Q. I plan to retire under FERS law enforcement on May 30, contributing my full $17,500 and $5,500 catch-up contribution in my first 10 to 12 paychecks. If I purposely make larger contributions early in the year in an attempt to reach the annual maximum contribution before retiring, will I lose out on agency matching contributions?
A. Not if you spread the contributions out evenly over the duration of your remaining employment.
2 Comments
I believe this person is ONLY going to work until May 30 then retire. He is planning on getting in the max TSP deductions during that time, therefore he will miss out on matching once he is retired, of course. You want to maxamize your matching by making sure you have TSP deductions for each pay period, for as long as you are actually employed.
He will not lose any matching while he is working.
He does not have to spread his contributions out evenly while working to ensure that he will receive his full matching. He only has to contribute 5% in any and all pay periods to receive the full 5% Federal match.