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.
Browsing: law enforcement
Q. I am a federal employee with a law enforcement (Department of Justice/Bureau of Prisons) retirement. I am planning to retire at age 51 with 23 years in my current agency, and six years and 11 months military time that has been paid back. This, along with 175 hours of sick leave, should give me a 30+ year LEO retirement. I have been told that if I wait until age 55, I can withdraw my entire Thrift Savings Plan balance during that year and do so without a penalty (before 59½ years of age) as long as I pay the…
Q. I’m 52 and a recently retired FERS law enforcement officer. I plan to leave my Thrift Savings Plan alone for at least two more years ($500k+ balance) and then do a 72T Substantially Equal Periodic Payment withdrawal. However, I may need approximately $30K to $40K, probably in 2014, before I do the 72T SEPP withdrawal. Would it be better to do the one-time partial TSP withdrawal, or withdraw from my Roth IRA contributions (tax-free)? I have approximately $140K in the Roth. A. This is really a question for your tax preparer after a look at some pro forma returns…
Q. I retired under the provisions provided for federal law enforcement officers at age 52 (I’m now 58) under CSRS and am confused concerning under what circumstances and when I can withdrawal my entire Thrift Savings Plan balance without paying a 10 percent tax penalty. It’s my understanding, after reviewing the information in the TSP book, that after age 55, you can begin making withdrawals from your TSP either as a monthly paid annuity based on life expectancy or monthly installment payments but that the 10 percent penalty will apply if I withdraw the balance lump sum if done before…
Q. I retired under the provisions of early retirement for law enforcement officers on Jan. 1, 2011, under CSRS after 35 years of federal service. At the time I retired I was 54 years old, but will be 55 years of age in September. From what I have read in the TSP booklet regarding the 10 percent early withdrawal penalty and cited exceptions to this penalty, I would not be subject to the penalty in that I separated from service during the year I reached age 55. Is my interpretation correct, in that I did not have to actually be…
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…