Q. I am age 59½, retired from the Postal Service through a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority. I am looking at rolling over my Thrift Savings Plan to a certified financial planner. Could this affect my health benefits or my spouse’s health benefits? A. It will not affect your Federal Employees Health Benefits eligibility, but I question the wisdom of this move. Why would anyone with your best interests in mind recommend this move? For your benefit or his/hers? The certified financial planner label does guarantee that this person is trustworthy.
Browsing: spouse benefits
Q. I have an IRA with Prudential Insurance. Can I roll over my IRA into my wife’s Thrift Savings Plan account with the federal government? The money would be hers, not mine. This way, when she retires in a year or two, she’d have more money in her TSP account. I already have a pension and don’t need that money, but my wife’s retirement will be less than mine and I’d like her to have more in her TSP. A. No.
Q. Are there any advantages and does it make sense to transfer my wife’s 403(b) account into my Thrift Savings Plan account before I retire? I am planning to retire in 2015 at age 55 with 33 years of service (CSRS Offset). Will TSP even allow a spouse’s account to be transferred into the TSP? She will be retiring in 2014. She is not federally employed. A. It makes sense, and there would probably be advantages to doing this. But, alas, it’s not allowed.
Q. My wife is retired under FERS with a Thrift Savings Plan account and I, too, will retire at some point under FERS with a TSP account. Both of us have individual IRAs. Can each of us consolidate the IRAs into our own TSP accounts? A. Yes, as long as they don’t contain money that is eligible to be withdrawn without being taxed (tax basis).
Q. My husband was forced to retire early when the Army depot closed here in Sacramento, Calif. Several years later, he was forced to stop working due to a stroke and applied for Social Security disability. He was told that his Social Security allotment was greatly reduced because of his Thrift Savings Plan retirement account. He never thought this was fair because he has worked and paid Social Security all his life, but instead of receiving about $1,500 a month on Social Security, he receives a reduced $450. By comparison, I retired on a state pension and am fully qualified…
Q. My understanding is that a spouse’s traditional IRA (not a Roth IRA) cannot be transferred into a government employee’s Thrift Savings Plan 401(k) account? Can you tell me if that is correct? A. That is correct.
Q. My wife and I plan on retiring in seven years. We are covered by FERS and will each retire at the minimum age (56) with over 37 years of service for both. Can we combine our Thrift Savings Plan accounts at retirement? A. No.
Q. Overview: I began in the Air Force Non-Appropriated Fund in 1996, enrolled in NAF retirement plan in 2000, ported to GS in 2005 with deferral of my NAF retirement (calculated at 5.27 yrs) and entered FERS. My current GS position will be abolished in 2014 (at nine years FERS). I have the potential of porting into a NAF position. I wish I had just retained NAF retirement, but lack of research and misguided human resources recommendations led me to where I am with a split retirement outlook. Given my FERS time will total only nine years at abolishment, if I move…
Q. My wife works for a dental office which has a profit-sharing plan. Only her employer makes contributions to this pretax plan. She will retire in one more year. We would like to do a direct rollover of her funds into my Thrift Savings Plan, so that all holdings can be distributed from this one account. However, I have been told by TSP personnel that the ownership of any plans to be transferred must be in my name, not my spouse’s name. Is there any legal way for getting her profit-sharing plan funds to transfer into my TSP account? For example, since I am 2½ years…
Q. I am being considered for disability retirement in the coming months. My application is pending consideration from the Office of Personnel Management. I am a GS-14 FERS employee, 54 years old, with about 32 years of service. I have approximately $250,000 in the Thrift Savings Plan, and my allocations are as follows: 15 percent C, 15 percent S and 70 percent I. I realize that is somewhat aggressive, but it has been like that for about seven years or so, and I have been hopeful of the international home run. Regrettably, this hasn’t necessarily come to fruition. I will…