Q: I work for USDA. I will retire at the end of December 2012 as a GS-14, Step 7, $126,251 – FERS. I am taking full Social Security. I was born in June 1943. My monthly Social Security entitlement is about $2,350, and I have 25 percent taken out for federal taxes. I am investing in the L-2020 401(k) TSP fund. I plan to keep my money in the 401(k) after I retire. Is keeping my retirement savings in the L-2020 fund in retirement a good strategy? I figure the fund is diversified nicely with conservative and aggressive funds. I…
Browsing: 401(k)
Q: My wife and I are both 56 and planning to retire in the next couple of years. Is it possible for my wife to transfer her Army nonappropriated fund employee 401(k) funds into my Thrift Savings Plan account? I called the TSP office regarding TSP transfers from 401(k) accounts. The TSP office said I can only transfer my 401(k) funds to my TSP account. My wife cannot transfer her private sector job 401(k) funds 401(k) funds to my TSP accounts A: That question has been answered numerous times in the archive. The fact is that retirement plan accounts are…
Q: I have seen numerous questions about the feasibility of rolling 401(k) contributions into an existing TSP account. All of your answers indicate it is a good idea to do so. How do I go about accomplishing said transfers? A: You must contact your 401(k) administrator and make arrangements for rollover distribution. At the same time, you must complete a Form TSP-60 and submit it to the administrator along with your distribution request. Ultimately, the completed Form TSP-60 and the distribution check must reach to the TSP for the transfer/rollover to be completed, and one section of the Form TSP-60…
Q: I am under the Federal Employees Retirement System and have money in the Thrift Savings Plan. I returned to government service after 16 years in the private sector (I was under the Civil Service Retirement System from 1975 to 1987 but was placed in FERS in 2004 when I returned). I have retirement accounts outside TSP, but I find TSP to be easy to manage. I have considered transferring my other 401(k) accounts into TSP, but I have also heard concerns that Congress may target TSP as a source of “revenue.” I will be considering retirement in the next…
Q: I keep hearing that there is some kind of bill being touted by a congresswoman from New York that would “take” all of our Thrift Savings Plan money and everyone’s 401(k) money and put it into the Social Security system without our consent. Is there any truth to this, and if so, what do you think the chances are of this actually happening? Should we be concerned? A: There has been talk in lawmaking and policy think tanks about this strategy for changing the retirement system. I can’t possibly handicap the odds of such a thing happening, but it…
Q: Thank you for agreeing to respond to my New Jersey Thrift Savings Plan taxation question. New Jersey does not permit federal employees to contribute pretax dollars into TSP accounts. Its position is that TSP was not established under a Internal Revenue Code 401(k) plan. As this impacts many thousands of federal workers in the state, my question is: Presumably at retirement, New Jersey TSP participants will be taxed at the federal level for all TSP distributions, and at the state level for distributions minus contributions which NJ previously taxed (let’s hope so; that alone may be a recordkeeping nightmare).…
Q: My wife and I are both 56 and planning to retire in the next couple of years. Is it possible for my wife to transfer her Army nonappropriated fund employee 401(k) funds into my Thrift Savings Plan account? A: Only if the account contains no after-tax contributions.
Q: I am a new federal employee coming from a private-sector employer where I had a 401(k) and a 403(b) plan managed by ING. Should I roll these plans over into my Thrift Savings Plan retirement account? I also have another 401(k) plan managed by Merrill Lynch; should I roll that over ? A: Yes.
Q. Me: 55, married, retired military E-8, currently working federal civil service (WS-10 paygrade) since 1999. Wife: 62, Homemaker. All kids grown and on their own. I invest 15 percent into the TSP at work; have a traditional IRA from a previous job’s 401(k) rollover; and have a Roth that I have been investing $2,000 a year into for years. We recently paid off the home we bought in 1994, and now have additional money to invest into retirement. I want to max out my Roth to $6,000 annually, which is painless due to the mortgage being paid off. I’d…
Q: Can a new federal employee roll over a pre-tax 401(k) from a private-sector job into the Thrift Savings Plan? A: Yes.