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203 articles on TSP rules, benchmarks, strategy, pensions and taxes, plus a daily TSP market recap.
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15 articles
Tax Optimization
Roth Conversion Ladders for Federal Retirees
Dan retired from a regional Social Security office at 57 with 31 years of service. His FERS pension came to about $50,000 a year, plus a supplement of around $18,000 until 62. He and his wife had $900,000 sitting in the ...
5 min · 2026-04-03
Tax Optimization
Rolling Your TSP Into an IRA After Separation
Marcus retired from the Social Security Administration at 56 with $610,000 in his TSP. Within a week, three brokerage firms had called him. One mailed a glossy folder. Each promised "more flexibility" if he rolled the mo...
5 min · 2026-03-31
Tax Optimization
The Rule of 55 and the TSP's Special Age 50 Exception
Mark is 54 and ready to leave his job at the Social Security Administration. He has 31 years of service, a $620,000 TSP balance, and a retirement date circled for mid-December. He also has a bridge problem. His FERS pens...
5 min · 2026-03-28
Tax Optimization
72(t) Substantially Equal Periodic Payments Explained
Priya is 51 and has just walked out of a federal job she held for 18 years. She took a deferred resignation, so no immediate FERS annuity is coming. Her pension is a long way off. She has $640,000 in a rollover IRA, a sp...
5 min · 2026-03-23
Tax Optimization
Traditional vs. Roth TSP: How to Choose
Marcus spent 31 years as a civilian engineer at an Army installation and put every TSP dollar into the traditional balance. The tax deduction felt good every payday. At 62, with a FERS pension, a FERS supplement, and a $...
5 min · 2026-03-22
Tax Optimization
Tax Drag on Withdrawals: Why Your Balance Isn't All Yours
Linda retired from a Defense agency at 62 and opened her TSP statement the week after her last day. $912,400. She read the number aloud to her husband across the kitchen table, and they both grinned. Nearly a million dol...
5 min · 2026-03-18
Tax Optimization
Required Minimum Distributions From Your TSP and IRAs
Frank retired from the Defense Logistics Agency at 62 and spent the next decade doing what he'd planned: fishing, a little consulting, and leaving his TSP alone. At 73, he opened a December statement and saw a withdrawal...
5 min · 2026-03-15
Tax Optimization
Backdoor Roth IRAs for High-Earning Federal Employees
Marcus is a GS-15 at a defense agency, married to a nurse practitioner. Together they bring in about $290,000. He maxes out his TSP, pays down the mortgage, and last spring tried to open a Roth IRA at his brokerage. The ...
5 min · 2026-03-13
Tax Optimization
Combat Zone Contributions and the Tax-Exempt Balance
Staff Sergeant Dana Reyes was four months into a deployment when she looked at her leave and earnings statement and did a double take. No federal income tax withheld. Her base pay, special pay, and hostile fire pay were ...
5 min · 2026-03-08
Tax Optimization
State Taxes on TSP Withdrawals: Where You Retire Matters
Frank spent 31 years at the Social Security Administration in Baltimore and had his retirement sorted out on paper. FERS annuity, a TSP balance just over $900,000, a paid-off townhouse. His plan was to sell and move clos...
5 min · 2026-03-06
Tax Optimization
Qualified Charitable Distributions From IRAs
Dennis retired from the Department of the Army at 62 and rolled most of his TSP into a traditional IRA. For years he wrote a $6,000 check from his bank account to his church and a couple of food banks, and he never thoug...
5 min · 2026-03-04
Tax Optimization
Rolling an IRA or 401(k) Into the TSP
Dana spent eleven years at a software company before taking a federal job at 41. She left behind a 401(k) worth about $142,000 and had a rollover IRA of $38,000 from an even earlier job. Two years into her federal career...
6 min · 2026-03-01