Q. What is the annual withdrawal strategy that would allow me to avoid selling stock shares (C,S,I) during years that the market is down? I’m sure I read in “Money Matters” a strategy where a person could avoid a sequence of withdrawals disaster early in retirement by moving to the F and G Funds just prior to the annual withdrawal then back to stock shares immediately after the withdrawal. If there is such a strategy, could you explain it more specifically? A. Here’s the article I wrote for the Federal Times in 2016: How to Take a Selective Withdrawal Your…
Browsing: TSP withdrawal
Q. I recently took a VERA retirement from federal service at age 55. My understanding is that the 10 percent withdrawal penalty does not apply to subsequent TSP withdrawals. Originally, I chose a monthly fixed dollar amount of a full withdrawal that could be changed during open season, but with the TSP Modernization Act I can start and stop installments, as well as change withholding. Originally, I had planned to withdraw the full amount of my TSP over 5 years, but last month I chose a lesser amount to take out and TSP sent me a letter that my TSP…
Q. Can you explain what impact (if any) your TSP savings have on your Social Security payments when you retire? Can it result in receiving a smaller check? A. Neither the size of your TSP account, nor distributions you receive from it, will affect your Social Security benefit amount.
Q. I am divorced and my ex received a lump sum payment from my TSP account. When can she begin receiving benefits? She is 62 years old now. Are her benefits in anyway tied to my age and retirement? A. Once her share has been removed from your TSP account and distributed to her, it is hers to do with as she chooses. Her options are no longer connected with your age.
Q. I am happy that under the TSP Modernization Act governing TSP withdrawals that I have the options to withdraw my funds monthly, quarterly or annually. If I depended on my TSP for one of my retirement income streams, are there any advantages or disadvantages when I choose how to withdraw my money given the choices now available? A. You should start with monthly distributions since that will enable you to most closely match your withdrawals to your spending.
Q. My brother, and only sibling, died recently. I am the executor and beneficiary of his estate. He never married, nor did he have children. I am inheriting: $770,000 from an employer 401(k) managed by Vanguard; $73,000 from a past 403(b) pension; and $320,000 in life insurance proceeds. I am 59, receive a military pension ($60,000/year), and am employed full time by the federal government. I have $500,000 in the TSP. Can any of the inherited funds be rolled into my TSP? Can any or all of the inherited funds be combined into a single fund? What would you do? A. The TSP…
Q. My ex-husband has given me the forms to receive money from his TSP account, but what form do I use to roll it over into my IRA account? A. The distribution request form should contain a section where you can direct the proceeds to be paid to your IRA custodian for your benefit. If not, you’ll have to roll the funds over yourself using your IRA custodian’s deposit form.
Q. I am a 51-year-old retired federal employee with 27 years of service. I retired on 12/31/18. I served 25 years in a covered federal law enforcement officer position, then transferred to a non-covered LEO position with another agency for the remaining two years. I do receive the LEO FERS retirement. My issue is with the TSP withdrawal options. According to the Defending Public Safety Employees Retirement Act, effective 01/01/16, any federal public safety official, such as LEO, who separate from service at age 50 or older could make penalty-free TSP withdrawals if they retire after 12/31/15. In order for…
Q. In your May 7, 2018, “Money Matters” blog you provided information concerning the rollover of CSRS Voluntary Contribution Program (VCP) funds into a Roth IRA. Can the contribution portion of such funds (non-interest, after tax portion) be rolled over into the Roth TSP? Form RI 38-124, referenced in your earlier column, suggests not, but the most current version of that form predates the creation of the Roth TSP. Such a rollover would be particularly attractive in light of the ability to designate TSP withdrawals as traditional, Roth or a proportional amount of each, with the new withdrawal flexibilities coming to…
Q. I retired from my dual-status job on Dec. 31, 2018, at the age of 53 in Mississippi, which is below my minimum retirement age. Am I able to collect from my TSP plan without paying a penalty since I am under my MRA? What are the laws that govern this for my CPA to use at tax time? A. If you receive a TSP distribution before you reach age 59 ½, in addition to the regular income tax, you may have to pay an early withdrawal penalty tax equal to 10 percent of any taxable portion of the distribution not…