Q. I retired from an air traffic control job at age 53. I am receiving monthly payments based on my life expectancy. I will be age 55 in April. Can I take a partial withdrawal? If not, are there any options? I need to access more funds. Will there be a tax penalty on the amount I have received? Will my partial withdrawal be penalty-free now that I am 55? Are there other options, such as increased monthly payments? A. You may not take a partial withdrawal once monthly payments have begun. You may increase your monthly payment amount using…
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Q. I’m about to retire at age 47 after 25 years as a federal law enforcement officer. I plan to roll my 401(k) (TSP) over to a traditional IRA and begin taking substantially equal periodic payments per 72(t) from the IRA, which, as I understand, once I start, I have to continue until age 59 ½. I plan to use the annuitization method to make equal monthly withdrawals, but I would like to take the first year’s withdrawal in a lump sum to help pay off some debt. Will the IRS allow that without the 10 percent penalty, or do I have to…
Q. I have an opportunity to retire under a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. I have 30+ years of FERS service, non-law enforcement. My age will be 53 years and 11 months if I retire under this VERA offering. At what age will I have full access to my Thrift Savings Plan without the 10 percent early withdrawal penalty by “taking substantially equal payments over my life expectancy.” At what age will I have full access to my TSP without the 10 percent early withdrawal penalty by NOT “taking substantially equal payments over my life expectancy.” If immediately upon retirement I…
Q. My wife and I are FERS employees. We are both considering retiring early if offered Voluntary Early Retirement Authority at ages 50+/- (both with more than 25 years of service). With children still in the picture for some time, access and flexibility with our Thrift Savings Plan accounts are crucial to any plan. I would like to accomplish two things: 1). 72(t) withdrawals until 59½ in one account. 2). Flexibility to roll over funds currently in TSP into a Roth IRA held at another institution (from an IRA as I see no method to do that while the funds…
Q. When does a nonfederal retirement fund (401(k), IRA, Substantially Equal Periodic Payment, etc.) qualify to be rolled over to the Thrift Savings Plan? Is there a time limit that such funds need to remain before transferring to a TSP account? A. Basically, the funds need to come from a tax-deferred retirement account and consist of only yet-to-be-taxed money.
Q. I am retiring from the Army after 22 years of service and I am 45 yrs. old. Can I start withdrawing from the Thrift Savings Plan and avoid the early withdrawal penalty by taking a series of Substantially Equal Periodic Payments? How does that work? My life expectancy is 37.7 more years, according to the Internal Revenue Service, so is that the number of years my funds can be distributed? If so, do I then divide what I saved by 37.7 and again divide by 12 to see what my monthly payments would be? A. You may avoid the…
Q. I am a firefighter with a county fire department in Florida. As such, I am part of the Florida Retirement System in the special risk class. I started my career early and will be eligible for retirement with full benefits and no FRS penalties by age 48. (This is 25 years of service.) However, because of the Internal Revenue Service penalty for retiring before age 50, I would receive a 10 percent tax penalty in addition to the normal taxes I will pay on my retirement income. I understand that I will receive the penalty of 10 percent. However,…
Q. I am a federal employee with the Department of Justice, non-law enforcement, and will have 30 years of service at age 54, approximately two years before my minimum retirement age. Can I leave the government before MRA with 30 years and still be eligible to receive my special retirement supplement and my FERS retirement without a penalty at my MRA? Would I still be able to collect my Thrift Savings Plan, without penalty at my MRA, or would I be required to wait until age 59½? A. Mike: If you separate from service before the calendar year in which…
Q. If I agree to make Substantially Equal Periodic Payments available under Internal Revenue Service code section 72(t) from my TSP, may I do so before I retire and avoid the 10 percent penalty? If it matters, I am a federal law enforcement officer who will have 25 years of service before age 50. A. No, since you’re not allowed to initiate monthly payments before you retire. The 72(t)-compliant distributions will avoid the early withdrawal penalty whenever they are initiated, however.
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…