<prompt> Human: So I graduated from college in May and Ive got a job with the federal government making a decent amount of money. I live in the midwest US, so my living expenses are pretty low, plus the government is paying off my student loans for me. As a result, after paying all of my bills and spending a little fun money I still have over 1000 a month that I dont see myself ever spending. Im also guaranteed a 10,000 pay increase every year for the next 3 years, so that number is only going to increase. Ive already got a safety net of about a years worth of living expenses saved up, and Im only contributing 5 to my 401k, which is the max that the government will match.All of my 401k money is going into a target date fund, and the plan that Im contributing to according to the brochure is expected to grow at 6year. So heres the question: should I increase my 401k contribution beyond what the government will match and just throw all my extra money in? Or take it and give it to some kind of investment firm and hope they can do better?On the common topics page of personal finance it says to contribute to an IRA unless You have access to the U.S. Federal governments Thrift Savings Plan - which I do, so why is that?  <response>: The TSPs fund expenses are lower than any other comparable investment you can get anywhere else - even low-cost leader Vanguard cant compete with the 0.029 expense ratio of the TSPs funds due to the economy of scale the plan actively leverages. Any 401k plan that similarly leverages economy of scale to reduce expenses down to almost nothing would be worth prioritizing over an IRA, but since the TSP covers so many people, it is worth a special note in the FAQ.Also, I highly doubt that any TSP material says that your account will grow at 6 per year. Youre probably looking at historical return data, which is just that - historical. Past performance does not guarantee future returns, and if youre expecting consistent 6 gains every year, you may be disappointed if when? the market doesnt do what you want it to. 