TSP vs. IRA

1

Q. I’m looking to retire in 18 months and don’t know who to trust when making a decision to keep money in the Thrift Savings Plan, do a mix with a traditional IRA, or take it all out and put 100 percent in a traditional IRA?

A. I can give you one recommendation that may solve your problem: Leave your money in the TSP and manage it there for as long as possible. In fact, if you have eligible retirement plan accounts outside of the TSP, you should move them into the TSP. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either incompetent or putting someone else’s interests ahead of yours.

Share.

About Author

Mike Miles is a Certified Financial Planner licensee and principal adviser for Variplan LLC, an independent fiduciary in Vienna, Virginia. Email your financial questions to fedexperts@federaltimes.com and view his blog at money.federaltimes.com.

1 Comment

  1. “Leave your money in the TSP… Anyone who tells you otherwise is either incompetent or putting someone else’s interests ahead of yours.” WOW!! Somebody has really been drinking the TSP Kool Aid! Suppose the price of gold drops and I want to add some precious metal ETFs to my retirement fund, like GLD or SLV. How do I do that in the TSP, Mike? Or now may be a good time to add a good no-load real estate mutual fund like CSRSX to my portfolio. Or maybe a good international bond fund like LSGLX. Will the TSP let me do that? Compared to most 401ks with much higher expense ratios, the TSP is great. But let’s not go overboard…it has its limitations, specifically, the limited investment options.

Reply To Lowell Tenpas Cancel Reply