Should I Stay or Should I Go? 14 Points to Consider Before Moving Money from TSP

These are pros and cons of moving money from the TSP after retirement.

“Should I Stay or Should I Go?” by The Clash. if you bopped to this song in high school or college, you are most likely in sight of retirement so this is an important topic. But, even if you know this from jeans or hotel commercials, this is worth a read.

In their wisdom, the Clash sang, “If I leave there will be trouble… If I stay there will be double.” Not a bad metaphor for making the stay-or-go TSP (Thrift Savings Plan) decision. But like so many things, the devil is in the details.

At the outset, I need to give a shout-out to Ian Smith from FedSmith. A few months back I asked him what big question his readers had, and this topic was the #1 answer.

I want to be clear, my goal in this article is NOT to give advice on your individual decision to transfer out of TSP or to leave your funds there. Rather, I hope to offer a list of unvarnished insights from my experience and research to help you cut through the noise. Further, to do it justice this will be an article series.

This initial article will be a summary of points to consider, and my follow-ups will provide a deeper dive. In the next installment, I will cover the “Stays”, i.e. advantages, of TSP that support the possibility of staying. I will then follow up with “Goes”, i.e. reasons, to leave. Finally, I will give you the “planners perspective”. At STWS, we have over 80 combined years serving Feds so I will share those earned insights with you. Click HERE to read more.