Updated November 9, 2026 · Independent research from official TSP share prices. Not affiliated with the TSP or FRTIB. We sell no signals and take no money from timing services.

TSP interfund transfer rules, explained

Short answer: You get two unrestricted interfund transfers (IFTs) per calendar month for each TSP account. After that, for the rest of the month, you can only move money into the G Fund. A transfer submitted before 12 noon Eastern on a business day ordinarily gets that day's closing price; at or after noon, or on a weekend or holiday, it gets the next business day's.

Transfer vs. contribution allocation

An interfund transfer moves money you already have from one fund to another. A contribution allocation only changes where future paycheck contributions go. There's no limit on contribution allocation changes, and they don't count toward the two transfers.

The two-per-month limit

Your first two IFTs in a calendar month can move money among any of the funds, including moving everything to G.
A transfer that only moves money into G still counts as one of your two if it's your first or second of the month.
After two, you can still make transfers that only increase your G Fund share, until the 1st of the next month.
A transfer counts in the month TSP processes it, not the month you submit it. Submit at 12:15 pm on the last business day of a month and it counts toward the next month.
If you have both a civilian and a uniformed services account, each account has its own limit.

The noon cutoff

You submit	You ordinarily get
Business day, before 12 noon Eastern	That day's closing share price
Business day, at or after noon Eastern	Next business day's closing price
Weekend or holiday	Next business day's closing price

You can change or cancel a pending transfer up to the noon cutoff on the day it's being processed.

Why this matters in a crash

You never get the price you saw when you decided. You get a closing price, often a day later. In March 2020 the C Fund moved −9.5%, +9.3%, −12.0% and +6.0% on four straight trading days (March 12 to 17). Seeing a scary headline at 1 pm and submitting means you're betting on tomorrow's close, not today's. And with two unrestricted moves a month, getting out and back in can use your whole month's allowance.

We tested what moving to the G Fund during every big drop since 2003 actually did: see the results.

Already made transfers? Replay them on real TSP prices, with these rules applied →

Sources