Q&A: The Most Important Person In Your Retirement Planning

Question

I’m married, I noticed with the retirement package and the tsp plan there is an area where the spouse must sign. With the tsp must my spouse be notarized for each change made in withdrawals from the tsp? ( Example, monthly withdrawals to quarterly withdrawals)

Answer

You are right that getting spousal consent is essential when electing pension survivor benefits as well as getting withdrawals for your TSP. So you will want to make sure that your spouse is on board with everything.

Even if you just want to adjust a current installment payment then it will require notarized consent from your spouse. This is certainly one of the nuisances of the TSP.

Question

I have too much life insurance – I actually need none at this point. Can I sell my FEGLI policy, or just cancel it?

Answer

The short answer is that you can cancel your FEGLI policy at any time. If you want to sell the policy then you’ll have to find someone that is willing to pay for it. In most circumstances no one will buy your policy unless you are in very poor health.

Here are some resources on selling your FEGLI insurance:

https://www.opm.gov/faqs/topic/insure/index.aspx?cid=ba9e6a3b-f16e-4a3d-99c8-ceedcff3b978

https://www.policygenius.com/life-insurance/can-you-sell-your-life-insurance-policy/

Question

While watching your videos, a good topic came up. Since we agree that it will take a few months before you start receiving your fers pension, does it make sense, and can you increase your tsp withdrawal for those few months in order to have enough money until your pension check comes in? And then decrease it back? Thanks

Answer

You certainly can use your TSP to fill in the first few months of retirement. However, you will want to make sure you are meeting all the rules to avoid the 10% TSP penalty.

Also, you should also know that it can take some time for the TSP to get word from your agency that you are officially retired which means that it can take some time to get access to your TSP.

If you are eligible, you may want to consider an age-based in-service withdrawal before you retire so you have some cash ready to go for retirement.

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Dallen J. Haws, CFP®, MBA

CEO and Lead Planner

Dallen is one of the most sought after federal retirement experts in the country.

He routinely speaks/consults with thousands of federal employees about their benefits and retirement. He is a self-professed nerd about helping those under FERS to maximize benefits, reduce taxes, and retire confident.

He is a regular contributor to Govexec and FedSmith and many other federal employee new sites.

When he is not perfecting retirement plans, you can find him training for triathlons or going on adventures with his family.

Common Questions

What do you do?

We are the go-to financial planning firm/financial advisors for FERS federal employees all around the country (and the world). We help our clients maximize their benefits, reduce taxes, and retire confident.

Who do you serve?

We serve FERS federal employees everyday, all day, and twice on Sunday. We eat and breath federal benefits and are proud to be the go-to financial planners for FERS federal employees all around the world.

How do you make money?

We are a commission-free (a.k.a. fee-only) financial planning firm for FERS federal employees. Our fees depend on the complexity of your situation but our fees are always very transparent. Some financial advisors are commission-based, which may cause fees to be hidden or create conflicts of interest. Not us. Our goal is to lower your taxes, maximize your benefits, and make sure you can retire without worry. For more info about our fees, click here.

Can you meet virtually and work with people in other locations?

Yep! We work with people from all over the U.S. as well as many federal employees who are stationed overseas.

What areas do you help your clients with?

Great question. Here are the 5 areas that we help our clients with:

-Retirement Planning: Planning for the day when work is optional

-Investment Planning: Building wealth for your future

-Tax Strategy: Taking advantage of opportunities in the tax law

-Insurance Planning: Protecting your loved ones and what you’ve already built

-Estate Planning: Planning for those you leave behind

One thing we found that clients really appreciate is that no other financial advisor is able to help them with their federal benefits as well as the rest of their financial lives like we can.

Disclosures