A retirement conversation can involve an official account, a private professional and a proposed investment or insurance arrangement. Verify each separately. A person who knows federal benefit terminology has not thereby established an official TSP role or authority to handle your account.
This checklist uses the SEC's Investor.gov resources for TSP account protection and professional background checks. It does not verify a particular person or proposal, and it does not ask you to provide account credentials or private financial records to this website.
Start from an independently verified official route
Use the official TSP site or a contact route you independently confirmed to access your account. If an unexpected message asks for a login, payment, account change or urgent distribution, verify the request outside the message before acting. A familiar name, logo or caller description is not enough to authenticate the sender.
The SEC's TSP investor alert identifies checking account contact information, protecting login information and the ThriftLine PIN, and considering the account-lock feature as account-protection steps. Review the current official instructions for the features available to you rather than accepting instructions supplied by an unverified caller.
Keep access credentials separate from a professional discussion. A legitimate need to understand a retirement question should be explained along with the specific records required and the verified channel for providing them. A general inquiry can begin with the topic, without a TSP statement or login.
Check the professional and the firm
Investor.gov directs investors to independent background-check resources, including the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure system. Check the relevant firm and individual, their registration status, background and disciplinary information, and the contact information in the official record.
Compare the record with the person and service you are actually considering. Similar names or a copied registration number can refer to someone else. An insurance role and an investment-advice role also raise different authorization questions; ask which official regulator records apply to each activity.
| Verification question | Evidence to obtain independently |
|---|---|
| Who is the individual? | The appropriate official record and matching identity. |
| Which firm provides the service? | The actual firm, its status and its verified contact information. |
| What activity is proposed? | A clear explanation of advice, brokerage, insurance or another service. |
| What does it cost? | The applicable relationship summary, agreement and actual fee or cost disclosures. |
| Who holds or receives money? | The institution and transaction instructions verified through a separate route. |
| What remains unverified? | A written question list before records or money are provided. |
A registration or directory entry does not guarantee investment results, establish a government endorsement or approve every proposed transaction. Keep the identity check and the product or transaction review as separate steps.
Ask for the proposal in a form you can compare
Identify the account, service or contract being discussed and which money would move. Ask for the relevant terms, total costs, restrictions, risks and the responsible institution. An illustration or a promised advantage needs to be checked against those actual documents.
Investor.gov's relationship-summary guidance explains that brokers and advisers can charge through different arrangements and that other investment or service costs may apply. Ask what the particular proposal includes. For a possible transfer, use the TSP-to-IRA comparison worksheet, and for investment records use the fund and fee review.
Pressure to act before identity, terms or account instructions can be verified is a reason to pause the process and resolve the question. Do not let a claimed deadline substitute for the official account procedure or an informed review of the proposal.
What if account access may have been compromised?
The SEC's alert advises contacting the ThriftLine Service Center immediately if someone else may have account login information, identity theft has occurred or a suspicious-activity message is received. Obtain the contact route independently from an official source. Do not continue using an unverified message to investigate itself.
Keep a private record of the notice, dates, original references and the official response. The alert also points to the SEC's reporting route for suspected securities fraud involving TSP investments. Follow the relevant official instructions for the actual issue rather than sending sensitive evidence through a general website inquiry.
The goal is a verified account route, an independently checked professional and a proposal whose terms you can understand. Those checks support a decision; they do not replace the TSP's account controls or an individual professional review.
Browse federal benefits, retirement and insurance topics or read how we prepare and check our guides.
Sources
- Investor.gov: Protect your TSP account from fraud, checked November 3, 2026
- Investor.gov: Ask and check, checked November 3, 2026
- Investor.gov: Investor.gov/CRS, checked November 3, 2026
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