Can You Invest In Gold In The TSP?
Thursday, March 27th 2025
Thrift Savings Plans (TSPs) play an essential part of retirement savings for U.S. federal employees – such as civil service employees, members of uniformed services and employees at various government agencies – including civil servants. Offering numerous investment choices with their own advantages and drawbacks. One area many investors worry about investing in is gold; thus, this article explores this particular investment option to see whether you can buy physical gold via TSP.
Background on TSPs
Before we explore that question, let’s first define and understand what the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is and its operation. Established by Congress as part of the Federal Employees Retirement System Act in 1986, the Thrift Savings Plan offers defined contribution plans like a 401(k). As of September 2021, there were five individual investment funds and five lifecycle funds or “L” funds designed specifically to fit different investment horizons and time horizons for retirement planning.
These five funds include the Government Securities Investment (G) Fund, Fixed Income Index Investment (F) Fund, Common Stock Index Investment (C) Fund, Small Capitalization Stock Index Investment (S) Fund and International Stock Index Investment (I) Fund. Each has different risk/return characteristics which give TSP participants more investment options to consider when building their savings portfolios.
Gold or other precious metals do not appear explicitly among these options, making direct investment impossible via the TSP currently. Like many defined contribution plans, TSP has restrictions on which investments it covers; generally focusing on broadly diversified mutual funds which follow various sectors in stock and bond markets.
However, participants in the TSP don’t need a direct gold investment option to reap its potential advantages – rather they should understand its role within an overall investment strategy and understand where gold might fit best within it.
Investments Allowed that Come with Similar Advantages
Gold has long been considered an attractive investment due to its track record of maintaining its value over time and acting as an inflation hedge (1). Furthermore, many see gold as a “safe haven” during times of economic unpredictability as it tends to move inversely from more volatile asset classes like stocks; therefore, even though you cannot directly invest in it using your TSP account you can devise an approach which serves similar functions.
G Fund investments consist largely of short-term U.S. Treasury securities that are guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, making these types of investments generally considered low risk – like gold’s protective properties during volatile market conditions. Furthermore, F Fund can serve to hedge against inflationary risk as it follows Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index changes; providing some measure of protection like what gold provides within a balanced portfolio.
While these alternatives don’t exactly replicate the characteristics of gold investments, they still provide many of its benefits such as protecting purchasing power and decreasing portfolio volatility. It all boils down to knowing your risk profile, time horizon, financial goals and creating an investment plan accordingly.
Other Available Options
Of note is the fact that, as a federal employee or service member participating in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) with strong desires of investing directly in gold or other precious metals, you have options outside the TSP itself. One possibility would be opening an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), giving you more freedom in choosing specific gold-backed ETFs (2) or even physical gold to invest in via self-directed IRA. But this would involve additional costs, tax implications and potential risks when purchasing precious metals – potentially significant ones.
Gold as an Investment
- Potential risks: As with any investment, investing in gold carries its own set of risks. Gold prices can be highly unpredictable, while physical investments entail additional storage and insurance expenses. Furthermore, while many have seen gold as an insurance against inflation in recent times, this has not always been true as there have been periods where both inflation rates have increased or decreased independently from each other without showing a correlation at all.
- Diversification is key: As with all investments outside your TSP, gold should only ever be considered one piece in an appropriately diverse portfolio that meets both your long-term financial goals and risk tolerance. Over reliance can expose you to unnecessary risk.
- Balance your portfolio: Invest in gold through an IRA or other accounts carefully to achieve optimal returns from TSP investments. Take the time to carefully allocate assets across your TSP account as well as other investment accounts to maintain a diverse and balanced portfolio.
- Consider rolling over: Not to be overlooked is that TSP participants have the option of rolling over their account into an IRA upon leaving federal service or reaching retirement age, potentially providing access to alternative assets not offered within a TSP such as gold. When making this decision it should be carefully considered factors like low administrative costs of TSP accounts, availability of G Fund investments as well as higher fees and the different tax treatment offered through an IRA account.
Conclusion
Although gold cannot be directly put into the TSP however, you can still benefit by investing wisely using the various investments available within it. Gold’s traditional role of acting as an inflation hedge and an asset that can be a safe haven during times of the economic downturn can be accomplished by using TSP investment options wisely.
For investors wishing to add gold as part of their portfolios, additional options exist outside the TSP, including investing in gold-backed ETFs within an IRA. It is essential that any such strategy takes into account both risks and costs while adhering to maintaining a diverse and balanced investment portfolio.
Investing gold through your TSP may not be as straightforward as initially imagined. Although direct gold investment may not be possible within its confines, there may still be ways of using your TSP to achieve similar financial objectives – the key being understanding your financial objectives, risk tolerance and investment options both inside and outside your TSP account. As with most complex matters involving investments such as this one, seeking advice from an advisor would likely help create the optimal strategy tailored specifically towards your personal needs and circumstances.
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2 Comments
Too bad to learn I can’t invest in gold with mine 🙁
Hi Patricia,
I understand your disappointment, however as the article mentions, there are solutions to invest in gold in different ways available to you.
Happy investing!