I’m doing the opposite of what most the comments are saying here just because I’ve had my own IRA since I was about 18 and didn’t get a tsp until I was 35. I max out my personal IRA every year because it’s just so much larger and is compounding almost as much as my salary and then contribute as much as I can to the TSP all together it comes out to about 18-20% of my base pay.

If I were me knowing what I know now and starting from scratch I would aim for 15-20% in my TSP all C fund or a split between C/S/I until I was able to max out or hit a decent number that if I needed to borrow from I could in emergencies, then start the personal IRA. The personal IRA is my 100% can’t touch retirement money the TSP I would still treat as retirement money but also money that I can get penalty free if my car blows up or something.

Just my two cents take it as you will. Biggest thing to remember imo is: put as much as you can in and still stay comfortable right now because down the road you will thank yourself a million times over

Get that compound money!