USERRA and Your TSP: Make Up Deployment Contributions (2026)

Last Updated: June 28, 2026 Reading Time: 8 min

When a federal civilian reservist or Guard member deploys, the TSP contributions stop, and so does the agency match. USERRA gives you the right to make that whole when you come back: make up the contributions you missed and recover the agency matching you would have gotten. There's a 60-day clock to start, a generous window to finish, and one honest catch about lost market gains that most guides skip. Here's the full picture.

Key Takeaways

  • USERRA lets you make up missed TSP contributions over a window up to 3x your service length, capped at 5 years.
  • You must elect to start within 60 days of reemployment (5 CFR 1620.42).
  • The agency restores the automatic 1% and matches your makeup contributions, and the agency money is posted with the earnings it would have made.
  • Your own makeup contributions go in at today's prices with no retroactive earnings. That's the unavoidable cost of catching up.
  • TSP makeup and the FERS military deposit are two different things. Don't confuse them.

What USERRA Actually Restores

Under 38 U.S.C. 4318, a returning service member is treated as if they were continuously employed for retirement-plan purposes. For a FERS employee in the TSP, that means three things get restored:

  1. Your missed employee contributions can be made up.
  2. The automatic 1% agency contribution is posted retroactively for the deployment period.
  3. Agency matching is paid on the makeup contributions you actually make.

The agency pieces (the 1% and the match) come back posted with the investment earnings they would have generated. The TSP record keeper applies the actual fund returns for the period. That's the part that works fully in your favor.

The Makeup Window and the 60-Day Clock

Two timelines matter, and people mix them up:

  • Start within 60 days of reemployment. You have to make the election to begin makeup contributions within 60 days of returning (5 CFR 1620.42). This is the hard deadline.
  • Finish over a long window. Once started, you can spread makeup contributions over a period up to three times the length of your military service, not to exceed five years. A 9-month deployment gives you up to 27 months to catch up.

So the move is: file the election first to lock in the right, then pace the contributions at whatever amount your budget allows across the window.

One bonus: makeup contributions count against the contribution limits for the years you missed, not the current year. They don't eat into your current $24,500 elective deferral limit or crowd out your regular contributions.

The Honest Catch: Lost Earnings

Here's what most articles won't tell you. There's an asymmetry between the agency money and your money:

  • Agency contributions (the 1% and match) are restored with the investment earnings they would have made during your deployment.
  • Your makeup contributions go in at today's share prices, with no retroactive earnings.

If the market rose while you were gone, you're buying back in at the higher price. You recover the contributions, but not the gains those dollars would have earned had they been invested on schedule. It's still very much worth doing, the agency match alone is free money, but go in clear-eyed that catching up isn't the same as never having left.

A Worked Example

A GS-12 Step 5 in the DC locality (about $116,070/year) contributing 5%, deployed for 9 months:

Item Amount
Total TSP flow missed (employee + agency) $8,712
Your makeup employee contributions $4,356 (about $161/month extra over 27 months)
Agency 1% + match recovered $4,356 (posted automatically, with earnings)
Lost earnings on your contributions (not recoverable) ~$1,089

The agency half comes back nearly automatically and whole. Your half takes deliberate effort and carries the lost-earnings gap. Both are worth claiming.

Don't Confuse This With the Military Deposit

This trips up almost everyone. There are two separate "buy your time back" mechanisms:

  • TSP makeup contributions (this article): restore your defined-contribution savings, the 401(k)-style account.
  • FERS military deposit: 3% of your military basic pay, plus interest (4.25% in 2026), paid to OPM to make your military service count toward your civilian pension.

They're independent. You can, and often should, do both. The TSP makeup rebuilds your investment account; the military deposit increases your guaranteed annuity.

Two Accounts Stay Separate

If you contributed to the uniformed-services TSP during deployment, note that your civilian TSP and uniformed-services TSP are separate accounts. You can only combine them (via Form TSP-65) after you separate from one of the two services, and the combined IRS limit applies to your personal contributions across both. You can't double-dip the elective deferral limit.

One eligibility note: makeup rights generally attach to Title 10 active duty. State-controlled Title 32 Guard duty usually does not qualify the same way, so confirm your orders' authority.

Model Your TSP Catch-Up

Before you set a makeup contribution rate, see how catching up changes your long-term balance. Use our free TSP Growth & Withdrawal Calculator to model the makeup contributions plus the restored agency match over your remaining years of service. Run your TSP scenario.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to make up missed TSP contributions after deployment?

You can spread makeup contributions over a period up to three times your military service length, capped at five years. So a 9-month deployment gives you up to 27 months to make them up. But you must elect to start within 60 days of reemployment (5 CFR 1620.42), so file the election first, then pace the contributions.

Do I get the agency match back for the time I was deployed?

Yes. Your agency restores the automatic 1% and pays matching on your makeup contributions as if you'd never left, per 38 U.S.C. 4318. Even better, the agency money is posted with the investment earnings it would have made. Your own makeup contributions, however, go in at today's share price with no retroactive earnings.

Will my makeup contributions count against this year's TSP limit?

No. Makeup contributions for the deployment period count against the limits for the years you missed, not the current year. So they don't crowd out your regular contributions or the current $24,500 elective deferral limit.

Is the military deposit the same as TSP makeup contributions?

No, and people confuse them constantly. TSP makeup restores your 401(k)-style savings. The FERS military deposit (3% of military basic pay, plus interest) buys your military time toward your civilian pension. They're two separate "buy your time back" mechanisms, and you may want to do both.