Q. I plan to retire in nine years (at 63). I have $176,000 in the Thrift Savings Plan. I add the maximum to the TSP every year ($22,500) and will continue that until I retire. Then, my strategy, once retired, is to withdraw a monthly income from my TSP, and I will then start adding that money to a Roth IRA (e.g., a Vanguard fund) until I max out the Roth for both my husband and me. My thought is that I am getting a tax break by adding the max to the TSP during my high-income years as a…
Q. I have been working for the federal government for just over two years. I am planning on moving in the next few months. I have applied to federal jobs, as well as private-sector jobs and have, so far, heard back from the private-sector jobs. I read that the Thrift Savings Plan is vested at three years and that employees are entitled to retirement benefits after five years. If I were to leave the federal system at this point, would I be able to return to the system in the future and “restart,” as it were, at my two-year mark?…
Q. I am 61 and have $200,000 in the Thrift Savings Plan. I’m in process of transferring another $240,000 from an outside discount brokerage firm to my TSP. I would like to transfer all of the $240,000 to the F Fund. With interest rates possibly remaining low for another few years, is this a good move? When interest rates rise, how much will the F fund shares decrease? The bonds it holds are short and intermediate, so I’m assuming it won’t lose as much as if it held long-term bonds, but I’m not clear on how much I could lose. I’m trying to move…
Q. I am a CSRS employee who plans on retiring in 2013. I want to open a Voluntary Contribution Program account and deposit after-tax money in that account, and then, at retirement, transfer the deposit into Roth TSP, and any earnings into traditional TSP. Is that allowed? A. No. You’ll have to use a Roth IRA for the after-tax portion of the VCP account.
Q. I am a FERS retiree who must begin taking my required minimum distribution in 2013. I am contemplating receiving monthly payments based on my expected life expectancy, but I need to know whether an initial decision to do so locks me forever, or whether, say in 2014 or 2015, I can change to monthly withdrawals based on an amount set annually. If the Thrift Savings Plan allows the later switch, are there barriers to my later going back to monthly payments based on life expectancy? A. You may change from life-expectancy payments to fixed-dollar payments one time only. You may…
Q. I plan to choose an annuity for my Thrift Savings Plan savings that will pay my spouse half if I die. What happens to the balance of my money in TSP if we both should die shortly after the annuity is activated? A. If you select and pay for the cash refund option, any unrecovered premium will be paid to your beneficiary(ies) as a death benefit. If you do not purchase the cash refund option, then annuity payments stop and no death benefit is paid.
Q. Can Thrift Savings Plan funds left to a beneficiary be stretched as they can in an IRA? A. Yes. See the brochure at https://www.tsp.gov/PDF/formspubs/tspbk31.pdf for more information.
Q. I am 29 years old and serve in the Air Force. I contribute the maximum $5,000 amount to my Roth IRA every year, and have a few thousand dollars in the standard Thrift Savings Plan. I am concerned about the lack of investing options besides the G, F, S, C, I and L funds within the TSP. With the new Roth TSP option, would it be possible for me to continue to contribute $5,000 directly to my Roth IRA, then contribute $17,000 to a Roth TSP, and finally roll that $17,000 over to my Roth IRA each year? A. Your participation…
Q. I am going to retire with 25 years covered law enforcement. Is there a penalty for withdrawing from the Thrift Savings Plan if I have not yet reached age 55? I heard as long as you are in a covered law enforcement position, there is not penalty? A. What you’ve heard is wrong. If you separate from federal service before the calendar year in which you reach age 55, you will be subject to the early withdrawal penalty. There are ways around the penalty, however, and they are described on Page 7 of this notice: https://www.tsp.gov/PDF/formspubs/tsp-536.pdf.
Q. I attended a seminar given by MetLife Financial people about Roth TSP, IRAs, etc., and was told that even if I am working at 70½ and not retired that I still have to make a withdrawal of my TSP percentage. However, in the booklet “Withdrawing Your TSP Account” on Page 3 under withdrawal deadlines, it states in the second sentence: “If you are still a Federal employee employed at 70½, your required withdrawal must be by April 1 of the year following the year you separate.” I told the lady what our TSP booklet said, but she said it…