Question 1
I currently work at a VA hospital. I have been investing 15% of my income into the traditional TSP and also 15% in the Roth TSP. I listened to one of your videos, and you had mentioned if you are married filing jointly and making over $209,000 per year you are not eligible to invest in a Roth IRA. My concern is that I was not aware of that and I’ve already invested $10,670 this year into The Roth IRA this year. What will happen to that money? I don’t want to do something illegal; however, I don’t want to lose money as well. Thank you for your assistance.
Answer 1
The first thing to clarify is that there is a big difference between the Roth TSP and a Roth IRA. The Roth TSP is part of your TSP at work and no matter how high your income you can always contribute money into it.
The rules for a Roth IRA are very different and you are right that once you make over a certain amount (it changes over time) then you are no longer able to contribute into a Roth IRA.
However, if you have put money into a Roth IRA in a year that you made more then the annual limit then you will probably need to remove your contributions and the earnings that those contributions made.
Question 2
I am a federal employee and thinking of retiring within the next 3-4 years. I need help to plan my retirement. Looking for a fee based retirement planning expert. Thanks
Answer 2
You came to the right place. Our team at Haws Federal Advisors is fee-only and we help federal employees retire all day long.
Feel free to make an appointment with us at our website here.
Question 3
Can we take my wife’s IRA and roll it into my TSP? I was told at a retirement workshop that we could but can’t find documentation that supports this. She is still living.
Answer 3
The short answer is no. Your retirement accounts must remain separate from your spouse’s retirement accounts as long as you are both alive.
However, you can roll an IRA in your name over to your TSP.
Question 4
Love, love your videos. Keep them coming! I remember in one of your videos, you indicated the SCD in your SF 50 is used for leave purposes only. My first question is, is there any way we can reach out to OPM and ask exactly for the date, in my case, the date that I will exactly hit my 20th year in the Federal service before submitting an application to retire?
Answer 4
You are right that the SCD on your LES and SF-50’s is not always the same as the date they use to calculate your years of service.
You will want to talk to your agency or HR to get that information. Some agencies will allow you to request a “Certified Summary of Federal Service” that will get you the information you need.
However, some agencies make it really hard to request that sort of information so you’ll have to ask yours to find out.
