Q: I have a question concerning the following paragraph from your Feb. 20 column in Federal Times:
I find it disappointing that it appears that you will not be able to manage, or withdraw, money selectively between the two options. Your contribution allocation and any interfund transfers you direct will apply to both options. Any withdrawals will be taken, pro rata, from both options. You may, however, split a rollover distribution between traditional and Roth IRA accounts.
Specifically, I am puzzled by the statement in the second sentence. As I understand the general concept with “tax deferred” individual retirement accounts and 401(k) plans, mandatory minimum withdrawals begin not later than April 1 of the year following the depositor reaching age 70 1/2. As I understand the general concept with “tax paid” — i.e., Roth IRAs and 401(k) plans — no mandatory minimum withdrawal is required earlier than the death of the contributor/owner of the tax-paid account.
If I understand the meaning of the language in the paragraph in your column, and assuming a Thrift Savings Plan participant has made both “tax deferred” TSP contributions and “tax paid” (Roth) contributions to the TSP, any mandatory minimum withdrawal from the tax-deferred segment of the TSP will result in a pro rata withdrawal from the tax-paid (Roth) option of the TSP.
Do I understand that the allocation mix in the non-Roth and the Roth segments of the plan must be identical? Given the option, I would elect to allocate greater risk to the Roth segment in order to avoid being forced to make mandatory minimum withdrawals after taking a “financial hit” similar to that which occurred during the period beginning in late 2007. Surely Congress could not have intended to impose a mandatory minimum withdrawal on “tax paid” (Roth) contributions to the TSP when it authorized the Thrift Savings Board to offer a Roth option to the TSP.
A: I based the comments in my column on the following excerpt from the TSP’s brochure: “A New TSP Element”
You will be able to take loans, in-service withdrawals, and partial withdrawals from your account as before. They will come out of your account on a pro rata basis — with a proportional amount from your traditional and Roth balances.
Details on how required minimum distributions will be handled have yet to emerge.
