<p>Assuming that the monthly "pay" Mids receive is considered earned income, are they eligible for the Thrift Savings Plan?</p>
<p>TIA Swedevb</p>
<p>Yes, I’m almost certain. One of the perks of USNA is the sole fact that Mids can have some of that income automatically deducted into the TSP… and from there on it can dispersed into the various funds…</p>
<p>It’s pretty much the same as it is for any other Active duty member.</p>
<p>Great question! I’m fairly sure that the answer is, “No.”</p>
<p>USCGA cadets are definitely NOT allowed to participate:
“Coast Guard Academy cadets and non-prior service CG Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS) cadets are not eligible to participate in TSP until they are commissioned or reverted to enlisted status.”<br>
[Thrift</a> Savings Plan for Coast Guard/NOAA Military Personnel](<a href=“http://uscg.mil/PPC/tsp.asp]Thrift”>http://uscg.mil/PPC/tsp.asp) </p>
<p>I have also found a letter from the USNA parents club of northern Virginia that states that Mids are not allowed to participate in TSP.</p>
<p>Hmm… then what is the program where Midshipmen can divert some of their stipend from going into their checking accounts and instead transfer it into investing in mutual funds and such? Is that something completely different?</p>
<p>The amount of money you get paid will not really be enough to put into TSP if you could. If you sign up for TSP your plebe year and put 10% of each months pay then it would leave you with about $2 going into your actual bank account. The reason is because base pay for a Midshipman is around $1000 a month, however the amount of money you actually receive is nowhere close to that. I am not sure if it has changed but plebe year I received $100 a month.</p>
<p>No, unless one is a prior and has been participating. Mid pay is determined to be a “stipend” and thus does not qualify. There’s information about this on one of the sites on which I’m momentarily blanking.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the answer. Too bad it’s no. </p>
<p>Navy07, recall TSP allowance isn’t based on your take home pay check, it’s based on your earned income for the year which in your case would have been ~$12,000. Not a bad start to a retirement account had it been allowed (assuming you have $12,000 saved up to deposit).</p>
<p>Swedevb</p>
<p>I know it is based on earned income. The point I was trying to make was that if your base pay is $998 a month and you elected to take 10% for your TSP then during plebe year you would receive about $2 a month.</p>
<p>When I worked as a civilian engineer for the Navy, we could choose the % of pay that we wanted to put into TSP. It did not have to be the max, although that’s best if one can afford it. So, if TSP were available, (too bad it’s not), Plebes could choose to set aside a smaller %, and thus, still have some spending money. Moot point, though.</p>
<p>Since their time at an academy doesn’t “count” toward the military retirement system, and at best, cadets/mids are under no obligation until their junior year, they don’t have any withdrawals toward “retirement.” Remember too, in the Civil Service FERS system, TSP has an additional “match” in the first – what, 5%? Then there is an elective percentage after that which can be set. Also, in the civil service, FERS doesn’t apply to temporary or term employees. I think this all relates to their status in the retirement system – they aren’t in ANY federal “retirement” system, military or civil service, of which the TSP is a part. </p>
<p>However, I don’t think this precludes them from the IRA/Roth options.</p>
<p>No. I’m a Mid. They don’t let us have the TSP here. We can have it when we graduate. Also, if you’re prior enlisted service, your TSP still exists but cannot be contributed to until you graduate.</p>