Federal employees get retirement income from three sources: pension, Social Security, and TSP. The TSP only guarantees lifetime income if you convert it to an annuity, which leaves nothing for heirs. Keeping money in the G Fund risks losing purchasing power to inflation.
Chapters
As a federal employee covered by the Federal Employee Retirement System, known as FERS, or by the Civil Service Retirement System, known as CSRS, you may have as many as 3 parts to your retirement income provisions: your pension plan, a Social Security benefit, and your Thrift Savings Plan. Of course, both your pension plan and Social Security benefit provide you with guaranteed lifetime income payments. But your Thrift Savings Plan, or TSP, does not provide you with a lifetime income benefit unless you convert your savings into an immediate income annuity. However, with an immediate income annuity, you exchange your savings for a lifetime of guaranteed income payments. So when you pass on, there will be nothing left to your family. What's more, if your TSP money is invested in the G Fund, You do not earn enough on your savings to even keep pace with the rate of inflation, which means that your money is actually losing value against—