Q. I’m an Air National Guard military technician, and I’ll be retiring this July at my minimum retirement age of 56. I plan on making monthly withdrawals from my Federal Employees Retirement System Thrift Savings Plan at that time. I know I won’t have to pay a penalty on these FERS TSP withdrawals, but do I have to wait until the age of 59½ to start withdrawals without paying the penalty? Can I roll my military TSP into my FERS TSP when I retire?
A. You may combine your military and civilian TSP accounts. Visit www.tsp.gov and search for form TSP-65. The instructions for this form should give you the details you need to proceed with a combination. If you separate from federal service during or after the year in which you reach age 55, distributions that you receive from the TSP account that is associated with that service will be exempt from the early withdrawal penalty. If at least one of your TSP accounts meets this definition, you may combine them to avoid the penalty on all distributions.
