Q: I have asked this question before but now I have been told the answer I received was wrong. Could you please verify your answer? Can one who has retired and is taking a full withdrawal by monthly payments from their TSP stop the payments and have the thrift buy an annuity through Met Life? Your answer was that I could by way of Form 70.
A: I’m sorry if I misread or misunderstood your earlier question. You may NOT buy a TSP annuity with a final payment after receiving monthly payments. The monthly payments are requested using form TSP-70, and the final lump-sum payment is requested using form TSP-73. You may roll your final payment to an IRA, however, and use the funds to buy a retail annuity from an insurance company from there.
