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 am 60 and had to retire early due to disability. I am receiving Social Security disability and a small annuity. Can I take a small amount — say, $10,000 — from my account but then start monthly draws when/if it becomes necessary? Should I leave all of my money in this account or do a rollover into a regular or Roth IRA? A. Yes, as long as you have not previously used your single partial withdrawal. I think you should retain your Thrift Savings Plan account for as long as possible.
Q. I work for the Defense Department. I have $75 biweekly going into the G Fund. I am in my early 30s and want to build my money. I don’t see it moving much in the G Fund, and I have been investing for four years. I can afford to invest $100 biweekly but don’t know what fund to put my money in for it to grow. My annual income is $38,780. A. Given your circumstances, I suggest that you invest all of your Thrift Savings Plan money in the L 2050 Fund for the foreseeable future.
Q. Regarding my TSP loan, I have a balance due of approximately $9,500 with a payoff date in just over two years paying $175 every two weeks. I also contribute 5 percent to my Thrift Savings Plan, which is approximately $160 per pay period. I would love to pay off my TSP loan sooner so that I could then concentrate on paying off other debt that I have (two years left on auto loan; balance of $12,000 at 2 percent). I can’t afford for my net pay to decrease anymore right now, so I am wondering if it would make…
Q. I understand that you can transfer funds into and out of your Thrift Savings Plan from either eligible pretax plans and/or after-tax plans. However, withdrawals (loans, withdrawals and interfund transfers) are made proportionately from both the traditional and Roth. Thus, you cannot specify withdrawals from only the traditional or the Roth. This is seen as a major drawback for some who would like to participate in the Roth option only or make withdrawals from only the traditional or the Roth option. Would it be possible, at or near retirement, to transfer a major amount of your TSP balance —…
Q. I am an active-duty military officer with 17 years of service. I would like to convert my traditional Thrift Savings Plan account to a Roth 401(k) and pay taxes now. I want to see if it is possible to transfer my balance to a traditional 401(k) with my civilian investment company and then convert that account to the Roth 401(k). Additionally, I want to minimize my taxes by doing this during my deployment this year, because I will be receiving tax-free pay for most of this year. Is this allowed and/or possible? I would love to pay zero or…
Q. I am a FERS employee with a retirement date of May 2018. I will reach my minimum retirement age of 56 at that time, with 36 years of service. Am I eligible, at that point, to receive nonpenalized withdrawals, either payments or lump sum from my Thrift Savings Plan account? Or do I have to wait until I reach age 59½ to not be penalized? A. You will be exempt from the early withdrawal penalty under those circumstances.
Q. I anticipate starting monthly withdrawals from the Thrift Savings Plan in the near future. Sometime after this, I would like to make a one-time lump-sum withdrawal from TSP to pay for my daughter’s wedding. Can I do this? Can I make a lump-sum withdrawal while taking monthly payments, or am I limited to one or the other? A. You can take the lump-sum partial withdrawal before starting the monthly payments, but not after.
Q. I am 67 and retired. I made a partial withdrawal a few years ago. I need some cash for a family matter, so I want to make a full withdrawal now. I don’t want an annuity, but I’ll invest half in a commercial IRA or retirement instrument in hope of reducing the immediate tax impact of this full withdrawal. Can I do so? — that is, invest half of this full withdrawal in another commercial instrument, thus avoiding for now the tax on this “re-invested” amount? A. Yes.
Q. I have heard that some people are taking a monthly Thrift Savings Plan withdrawal that will have all funds sent to them over a period of 119 months (less than 10 years). Looking through TSP manuals, I haven’t figured out why yet. What are the advantages/disadvantages for this strategy? A. Check Page 3 of the notice at https://www.tsp.gov/PDF/formspubs/tsp-536.pdf. Payments expected to last less than 10 years are eligible for rollover but subject to 20 percent mandatory withholding. I’m not sure that the advantage is.