Q. My husband is retiring from the Postal Service on Nov. 1. We have $850,000 in tax-free municipal funds (all AAA rated and paying over 5 percent), and another $200,000 in natural gas and oil limited partnerships and some preferred stocks in energy companies that I recently inherited. I would like to live on the interest from these investments, leaving the principal alone.
My husband is 62 and we want to wait until he is 66 to receive his Social Security payments. (Waiting until 70 is out of the question as both parents were stricken with Alzheimer’s disease at an early age. Mother at 70 and father at 75.)
My husband has a Thrift Savings Plan account with a balance of $91,000. I am concerned that the interest and dividends coming in from the inheritance have not had time to accrue enough interest for us to live on and would like your advice on how to distribute his TSP for the first few years.
I am disabled and am receiving a monthly check for $1,477. If my husband takes Social Security now, his monthly payments would be $1,588. Also, my husband will receive a monthly retirement check from the Postal Service for $850 — just enough to cover our health and life insurance and his long-term care insurance.
Can you give me some advice on the best way to get my TSP to pay out a larger sum in the first three years so I can protect the principal of my inheritance? Should we start now collecting his Social Security now?
A. It is not possible to determine the answers to your questions, which are complex and interdependent, without the proper understanding, analysis and consideration. There are no simple answers. Your questions are beyond the scope of a forum like this and will require comprehensive financial analysis to answer.
