Q. I am currently employed with 10 years service accrued in the Federal Employee Retirement System. If I were separated/left federal employment for the private sector, would I be allowed to roll over the entire contents of my 401(k) account (acquired via my new employment) into my Thrift Savings Plan? Similarly, if I were to retire from federal employment, would I be allowed to roll over the entire contents of any 401(k) account(s) (acquired as a result of any previous private-sector employment) into my TSP? A. As long as you maintain your TSP account, whether employed, separated or retired from federal…
Yearly Archives: 2012
Q. I retired in 2007 and am in the Civil Service Retirement System. Am I permitted to continue to contribute monthly to my Thrift Savings Program? May I roll over the entire contents of my Individual Retirement Account into TSP? Can I then make monthly contributions into TSP from my checking account? A. You may not contribute to the TSP after you retire, but you may transfer eligible IRA balances into the TSP at any time. To be eligible, the IRA must contain only pretax money.
Q. I am considering taking an early retirement offer. If I were to have another financial institution purchase an annuity that is offering a better interest rate than what MetLife is offering through the Thrift Savings Plan and do so directly so that it would not be deposited to a personal checking or savings account, would it be exempt from tax penalties because I am under 59½, even though it would be taxed as regular income through the payments from the annuity provider as it would if TSP purchased the annuity for me? A. Yes. You may roll TSP money…
Q. I am a retired federal worker. I am in the Federal Employees Retirement System, a Thrift Savings Program participant, and, because I am over 70½ years old, I have been taking my Required Minimum Distribution in the form of monthly payments based on my life expectancy. I also have a traditional Individual Retirement Account with my local bank. I also have a Roth IRA at this bank. I want to consolidate some of my funds and increase my monthly payments by transferring my traditional IRA to my TSP account. I was told by the bank that the time for…
Q. Will TSP participants who have (or take out) a loan be able to make the repayments into the Roth portion of their TSP once the Roth option is established? A. The rules have not been published, yet.
Q. Will I be able to open a TSP Roth account and then roll my current Janus Roth IRA balance into it? How about after retirement? I have waited patiently for the promising TSP Roth, but it has been delayed time and again. Now it’s set for rollout in the second quarter of 2012. How nice: I’m planning to retire by the end of April, meaning that I may be ineligible for the TSP Roth if it is not offered by then. If the TSP Roth begins in May, June, or afterwards, am I out of luck? Since I plan…
Q. I will be retiring from the the Postal Service with 31 years of FERS at the age of 56. I know I will be eligible for the Social Security supplement until I reach the age of 62. My question is about earning limits with the supplement. If at age 56, I withdraw all or a portion of my TSP account, will this affect my Social Security supplement from the Postal Service? A. TSP withdrawals are not counted as earned income.
Q. I am a Federal Employees Retirement System employee and a reservist. I have a uniformed service Thrift Savings Plan account and would like to use some of the money to buy in to my FERS annuity. Does the FERS annuity qualify as a tax-deferred retirement plan, or will I have to pay taxes on the money? A. You’ll have to pay taxes on the money.
Q. Now that I have retired and am over the age of 59½, can I have monthly annuities coming to me for life? How? A. Yes. You may use your Thrift Savings Plan money to purchase a life annuity from their provider, MetLife, or any other insurance company you choose (by rolling over the money to an Individual Retirement Account). Visit www.tsp.gov and search for “annuity” or call the ThriftLine at 877-968-3778.
Q. At age 56, I would have 30 years and five months of service and could retire. I am currently 51 and have 25 years and seven months of service. If I left the federal government to go into a different field of work today, can I continue to add to my TSP account? A. You may not contribute directly to your TSP account after you are separated from federal service, but you may contribute to another retirement plan and then transfer that balance into your TSP account later.