Q. I’m retiring in one year. I’m 66 years old with $617,000 in the 2020 L fund. I plan on taking level payments from the TSP. Should I leave the the funds in the 2020, move them to the L income fund, or move them to the 2030 fund based on my life expectancy? A. The correct answer to your question will depend upon the size of those level payments and whether or not the payments may need to continue after your death. There is no one-size-fits-all-for-a-66-year-old solution for this. The answer is different for different circumstances.
Monthly Archives: May, 2014
Q. My name is Tom Archer. I currently work for a federal agency and plan to retire at age 57 under the FERS program. I did not buy back my military service, so I will only have 17 years with my current agency. If I fully withdraw my TSP funds at that time, what, if any, penalty will I incur? A. None.
Q. My total salary is a combination of my base pay and my market pay. Are my Thrift Savings Plan contributions deducted from my base pay, market pay, or are they deducted from my total salary — base + market? A. Total salary.
Q. Is it possible to take a partial withdrawal from the TSP, say $100,000, and then reinvest the majority of the withdrawal into a separate IRA within the 60-day limit? I would like to buy another house, using cash from my TSP account, then take a home equity loan on 70 percent appraised value and reinvest this money back into a separate IRA. My hope is to reduce taxes. I am 62 and retired. A. Yes.
Q. My spouse is a postal worker, age 48, who will have eight years of service and plans to leave the workforce in February 2015. She plans to defer retirement until age 62. I am a FERS participant who will have 36 years when I reach my MRA of 56 in September 2019. We both have TSP accounts. When my spouse leaves the workforce next year, will I be able to transfer her TSP into mine so that they are combined into one account? Will they need to be left separate for a number of years or always? What are…
Q. I’m getting ready to retire in February 2015. I have invested in the TSP since 1997. After I retire, is it too late to invest in an Roth IRA since I can’t contribute to my TSP plan? A. The rules for this are complex and depend upon your income, marital status and employment. You should ask your tax preparer to provide you with guidance on this.
Q. I’ll be retiring this year, and using a portion of my TSP account balance to purchase a retirement home. My question is: For example, If I take an Age-Based In-Service Withdrawal of $100,000, and the TSP withholds 20 percent for taxes ($20,000) and I request an additional withholding of $10,000 to cover any tax shortfalls, will the declared taxable distribution be $100,000 or $130,000? A. The withholding is taken from the withdrawal, so the declared taxable distribution will be $100,000, you’ll receive $70,000 of it, and $30,000 will be deposited and held against your tax liability for the year.
Q. I am a retired federal law enforcement agent. I retired under the civil service plan but I invested in the FERS system. I am now 70 1/2 years of age, I have a balance of $72,000 in the TSP account and plan to withdraw $500 in monthly payments. If I die, will my wife, who is my beneficiary, continue to receive those monthly payments? A. Those payments will stop at your death, but your wife may take over the account and resume the distributions.
Q. Does the TSP offer any way to keep money in TSP for beneficiaries to continue growth? I just read about a stretch IRA that allows beneficiaries to keep money in the account when you die. The only stipulation is they have to take the RMD right away and it is taxable. A. Your spouse beneficiary may inherit your TSP account and treat it as their own. Your non-spouse beneficiary may retain the proceeds in an Beneficiary IRA account, subject to the RMD rules for that type of account.
Who should you trust to manage your life savings? Your employer has put the job of managing your Thrift Savings Plan account, which might be the bulk of your life savings by the time you retire, squarely on your shoulders. Unfortunately, many participants invest their trust in the wrong sources and wind up suffering the consequences. The fact is that a trusted source is not the same as a trustworthy one, and knowing the difference is critical to your financial well-being. Before you place your trust in any investment or other financial advice, you should evaluate the source of that…