By Mike Miles
TSP payouts after disability retirement
December 30th, 2010 | Uncategorized
Q: I am 53 years old, and I was a U.S. Postal Service employee with 20 years of service under the Federal Employees Retirement System. I took disability retirement from the USPS in March after suffering injuries in Iraq as a reservist. If I take a full withdrawal from my Thrift Savings Plan account, will I pay a penalty to TSP, and at what percentage? How much will I have to pay in taxes? Will the USPS match my TSP balance? And how long must my money stay in a TSP account before I can make a full withdrawal without a penalty?
A: For the rules covering withdrawal taxes and withholding, see the TSP notice here. The TSP does not levy penalties against withdrawals; that’s a matter for the IRS. Whether you may withdraw your funds without penalty will depend upon the way in which you take the withdrawal and the extent of your disability.
While I’m not an expert on USPS-specific benefits, I don’t know why they would double, or otherwise increase, your TSP balance beyond what has already been contributed to your account. Because you are separated from service, your vested TSP balance is available to be withdrawn immediately.
Tags: disability retirement, penalties, Postal Service, taxes, thrift savings plan, TSP, TSP withdrawal, TSP withdrawal penalties, USPS
USPS retirement and leave rollover
October 20th, 2010 | Uncategorized
Q: I plan to retire from the U.S. Postal Service on Dec. 31. Any word on the proposal to roll over terminal annual leave into the Thrift Savings Plan?
A: Not that I’ve heard.
Tags: leave rollover, post office, Postal Service, retirement, thrift savings plan, TSP, USPS
TSP contributions and active-duty service
August 2nd, 2010 | Uncategorized
Q: I am currently on military leave without pay from the U.S. Postal Service and have been on active duty with the Air Force for about 12 months. When I was with the USPS, I was contributing 5 percent to the Thrift Savings Plan and receiving the available agency matching funds. During my period of active duty, I have been contributing 10 percent to the TSP with no matching funds.
What are the rules or regulations with regards to agency matching funds upon my return to the USPS? Specifically, would I be eligible for any agency matching contributions during the military LWOP period? Could you please also cite the publication or reference that would address this?
A: Depending upon your circumstances, you may be able to make up some or all of your civilian TSP contributions and receive corresponding matching contributions on those deposits. See this fact sheet at the official Thrift Savings Plan website for more details.
Tags: active-duty service, matching funds, military service, Postal Service, thrift savings plan, TSP, TSP matching funds, USPS
Incentive payments and tax filing
July 9th, 2010 | Uncategorized
Q: I retired from the U.S. Postal Service on Oct. 31 and received a $10,000 incentive payment in December that was counted as part of my 2009 earned income. As part of the incentive package, I will receive another $5,000 this October. This has nothing to do with my retirement annuity, so will it again be counted as earned income for 2010? If so, I will be able to contribute it to my Roth IRA, correct?
A: This is really a question for your tax preparer, but I expect that income to be reported for tax year 2010.
Tags: annuity, incentive payment, IRA, IRS, post office, Postal Service, Roth IRA, USPS
Early TSP withdrawal
October 29th, 2009 | Uncategorized
Q: If I retire from the Postal Service this next year, can I draw monthly payments from my TSP account before I am 59 1/2 without penalty?
A: Yes, if you: 1. Retired during or after the year in which you reached age 55; or 2. Take them as series of Substantially Equal Periodic Payments under IRS rules; or 3. Meet one of the other exceptions to the penalty outlined in the notice you’ll find at www.tsp.gov/forms/octax92-32.pdf
— Mike Miles
Tags: mail, penalty, Postal Service, SEPP, USPS
TSP monthly withdrawals
October 21st, 2009 | Uncategorized
Q: I just retired under the early out option from the U.S. Postal Service, and want to start regular monthly withdrawals from the Thrift Savings Plan, until the MetLife annuity index rate goes up somewhat. Can I, at that point, change from monthly payments to an immediate annuity option, without any kind of penalty? I am 52 years of age.
A: Yes.
— Mike Miles
Tags: MetLife, Postal Service, retired, thrift savings plan, TSP, USPS