Q. Can I separate the federal service at 45 years of age (firefighter) with 20 years of creditable service (+4 years military by back) totaling 24 years of service. Then later apply to draw my FERS firefighter retirement of 38 percent when I reach the eligible firefighter retirement age of 50? Would I still receive my Social Security supplement and Thrift Savings Plan benefits without penalties?
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 have been out on workers’ compensation since 2010 and am now in a dire financial situation. From reading some of the rules from the Thrift Savings Plan handbook, it says that I have to be separated in order to withdraw part or all money from my account. Would I be able to withdraw a portion while receiving workers’ compensation benefits?
Q. I am a federal air technician with the Air National Guard. I have been a federal full-time technician since June 10, 1991. I bought back my Air Force active duty time from 10 Dec 86 – 9 Mar 91. I am in FERS and have a minimum retirement age of 56 years and 2 months. I will be 53 next year. It has been communicated to me that I will probably not be retained next year, meaning that May 13, 2019, I will be involuntarily retired, thus losing my full (technician) and part-time (traditional Guard) employment. I will be four months shy…
Q. I am 53 and under FERS with 30 years of service. I plan to retire at 56 and do real estate full time. Do real estate commissions that I make count against the Special Retirement Supplemental?
Q. I will be retiring in October 2018. I will have 22 pay periods to contribute to my TSP. Do I need to contribute all $18,500 within the 22 pay periods to max out my contribution next year?
Q. I plan to retire in July 2018 and was wondering if I can contribute the max to my TSP, including the catch-up part, even if I only work half a year.
Q. Let’s suppose you reach your 67th birthday, which happens to be my full retirement age for Social Security, and you begin to draw Social Security while you are still working past your 67th birthday. At the end of the calendar year, will Social Security recalculate your monthly payment for the next calendar year because you continued to work? Or will the Social Security monthly payment be the same forever once you began drawing your Social Security once you turned 67? If you continued to work until 70 at basically the same wage, would Social Security recalculate your monthly payment each…
Q. I am a retired Navy captain after 40 years of service. I read with great interest your article in the November 2017 issue of Federal Times titled “TSP Lump-Sum Withdrawal.” I currently have $391,811.74 in my TSP account as of 14 November 2017. On October 27, 2017, I had $392,954.73 in the TSP account. I have seen the amount of TSP goes up and down over the years. I need your advice if I should do a partial or lump-sum withdrawal. I had seen a Navy Federal Credit Union Financial adviser in the past and he was not good…
Q. I am a federal employee working for DCMA. I plan on retiring in May 2018. The maximum allowable TSP contribution amount for 2018 is $18,500. The maximum allowable TSP contribution for TSP catch-up is $6,000. Is there a limit as to what I can contribute per pay period during these final months of employment, as long all of my mandatory deductions (FEHB, life insurance, Medicare, FERS, etc.) are covered, and as long as I don’t exceed the TSP limits of $18,500 or $6,000? I’m thinking of living off of my non-TSP savings till I retire in May 2018, so I…
Q. My Social Security payment is affected by the windfall elimination provision due to my City of Los Angeles police pension. I am currently receiving SS payments. My wife becomes eligible for SS distributions in one year at age 62. She will also inherit my pension (at a reduced amount) when I die (hopefully not soon). The question is: will her SS amount be affected by WEP while I’m still alive and the beneficiary of the pension or after I’m dead and she is the beneficiary of the pension?