Q: First question: My wife and I are both in the Thrift Savings Plan, and we intend to retire in nine years. I heard somewhere that if I used my TSP funds to pay off my home loan and land loan that it will not be taxed. Is this true? I am under the GL scale and will have 31 years of federal service and four years of military service at age 57. My wife works for the Postal Service and will have 20-plus years of service at age 55. My second question is, if I decide not to withdraw…
The recent revelation that 260 federal employees and annuitants and their families may have lost some $34 million to a crooked investment manager is a loud and clear wake-up call. Wayne McLeod and his firm, Federal Employees Benefit Group, are accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of defrauding a group of investors, many of them federal law enforcement personnel, in an apparent Ponzi scheme. According to the SEC McLeod admitted perpetrating the scheme to investigators before taking his own life. While this story is shocking and sad, it is also instructive. I met McLeod at a seminar several years…
Q: At the end of 2010, I’ll be retiring at the age of 50, with 23 years in federal law enforcement. I will need to take a withdrawal from my Thrift Savings Plan upon retirement. According to my agency, in order to prevent being assessed a 10 percent penalty for early withdrawal, I need to set up my TSP payments under the 72t rules (i.e. substantial equal periodic payments until after the age of 59½). However, according to IRS Publication 575, Pensions and Annuities, as I understand it, law enforcement officers are exempt from the 10 percent penalty for early…
Q: I plan to retire sometime around age 55 with 28-plus years of federal law enforcement service. I am aware I can make a one-time partial Thrift Savings Plan withdrawal. My question is: Upon retirement, can I request that TSP purchase a Met Life annuity for me with 75 percent of my TSP account and leave the rest untouched and, hopefully, growing until I decide to make monthly withdrawals or turn 70 1/2? The partial withdrawal form does not seem to provide this option, and neither does the full withdrawal form. A: Unfortunately, if you use part of your account…
Q: I understand that the IRS will allow TSP funds to roll over into a Roth IRA. However, that does not mean that the company that runs the TSP will allow it. I’m 46 years old and in federal service with the Federal Employees Retirement System. How can I move my TSP funds into a Roth IRA? A: You can’t.
Q: I’ve recently received a civil service deposit account statement and have two questions regarding payment. I am planning on rolling over an IRA account for payment. My first question: Can you confirm that there are no tax penalties for rolling over an IRA to the Civil Service Retirement System (Redeposit)? These are the instructions I am planning on giving my IRA company: Make check payable to Office of Personnel Management. Indicate FBO [my name] and include the claim number in the memo. My second question: Do you expect that this will cause any delays in processing my payments? If…
Q: For those covered under Federal Employees Retirement System law enforcement retirement, is the earnings test applied toward funds received from their Thrift Savings Plan if those amounts exceed the earnings test for Special LEO/FF SS Supplement after their minimum retirement age? A: No. TSP withdrawals are not considered earned income.
Q: My wife and I are retiring from federal civil service on Sept. 30. We want to continue adding money to IRAs we had prior to our civil service careers. We will not be employed after leaving the federal government. Can you share the contribution amount we can make to an IRA annually? A: If you have no earned income, you can’t make IRA contributions.
Q: Once retired from the federal government, how long can you leave your money in the Thrift Savings Plan without making a designation on how it is to be allocated? A: You can leave your money in the TSP and direct it, or not, as you see fit, until the IRS Required Minimum Distribution rules kick in.
Q: I am 58 years old and will turn 59 1/2 in March, at which point I will be able to empty my Thrift Savings Plan account without an early distribution penalty. However, I would like to access these funds now to pay for some of my son’s law school expenses. He is 30 years old and not a dependent. Is there any reason why I could not roll over some of my TSP funds into a traditional individual retirement account and then withdraw the funds from the IRA now so that I can use the money for the expenses…