Q. I will be taking voluntary early retirement July 31. I have plans to take my money out of TSP to pay off bills and buy a home. Would it be better to wait until next year to pull out since I will be in a lower tax bracket?
A. While it’s nice to reduce the tax liability on your withdrawals, the size of any advantage you’ll enjoy from waiting will depend on how much income is ultimately exposed to lower tax rates. Once the potential tax benefit from delaying the withdrawal is determined, it needs to be weighed against the potential costs of waiting to implement the other elements of your plan. This exercise requires complex analysis and is beyond the scope of this forum. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to your question.
