Q: I made a deposit to the Federal Employees Retirement System for 20 years of military service and have been working for the federal government for 10 years, which gives me 30 years of federal service. If I was to resign today, at age 50, would I continue to keep my military retirement pay until I reached my minimum retirement age (56) and could start drawing my FERS retirement? Will the FERS retirement consist of 10 years of Social Security Supplement, FERS and my Thrift Savings Plan payout, or would I have to wait on the TSP? A: Because you…
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Q: How much money can you take out for your one-time withdrawal without tax penalties? I am retiring under 6c, federal law enforcement retirement, at age 50. A: Unless you meet one of the special exceptions to the early withdrawal penalty, the amount will depend upon your life expectancy and the calculation method you choose. This excerpt from my July 23, 2007, Money Matters column should help: “Another exception to the early withdrawal penalty — one that is available to anyone — is to take distributions before reaching age 59 1/2 as a series of so-called substantially equal periodic payments…
Q: In answering a previous question about maximum nondeductible contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts, you wrote: “Your participation in the Thrift Savings Plan should not prohibit you from making the maximum nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA in 2009.” Is the answer the same if I have a Roth IRA instead of a traditional IRA? Can I max out both TSP at $22,000 and ROTH IRA at $6,000? A: The rules are different for Roth IRA contributions. You’ll have to use an online calculator or the rules contained in IRS Publication 590 to see if you can contribute to both.
Q: I was told that if you withdraw money from your Thrift Savings Plan account, you are subject to a 20 percent fee and then also subject to pay taxes on the money as income at the end of the year. A: There is no fee to withdraw from your TSP account. Under certain circumstances, there will be a tax deposit withheld from your withdrawn amount, which will be credited against your tax bill for the year.