How To Rollover Your Thrift Savings Plan

When it comes to rolling money into the Thrift Savings Plan, there are several rules and regulations to follow.  Both the Traditional TSP and the Roth TSP have their own set of rules as to what is allowed to be rolled over and what is not allowed.  This can all seem a little confusing, but it is important to be knowledgeable about your TSP rollover qualifications.   Therefore, please have a look at this excerpt from the FEDWeek article, “The Ins and Outs of Rolling Money Into a TSP,” for a breakdown of rollover guidelines:

 

First and foremost, you can roll money into your TSP account either as an employee or after you have separated from federal employment.

You can roll the following into the Traditional balance of your TSP:

Money from a Traditional employer-sponsored plan, such as a Traditional 401(k) that you had either prior to or after your federal career;
Money from a Traditional IRA where you have been able to deduct your IRA contributions from your federal income tax (called a “Traditional deductible IRA”); and

The earnings component from a Traditional IRA where you have not been able to deduct your IRA contributions from your federal income tax (called a “Traditional non-deductible IRA”).

You can roll the following into the Roth balance of your TSP:

Money from a Roth employer-sponsored plan, such as a Roth 401(k) that you had either prior to or after your federal career.

You cannot roll the following into either the Roth or Traditional balance of your TSP:

Any money that is not in a qualified plan;
Any money in a Roth IRA;
The contributions component from a Traditional non-deductible IRA; and
Any money that is not yours, even if it is in a qualified plan (e.g., money in the qualified plan of a spouse, etc.).

You can execute a rollover into the TSP more than once, assuming that you have more than one qualified account to roll in.

While these “dos and don’ts” are only a compresed outline of the rollover guidelines, they are certainly helpful of giving an idea of what to roll into your TSP.  Do not forget to plan ahead for your future.  Make sure to have a clear grasp on what is allowed to be rolled over before taking action!

For the original FEDWeek article, click here.