Q. I retired at age 52 (Air Reserve Tech) under the DCS retirement. I am now 56 and wondered if I can make a partial withdrawal from TSP and not incur the 10 percent penalty.
Author Mike Miles
Mike Miles
Mike Miles is a Certified Financial Planner licensee and principal adviser for Variplan LLC, an independent fiduciary in Vienna, Virginia. Email your financial questions to fedexperts@federaltimes.com and view his blog at money.federaltimes.com.
Q. I am in the FERS retirement plan with 30-plus years of service and a plan to retire at age 63 with 42 years of service. I have most of my TSP money in the traditional TSP, but have recently began putting all of my contributions and catch up contributions into ROTH TSP only. I would like to avoid required minimum distributions on my ROTH TSP funds when I retire by transferring this money out of the TSP system into a brokerage account. Is this possible?
Q. I began federal civil service 10/22/1983 and retired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture 5/13/2013 on an “early out” offer. For my nearly 30 years of service, I never left CSRS, paid Social Security, and qualified fully for CSRS Benefits at my retirement. I did, however, participate in the employee-only [no match from my agency] paid deduction that was an “option” for CSRS to build a THRIFT Saving Program that currently has an approximate current value of $235,000. I retired early and have been receiving monthly retirement benefits since 5/13/2013 [and thus a substantially reduced monthly benefit, but at my…
Q. Currently I have the L Funds (2020) and I’m in FERS. I plan to retire in three years at age 62. What do you recommend for allocations choices?
Q. I am a CSRS retiree. Is a lump sum withdrawal from my TSP considered as earned income? Will it effect my Medicare premium amount for the next year?
Q. Do you know what the federal withholding tax percentage is these days? I’ve heard it used to be 25 percent, but with the tax cuts in 2018 is it now lower? I’m retiring on 12/31/18 and trying to guesstimate how much will be taken out of my annual leave lump sum payment, which will be for 388 hours of leave. Is the withholding percentage determined independently by each federal agency?
Q. I am 59 and retired in 2015 at 57 from a federal law enforcement position. I started a consulting LLC in Texas in 2018 and do not take regular draws from the company account. I am currently receiving Social Security supplement along with my pension. Do the gross earnings of my LLC count toward the earnings test even when I do not take a draw equal to or greater than the earnings limit set for the current year 2018? Or, if I take a draw and maintain that amount under the limit, would any remaining funds in the LLC…
Q. Is TSP considered income for factoring the Special Retirement Supplement?
Q. I am going to retire after 32 years of service under FERS. Do you have any knowledge about which company will be managing the annuity monies? I was told that it could be MetLife and wanted to look over their financials to see if I should put my TSP annuity with the same company or diversify with someone else.
Q. I am a federal employee with a TSP (Traditional). In addition, I currently own a Traditional IRA and a Roth IRA, while my wife owns a Roth IRA. This year, it looks like our combined income (MAGI) will likely exceed the threshold for the standard approach to contribute to our Roth IRAs. I have seen strategies to use the backdoor approach, but it will require smartly transferring my traditional IRA to TSP to avoid a large conversion taxes. My traditional IRA has a nondeductible basis of $12,000 and $78,000 of earnings. As I understand from research, I could transfer the $78,000…