Q. I am a CSRS employee. I have decided to take the Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment and should be off the rolls by March 31. I am told that I can put in 10 percent of my basic total federal wages (could be in excess of $200,000) into the Voluntary Contribution Program and I should withdraw all of it when I retire. I am also told that I can deposit this withdrawn VCP money into a Roth IRA, which is the main reason I want to do this. Are my assumptions true? If it is, how can I open a VCP account, since I am told that it will take at least a couple of months before the Office of Personnel Management acts on my request?
A. I can’t tell you what you should do with what little I know about you and your circumstances. For the timing, you’ll have to work with your agency and OPM to figure out how to make it work. I can tell you that what you’re considering is allowed and worth considering.
