Q. I am 66 years old under CSRS, and plan to retire in 2018 with a total of 42 years of federal service. I currently am contributing to TSP and also have a private Roth IRA. A few years ago, I took money out of TSP when the tax rate was down and allowed one to do this. Thus, taxes were paid on the amount over two years. I am looking at taking out a much larger chunk and putting it into the private Roth IRA. Is this allowed without paying taxes on the much larger chunk?
A. Maybe. Ask your tax accountant. The problem is that the TSP only allows a single partial withdrawal per lifetime. You may be able to accomplish your goal, however, by using a TSP loan that you fail to repay. Once the loan balance is declared a taxable distribution, you have 60 days to roll it over to an IRA.
