Q. If I retire from FERS today what is the maximum time that in which I have to buy the Long Term Care?
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. When I turn 70½ and have to withdraw the money in my TSP, can I take half and put it in a Roth account and then what is left the next year have them pay me in an annuity?
Q. I have a Traditional IRA and a Roth IRA outside of the TSP. I am maxing out my annual TSP contributions and my annual catch-up contributions. Am I able to transfer both of the outside IRAs into the TSP without affecting my annual contribution limits?
Q. When I retire, is it possible to roll over my Roth TSP out of the TSP, and then leave the rest intact to draw from?
Q. I’m a Defense Department employee looking to retire in 2019. I attended an Air Force retirement seminar today; I’m not an Air Force employee, but they they allow Defense Logistics Agency employees to attend. The young man presenting the TSP training informed us that we could not or should not transfer funds from our TSP into a Roth IRA when retiring. He said I would incur a large tax that must be paid out of pocket not from my TSP transfer. He provided us with several option for TSP: full withdrawal. an annuity. a TSP monthly payout. an IRA rollover. He said the…
Q. I about to start working as a new federal employer soon. When I do join the federal agency, I’m deciding if I should roll over my 401(k) from my previous employer to my new TSP account. The question that I have is if I need to take a loan on my TSP, would the funds I roll over to my account be eligible for a general or residence loan?
Q. I’ve been working and contributing to Social Security since age 13. I turn 62 in December 2016. I have a full military retirement of 20 years with 40 percent disability (soon to be increased), and I’ve got 20 years in the U.S. Postal Service — paying into Social Security the entire time for both government jobs. Does the windfall act apply to me? If it does, how so? If I were to turn down my USPS retirement, how would that affect Social Security if the windfall does apply to me?
For investors planning to rely on their invested resources to provide cash flow in retirement, market timing is a bad idea. There is so much wrong with it that it’s difficult to know where to begin or end, but I’ll try to hit the high points here. Market timing in a Thrift Savings Plan account is electing to deviate from the optimum asset allocation scheme for a period of time. The optimum allocation scheme is the one that will support your lifetime financial goals with the minimum possible risk. The optimum allocation scheme takes into account all known risks, including…
Q. I just got a job with the federal government and am thinking about transferring my money from my 403(b) account to my FERS account. However, I took the maximum loan allowed under my plan, which I am currently paying. How do I transfer money from the 403(b) to my FERS and continuing paying my loan without paying an IRS penalty.
Q. My start date with the U.S. Postal Service was December 1986. This is my 30th year. I am now 58 years old. I also worked prior to USPS and have more than 40 quarters in with Social Security. I am under the FERS system and understand that my contribution to TSP will factor into my annuity. I know nothing about USPS retirement and have heard words like “windfall elimination offset” and that I cannot get Social Security that was earned before the USPS. How can I find out when is the best time I should retire for maximum benefit and what would my actual…