Q. I’ve participated in the Thrift Savings Plan since its inception as a CSRS employee and plan to retire next year. My current contribution allocation is 100 percent to the L2020 Fund and has been since that fund was created in 2005. Prior to the creation of the L funds, I had allocated my contributions equally to the C and G funds, which I have left untouched in the account. The account’s present holdings are approximately 50 percent L2020, with the remainder being 25 percent C and 25 percent G Fund. What should I now be doing, if anything, with those…
Monthly Archives: June, 2013
Q. I understand that to make Thrift Savings Plan catch-up contributions, you are supposed to be making sufficient regular TSP contributions so that the maximum annual amount (currently $17,500) of regular TSP contributions will be reached by the end of the year. What happens if you begin contributing an amount per pay period at the beginning of the year that would result in the maximum regular and catch-up contributions by the end of the year assuming 26 pay periods? However, you retire in the middle of the year. This would result in making TSP catch-up contributions during the year without…
Q. When money is deducted from my salary to repay a Thrift Savings Plan loan, is it deducted after it is taxed or before it is taxed? Also, is money received from a TSP loan taxed as income (assuming no payments are missed)? A. Your loan payments are made with after-tax dollars. You loan proceeds are not taxable income if you repay the loan as due.
Q. I have been taking monthly withdrawals from my Thrift Savings Plan account for several years. I will turn 70½ this year. Do my prior withdrawals affect the amount of the required withdrawals? A. The required withdrawal each year is based entirely on the closing balance in your account at the end of the calendar year preceding the year for the withdrawal.
Q. As a retiree, can I convert my Thrift Savings Plan account to a Roth TSP, or is this only available to active employees? A. You may not convert traditional TSP balance to the Roth TSP, regardless of your employment status.
Q. Overview: I began in the Air Force Non-Appropriated Fund in 1996, enrolled in NAF retirement plan in 2000, ported to GS in 2005 with deferral of my NAF retirement (calculated at 5.27 yrs) and entered FERS. My current GS position will be abolished in 2014 (at nine years FERS). I have the potential of porting into a NAF position. I wish I had just retained NAF retirement, but lack of research and misguided human resources recommendations led me to where I am with a split retirement outlook. Given my FERS time will total only nine years at abolishment, if I move…
Q. I am retired FERS and just turned 70 and need to begin taking TSP withdrawals. I am looking to roll the entire amount into Fidelity and was wondering if anyone has done so and how their experiences have been. They do seem to have more options and perhaps can help earn more than TSP, but I’d appreciate any comments. A. Fidelity’s expenses will be higher than the TSP, so the expected rate of return on your assets will be lower. Leaving the TSP for higher returns is a sucker’s bet, plain and simple.