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An E-4 skipping TSP leaves $160/mo on the table — $83,348 of free money by retirement. The match IS the compensation.
Under the Blended Retirement System, the government matches your TSP up to 5% of base pay — and a stunning number of members leave it unclaimed. An E-4 at $3,200/mo contributing 5% draws $160/mo of free money: $1,920/yr that compounds to $83,348 over a 20-year career at 7%. Add continuation pay at 12 years (2.5× monthly base — a five-figure TSP deposit) and the BRS package rivals the old pension for anyone who actually claims it. This calculator shows your match, its future value, and the continuation bonus.
Service members use it before touching myPay: 5% in draws the full 5% match — $160/mo free for an E-4, compounding to $83k — and continuation pay at 12 years is a five-figure deposit.
The government contributes 1% of base pay automatically (starting at 60 days, vested at 2 years), then matches your contributions dollar-for-dollar on the first 3% and 50 cents per dollar on the next 2% — totaling 5% when you contribute 5%. The mechanics that matter: contributions come from BASE pay only (not BAH or BAS), the match always lands in TRADITIONAL TSP even when you contribute Roth, and matching is per-paycheck — a member who front-loads contributions and hits the annual limit in October loses November and December's match. Set a flat percentage in myPay that spreads across 12 months. New accessions are BRS by default and auto-enrolled at 5% — but members who lowered it to 1% during a tight month are leaving 4% of base pay unclaimed every single paycheck.
Roth, for almost everyone junior — the military tax situation is uniquely favorable to it. Junior enlisted taxable income sits in the 10–12% brackets after BAH and BAS are excluded (allowances are tax-free and never counted), so Roth contributions are taxed at the lowest rates you will ever see — and in combat-zone tax-excluded (CZTE) months, Roth contributions go in effectively tax-free forever: no tax in, no tax on growth, no tax out. Traditional TSP makes sense later in career when base pay pushes into the 22%+ brackets, or when a working spouse raises household income. The deployed-year stack is the closest thing to a cheat code in military finance: CZTE months let you contribute toward the much larger total-additions cap ($70,000 in 2026) instead of the normal elective limit, all Roth-eligible. Fund choice matters as much as the account: C Fund (S&P 500) or a Lifecycle fund for anyone under 40 — the default G Fund's "safety" is a guaranteed inflation loss across a 20-year horizon.
Almost always yes if you were staying anyway — 2.5× monthly base pay (active component; 0.5× for Guard/Reserve) is a $10,000+ bonus for committing to 4 more years, payable as a lump sum or installments. The catch is the election window: continuation pay must be elected BEFORE completing 12 years of service — miss the window and it is gone permanently, and services require the paperwork months in advance. The smart deployment of it: invest the lump directly into TSP or an IRA rather than absorbing it into lifestyle, and it becomes a five-figure retirement deposit at the exact midpoint where compounding still has runway. Tax note: continuation pay is fully taxable income in the year received — installments spread the bracket hit if your income straddles one. The strategic frame: BRS cut the pension multiplier to 2.0%/yr from 2.5% — the match and continuation pay are the compensation for that cut, so claiming BOTH is what makes BRS competitive with the legacy system for careerists.