COLA cool off?

[Gardnr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 ... in spite of all my pre-FIRE number crunching, there was no fixed number for emergency reserves that worked for me.

Yep, how to handle emergency funds is something I've been wrestling with as I've pondered ER. Many ways to skin that cat. The important thing is to at least consider it and have options.

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gardnr Yep, how to handle emergency funds is something I've been wrestling with as I've pondered ER. Many ways to skin that cat. The important thing is to at least consider it and have options.

yes, indeed on having options. i did have a few tricks up my sleeve for 2nd wave reserves, but thankfully was able to go ultra cheap with the budget for 3 months and restore my 1st wave cash reserves. i came out OK.

[martyb]

Hmmmm....what's this? A subject I actually know a lil' somthin' about? I'm a CSRS'r who has 4 yrs, 3 months & 25 days left to work till my 55th birthday. Then...I'm outta there. I've recently begun a concerted effort to do what I can to increase my ultimate high-three in the time I have left. I'm determined not to work a day past my 55th b-day. I've been in the same line of work at the same pay grade for pretty much all of my civil service career, which began in 1981 right after I got off active duty. It's not that I didn't think about moving around, trying something different etc. but family constraints and circumstances just kept getting in the way. So...fast forward to now. In the last 3 weeks, I've relocated my family from Louisiana to Wisconsin to work for a different agency, still within DOD but different. That move included a promotion to a higher grade, and will open future doors for me, which will of course all lead (hopefully) to a bigger salary & correspondingly higher "high 3". I'm thinking I need at least 2 more promotions & paid moves to get to where I need to be. As for the TSP, I'm getting tired of getting whacked, so I finally have retreated to the G fund. I'm contributing my max plus the over 50 amount. No match for us CSRS'rs, but I still really enjoy paying so little in taxes to uncle sam while adding to my own pile. There are quite a few of us feds on this board.

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyb Hmmmm....what's this? A subject I actually know a lil' somthin' about? I'm a CSRS'r who has 4 yrs, 3 months & 25 days left to work till my 55th birthday. Then...I'm outta there....There are quite a few of us feds on this board.

re "4 yrs, 3 months & 25 days", but who's counting, eh?
i am a former fed, in the FERS plan from day one. you will find a lot of threads here with embedded links for both CSRS and FERS. I've learned a lot from the current and retired fed folks here, more than my personnel folks ever could provide. this board is an excellent resource!

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyb As for the TSP, I'm getting tired of getting whacked, so I finally have retreated to the G fund.

When spouse retires from the Navy Reserve in December, we're thinking of transferring all her IRAs to the TSP's S & I funds.

That'll give her over 20 years of index returns at a 0.03% expense ratio.

I'm trying real hard to figure out the catch...

[martyb]

Can you do that? I didn't think you could add any more funds to TSP after retirement. My only IRA's are ROTH, so I don't guess that's an option for me even if it's possible do add $$ at retirement.

[Gardnr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords ...at a 0.03% expense ratio..

It's even better than that. 0.015% for all the funds! You just can't beat the TSP for low expenses, can ya?

http://www.tsp.gov/rates/fundsheet-ifund.pdf
http://www.tsp.gov/rates/fundsheet-sfund.pdf

[Gardnr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyb Can you do that? I didn't think you could add any more funds to TSP after retirement. My only IRA's are ROTH, so I don't guess that's an option for me even if it's possible do add $$ at retirement.

Yep, you can transfer from any eligible retirement plan, including a traditional IRA and an eligible employer plan (like a 401K) to an existing TSP acct.

http://www.tsp.gov/forms/tsp-60.pdf

I'm strongly considering doing this with my current employer 401K plan when I leave. The ultra low expenses for the index funds are pretty attractive. I'd also utilize the S & I funds like Nords. That's what I currently have my TSP invested in, helping to meet those portions of my overall AA.

[samclem]

Nords, Gardnr--Thanks a lot for the tip. I was sure I'd read that contributions to TSP were only allowed while you were employed (or on AD), but I see that is not the case. This is great news--I can dump $$ from my present solo401K into my existing TSP once I stop working.

Interesting that you can only do it with an existing TSP account, it looks like you can't open a TSP account after leaving govt service. This should be another "must do" for anyone leaving the military--put a small contribution into TSP to get your foot in the door and keep this tremendous option open for the future.

Now I'm going to investigate the loopholes wording of the regs that might let me terminate and re-open my solo401K as a way to do this transfer now rather than waiting.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by samclem Nords, Gardnr--Thanks a lot for the tip. This should be another "must do" for anyone leaving the military--put a small contribution into TSP to get your foot in the door and keep this tremendous option open for the future.

I put this into the "too good to believe" category, right next to restarting Social Security.

My fledgling TSP contributions got booted out in 2002 because I didn't know I could dump in my IRA. Won't make that mistake with spouse!

[Gardnr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by samclem Nords, Gardnr--Thanks a lot for the tip.

You're quite welcome!

Quote:

I was sure I'd read that contributions to TSP were only allowed while you were employed (or on AD), but I see that is not the case. This is great news--I can dump $$ from my present solo401K into my existing TSP once I stop working.

To be absolutely clear and concise, they aren't "contributions", they're just transfer of already contributed money to a qualified plan. Contributions being basically defined as new money from your earned income. It appears you understand that but I thought I'd ensure clarification to avoid confusion for others.

Quote:

This should be another "must do" for anyone leaving the military--put a small contribution into TSP to get your foot in the door and keep this tremendous option open for the future.

Yep, I think that a lot of people don't appreciate the TSP in terms of the extremely low costs. They often just complain about the lack of choice in the plan without appreciating the high value of low costs. In my opinion too many choices does not serve people well anyway. A well balanced portfolio made up of the existing funds covers the full range of the market without any fancy bells and whistles. Just too boring for some folks. But we know how most people lose money by chasing things around, don't we?

The L funds would be a good choice for many people as well. They'd better served using them rather than jumping around and/or trying to time the market based on their emotional reactions. Or just as bad, just parking their money in the G or F fund when they're in their 20s and 30s.

I just wish we'd had the TSP available back when I was a young pup! I played a lot of catch up in the last eight years or so.