Q. I am currently working, have both a Traditional and Roth TSP but will be subject to required minimum distribution upon retirement. The five-year Roth requirement will not be satisfied by the time I retire. I would like to transfer the entire Roth account, both qualified and nonqualified, to an outside Roth IRA before I retire to avoid paying RMD on the Roth portion. Can I do this without penalty, or am I limited to transferring the qualified portion only?
A. Rolling money over from the TSP to an IRA should be free from any penalty, if you do it correctly.