beowulf
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2007
- Messages
- 798
I searched the archives, but couldn't find a thread dedicated to this topic, just a few individual posts. If you're not a retired federal employee or military retiree, this probably won't be of much interest to you .
Against lots of advice, I kept my TSP after I retired from the government. I'm currently at a 70/30 split - G Fund (government bonds) and the rest split among international, small cap and their version of a S&P 500 fund. Nothing in the bond fund. Prior to retirement a while ago, I was 10/90 and maxed my non matched contribution. Wanted to keep this as an untouched reserve.
Many folks say to roll it into an IRA as soon as you can, others say hold on for dear life. I held on and its done well for me. I am now at the point where I see no solution other than to roll it to my Vanguard rollover IRA account. The reason is that I turn 70 1/2 in June of 2018. For non TSP folks, this probably evokes a lot of ? - what difference does that make?
The TSP is not like a normal 401K or IRA. The government makes it hard to do anything except put in money or make interfund transfers. I can transfer IRA money to my credit union with the click of a button or write a check. To withdraw or transfer money with the TSP, you have to submit notarized forms in hard copy and the process takes several weeks. That's an issue, but not the real problem. The TSP only allows one partial withdrawal and one final total withdrawal (or rollover) - period - forever. No other options. You can take out equal monthly withdrawals (adjustable once a year), but this seems to me like a PITA option that I don't want to deal with . Recently congress allowed the TSP Board of Trustees, if they want, to offer multiple withdrawals, but it could take years to be implemented. They move slowly and deliberately. I suppose that's to protect us from blowing it all on flashy new cars . I don't expect any action on this in the near future .
Faced with the probability that I can only make one partial withdrawal in 2018 and a final full withdrawal in 2019, I've decided to roll it all to VG this year. The process is ponderous. First you have to get their form notarized, then mail it to VG (or wherever you have an IRA account) and have them certify that you actually have an account with them, have it mailed back to you and then mail it to TSP HQ. Then TSP mails a physical check to VG (no wire or e transfer allowed) - can't do anything electronically. You can fax the forms, but that's not something I'm willing to do. Faxing is very 1980s and things I've tried to fax recently never reach their destination (nothing financial).
I have everything ready to go to VG and start the process. It will probably take about 30 to 40 days total. I figure I have about 20 days from now to get my package in the mail and still get this done by December 31 .
I don't feel bad about closing out my TSP account, but I would have liked to hold it for a few more years. Investment options are limited, and if I pass, it's treated like a 401K, which makes it harder to handle for my wife (as opposed to an IRA).
Has anyone done this recently? Any advice? Thanks in advance for any comments.
Against lots of advice, I kept my TSP after I retired from the government. I'm currently at a 70/30 split - G Fund (government bonds) and the rest split among international, small cap and their version of a S&P 500 fund. Nothing in the bond fund. Prior to retirement a while ago, I was 10/90 and maxed my non matched contribution. Wanted to keep this as an untouched reserve.
Many folks say to roll it into an IRA as soon as you can, others say hold on for dear life. I held on and its done well for me. I am now at the point where I see no solution other than to roll it to my Vanguard rollover IRA account. The reason is that I turn 70 1/2 in June of 2018. For non TSP folks, this probably evokes a lot of ? - what difference does that make?
The TSP is not like a normal 401K or IRA. The government makes it hard to do anything except put in money or make interfund transfers. I can transfer IRA money to my credit union with the click of a button or write a check. To withdraw or transfer money with the TSP, you have to submit notarized forms in hard copy and the process takes several weeks. That's an issue, but not the real problem. The TSP only allows one partial withdrawal and one final total withdrawal (or rollover) - period - forever. No other options. You can take out equal monthly withdrawals (adjustable once a year), but this seems to me like a PITA option that I don't want to deal with . Recently congress allowed the TSP Board of Trustees, if they want, to offer multiple withdrawals, but it could take years to be implemented. They move slowly and deliberately. I suppose that's to protect us from blowing it all on flashy new cars . I don't expect any action on this in the near future .
Faced with the probability that I can only make one partial withdrawal in 2018 and a final full withdrawal in 2019, I've decided to roll it all to VG this year. The process is ponderous. First you have to get their form notarized, then mail it to VG (or wherever you have an IRA account) and have them certify that you actually have an account with them, have it mailed back to you and then mail it to TSP HQ. Then TSP mails a physical check to VG (no wire or e transfer allowed) - can't do anything electronically. You can fax the forms, but that's not something I'm willing to do. Faxing is very 1980s and things I've tried to fax recently never reach their destination (nothing financial).
I have everything ready to go to VG and start the process. It will probably take about 30 to 40 days total. I figure I have about 20 days from now to get my package in the mail and still get this done by December 31 .
I don't feel bad about closing out my TSP account, but I would have liked to hold it for a few more years. Investment options are limited, and if I pass, it's treated like a 401K, which makes it harder to handle for my wife (as opposed to an IRA).
Has anyone done this recently? Any advice? Thanks in advance for any comments.
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