Was and When It Was Retired

TSP-73 (for civilian participants) and TSP-U-73 (for uniformed service members) were titled “Change in Monthly Payment Amount.” Participants already receiving installment payments used the form to adjust the recurring dollar amount coming out of their account. In September 2019, the TSP overhauled its withdrawal system and retired TSP-73 along with several other paper forms, including TSP-70, TSP-77, TSP-78, and TSP-79.¹ Copies of TSP-73 sent to the agency after that date are not accepted. If you have a printed blank on file or found one through a search result, set it aside; there is nowhere to send it.

The replacement is an online request inside My Account. When the request needs a signature (spousal consent is the most common reason), the online tool generates a pre-filled summary form for you to print, sign, notarize where required, and mail in. You do not fill out the summary form by hand. Altering any of the pre-printed information will cause the TSP to reject it.³

How to Change Your Installment Payment Amount Now

Log in to My Account at tsp.gov and start an installment payment change from the withdrawals section. You do not need to download a form first.² The tool asks a series of questions about the change you want to make and your tax withholding preferences, then either submits the request digitally or produces a summary form for signatures.³

If you prefer to work with a person rather than the website, you can also start the request by calling the ThriftLine.⁴

Two housekeeping items are worth checking before you submit. First, confirm that the bank account on file in My Account is the one you want the payments to go to. Funds are disbursed by electronic transfer to that account, or by paper check if none is linked. Second, confirm that your phone number and mailing address are current, because the TSP uses those validated contact methods as part of account security.⁵

When Spousal Consent Is Required

Married participants covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System or the uniformed services retirement system need written spousal consent on the request, and the spouse’s signature must be notarized.⁶ In practice, this means the online tool will generate a summary form, you print it, your spouse signs in front of a notary, and you mail the completed original to the TSP. The request does not enter the processing queue until the TSP receives and verifies that notarized document, so build in mailing time on both ends.

If you cannot locate your spouse, or exceptional circumstances make obtaining the signature impractical, the TSP’s Executive Director can grant an exception. That exception typically requires a court order or a government agency determination documenting the circumstances.⁷

Tax Withholding on the New Amount

Changing your installment amount is also an opportunity to reset withholding. The TSP withholds federal income tax from installment payments; you can adjust that withholding through the same online request. The TSP does not withhold state or local income taxes, but it does report every payment to your state of residence, so account for the change on your state return if your state has an income tax.⁶

One year-end timing detail matters if you are making the change in late December: payments processed on December 30 or 31 count as taxable income for the following year, not the year the request was submitted.⁸

Which Balance and Which Funds the Payment Comes From

If you have both traditional and Roth balances, the online tool asks whether the payments should come from your traditional balance only, your Roth balance only, or proportionally from both.³ The source you pick has tax consequences: traditional payments are fully taxable as ordinary income in the year received, and Roth payments are tax-free only if the distribution is qualified, meaning at least five years have passed since January 1 of the year of your first Roth TSP contribution and you have reached age 59½, become permanently disabled, or are deceased.⁹

You cannot choose which TSP funds the payment is drawn from. Every distribution is taken proportionally from each fund where you hold a balance, in the same ratio as your current allocation.¹⁰ If preserving a particular allocation matters to you, rebalance separately.

Processing Time and Cancellation Window

The TSP processes requests every business day. A request submitted before noon Eastern time is processed that same night; a request submitted after noon is processed the following business night. You can cancel or change the request up until noon on the day it is scheduled to be processed. After that, it is final.¹¹

The former 30-day waiting period between withdrawal requests no longer applies. As of May 15, 2024, you can submit a new request as soon as the previous one finishes processing.¹²

Security Steps That Can Block a Request

All participants must use multifactor authentication to log in to My Account and to complete certain transactions, including withdrawal-related requests. You will need both your password and a one-time passcode sent to a device you control.⁵

If you previously enabled an “account lock,” you will need to unlock it with your 10-digit key before the request will go through. Forgot the key? Call the ThriftLine to speak with a representative. And if you have a legacy account hold placed before June 1, 2022, you must call the ThriftLine to release that hold before any new withdrawal-related request can be processed, even if you have also set up the newer account lock feature.⁵ Clearing these before you sit down to make the change will save you a second session.

1
Thrift Savings Plan. New Options and Processes for Changes to Installment Payments
2
Thrift Savings Plan. Forms and Resources
3
Thrift Savings Plan. New Options and Processes for Withdrawal Requests for Separated and Beneficiary Participants
4
Thrift Savings Plan. Making an In-Service Withdrawal
5
Thrift Savings Plan. Protect Your Account
6
Thrift Savings Plan. Taking Money From Your Account
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eCFR. 5 CFR 1650.64 – Executive Directors Exception to the Spousal Consent Requirement
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Thrift Savings Plan. IRS Form 1099-R
9
Thrift Savings Plan. Traditional and Roth TSP Contributions
10
Thrift Savings Plan. Summary of the Thrift Savings Plan
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Thrift Savings Plan. Withdrawals in Retirement
12
Thrift Savings Plan. No 30-Day Waiting Period Between Withdrawal Requests