Q. I retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons in June 2015 with 25 years and I was 49 years old. Will I get charged the 10-percent penalty, if I decide to take monthly payments?
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: Because of the limited ability to withdraw TSP funds in a totally efficient manner for me, I am considering rolling my TSP account to Vanguard in two years when I retire. Vanguard provides the ability to withdraw Roth funds separate from 401k funds in any amounts I desire. As I understand, TSP requires withdraws to be equally prorated between 401k and Roth, based on the total balance. How does a TSP transfer occur … are the TSP Roth funds moved to a Vanguard rollover Roth fund and the TSP 401k funds placed in a taxable rollover account? It seems…
Q. When is it beneficial to roll my TSP over to an indexed annuity? I read so much about it not being a good idea, but I would like to hear the other side of the argument.
Q. I am considering leaving the federal government next year when I turn 50. At that time, I will have 27 years of service and will be deferring retirement until I am 62. Is it possible to start collecting an annuity with my TSP balance at that time and will there be a 10 percent penalty for early withdrawal?
Q. I made a $50,000 loan to my TSP account. I separated from active-duty service. Now I’m being asked to pay the $40,000 remaining balance in full. If I allow the TSP to close the loan, can I move the funds to an IRA within two months after the loan is closed? If this is allowed, what IRA publication covers this transaction? Or would the best course of action be to pay the loan in full to TSP?
Q. When I retire and leave my funds in the Life 2020 Fund, will it remain there after 2020, or is it moved to another fund?
Q. I want to keep my money in my TSP account when I retire. In which fund or funds should I have my money allocated?
Q. I am 69 years of age and have all my funds in the 2030 fund totaling about $ 89,000. I would like to start taking out $500 per month starting in January 2018. What type of allocation of funds would be good for this amount, percentagewise, where would the spread be best to last 15-20 years. Could you give me an example or two of allocations that would be of great help?
Q. I am current 57 years old and have a TSP balance of approximately $800,000, which is currently allocated: 78 percent in the G Fund, and 22 percent in C Funds. I plan to retire in September 2017 and will start monthly withdrawals of approximately $2,000 per month from my TSP. The men in my family typically live to the mid 80s. Is this a good allocation between funds, or should I diversify a little more?
Q. I am a FERS employee with 28 years in government service and about five years away from retirement. I evaluate my TSP portfolio allocation based on risk comfort, life expectancy, etc. in isolation from what I expect to receive from Social Security and my FERS pension. My allocation is roughly 60 percent stocks, 40 percent bonds (mostly G Fund). Recently, I have been told that because I will have a guaranteed income stream from my FERS pension, I can afford to take more risk in my TSP and I should move money from the G Fund to the stock side of the portfolio.…