Q. I retired as a CSRS employee after 31 years of service. I will be 70½ in June and, as I understand, I will have to begin taking out from my Thrift Savings Plan account then. If I am reading the information correctly, I have until April 2013 to do this. If so, when is the deadline for me to send in my request for withdrawals? Also, I have checked the TSP forms on the website but could not determine the appropriate one to use. I am planning to take out my TSP savings in monthly withdrawals.
A. Your first required minimum distribution must be completed by April 1, 2013, so if you plan to use monthly withdrawals, you’re going to have to be careful. I suggest that you consider setting up monthly withdrawals, starting in January 2013. The TSP will automatically calculate the RMD payments for you each year.
You can then use your one-time partial lump-sum withdrawal to cover the 2012 RMD early in 2013.
Use form TSP-70 to request the monthly payments and form TSP-77 to request the partial lump-sum withdrawal.
If you want both RMD amounts included on your 2013 tax return, I suggest submitting both forms Jan. 2, 2013.
