Q. I am currently employed with 10 years service accrued in the Federal Employee Retirement System. If I were separated/left federal employment for the private sector, would I be allowed to roll over the entire contents of my 401(k) account (acquired via my new employment) into my Thrift Savings Plan? Similarly, if I were to retire from federal employment, would I be allowed to roll over the entire contents of any 401(k) account(s) (acquired as a result of any previous private-sector employment) into my TSP? A. As long as you maintain your TSP account, whether employed, separated or retired from federal…
Browsing: 401(k)
Q: I turned 59 in October 2010. Can I take out of my 401(k) in January 2011 without a penalty? A: Yes, if you retired during or after the year in which you reached age 55.
Q. I retired December 2010, at age 53. I would like to withdraw my 401(k) but understand the penalties involved since I separated before age 55. Under “exceptions” in the tax code there is a “qualified public safety employee” exception to the rule. Do 6C government employees fall under this? A. To the best of my knowledge, the qualified public safety employee exception only applies to defined benefit pension plans, not defined contribution plans like the TSP or a 401(k). A bill to change this – HR 6157 – was introduced in 2008, but never made it out of committee.
Q. Is there a way to withdraw money from my 401k or TSP without paying a tax penalty, in order to use the money to pay for college tuition for a child? A. The rules are complex, but there are ways around the early withdrawal penalty. Read the notice at the following link for more information: https://www.tsp.gov/PDF/formspubs/octax92-32.pdf. Pay particular attention to the left side of Page 4.
Q. I cannot find the origin of the law, rule or whatever the decision process was to subject monies withdrawn from 401(k) and retirement funds to the 10 percent penalty if one has not reached 59½ years of age. Was this legislated? Was it an Internal Revenue Service decision? How did it come about? A. This question falls outside the scope of this forum. You should pose it to a legal historian.
Q. I am in the process of transferring my IRA account from my bank to my Thrift Savings Plan account. The majority of my IRA is from old 401k rollovers from previous jobs (pretax). However, there were a few years when I made contributions to my IRA with after-tax money through my broker. I’ve had my IRA for years now and have no idea how much or what portion of it is after-tax money as my broker has made many trades over the years. How can I determine exactly how much of my IRA is pr-tax and how much is…
Q. I had a 401(k) plan with my previous employer. I rolled over into an account with Fidelity after I left and haven’t added any money to it since. Can I roll it over again to my current Thrift Savings Plan account? What form would I need to use? A. You may transfer the assets into the TSP as long as the account contains no after-tax dollars — that is, money you contributed after it was taxed. Visit www.tsp.gov for more information and use form TSP-60 to request the transfer.
Q. My spouse has a 401(k) from a previous job. Can I add my name to this 401 and transfer it to the Thrift Savings Plan? A. No.
Q. I am under Civil Service Retirement System Offset. When I took the break in service, I withdrew my CSRS funds (about $50,000; probably $60,000 or more by now). That was in 1998, so I will have to redeposit if I want it to count toward my retirement. I will be 58 next month and am considering retiring in 2013. I have been putting $600 in my Thrift Savings Plan account every payday. I can withdraw money at 59½ and not pay penalties, but it seems like I will be double-taxed. When I withdraw the money from my TSP to pay…
Q: I am looking at retirement in about 18 months. I am in CSRS offset. I’ll have 31.5 years total service and about 1,500 unused hours of sick leave. I left the government for about 10 years from June 1982 to February 1991 and took my retirement out. I owe about $25,000, but not real sure. I can repay it out of IRA and 401(k) accounts, I just don’t want to pay taxes on the withdrawals, since I cannot roll the IRA from the original withdrawal back into the CSRS retirement. Any thoughts? A: Rules are rules. To the extent…