Tsp hardship withdrawals RIF

[Anonymous]

it looks like one of us will be RIF, seems very likely. We have tons of fixed expenses between college tuition and mortgage, and we had to buy a new car because some idiot ran into us and totaled our very old Honda.

We have a pretty healthy TSP balance, but only about 100 K liquid, we just moved up from a condo to a single-family home during the pandemic which burned up all our extra cash.

So what is our option for a hardship withdrawal, obviously we could sell the house or our kid could drop out of college, so what qualifies as real hardship?

[Anonymous]

Can you cut expenses instead? How long has the RIf'ed person ben with the feds, they are entitled to severance.

[Anonymous]

You have 100k liquid and one of you will still be working? Don’t touch it. Talk to the school (presuming you weren’t paying for college solely out of current income) to see whether any aid or new payment plan is available. RIFd person needs to look for work and maybe work something like retail to have something extra coming in. Cut expenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have 100k liquid and one of you will still be working? Don’t touch it. Talk to the school (presuming you weren’t paying for college solely out of current income) to see whether any aid or new payment plan is available. RIFd person needs to look for work and maybe work something like retail to have something extra coming in. Cut expenses.

Listen we are entering a recession and we are over 50. We aren’t getting a good job anytime soon, so short of selling the house the TSP is the best option if we are still under earning in a year.

We live a very boring life, other than the house and vacations. We have 1 streaming service, cook dinner and brown bag lunch 95% of time. Cutting expense won’t bridge a change from white collar professional to barista.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have 100k liquid and one of you will still be working? Don’t touch it. Talk to the school (presuming you weren’t paying for college solely out of current income) to see whether any aid or new payment plan is available. RIFd person needs to look for work and maybe work something like retail to have something extra coming in. Cut expenses.

I MAY still be working. My agency RIF process is pending.

[Anonymous]

This may be a place to start, OP.
https://www.tsp.gov/in-service-withdrawal-basics/financial-hardship/
Good luck!

[Anonymous]

College loans. Recession and hardship withdrawal at 50+ going to be a huge hit on retirement. You have time to make a decision with 100k liquid and yes RIFed one should be a barista until a new job is found.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This may be a place to start, OP.
https://www.tsp.gov/in-service-withdrawal-basics/financial-hardship/
Good luck!

Yeah I read over this but it is geared towards a soldier paying his rent , not college tuition and costs for a family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:it looks like one of us will be RIF, seems very likely. We have tons of fixed expenses between college tuition and mortgage, and we had to buy a new car because some idiot ran into us and totaled our very old Honda.

We have a pretty healthy TSP balance, but only about 100 K liquid, we just moved up from a condo to a single-family home during the pandemic which burned up all our extra cash.

So what is our option for a hardship withdrawal, obviously we could sell the house or our kid could drop out of college, so what qualifies as real hardship?

Take out a TSP loan while you are still employed. You can borrow up to 50k and pay it back over 4 years. I am sorry you are going through this.

[Anonymous]

The RIF’d one will get severance plus paid for annual leave so first use that money. Not sure how many college students you have but I think you need to push them to get summer jobs and save the money for next year’s spending money, books, supplies, gas for car, etc. Then use the 100k when needed as the unemployed one looks for a job. At this point I wouldn’t touch the thrift money. If anything, can you rent your basement out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The RIF’d one will get severance plus paid for annual leave so first use that money. Not sure how many college students you have but I think you need to push them to get summer jobs and save the money for next year’s spending money, books, supplies, gas for car, etc. Then use the 100k when needed as the unemployed one looks for a job. At this point I wouldn’t touch the thrift money. If anything, can you rent your basement out?

No feasible rental option. Have considered moving out, renting out our place and renting a smaller place to live. But not sure if makes sense.

Mortgage is $5k, probably rents for $6k, and a two bedroom apartment is at least $3k in our school district. So we could free up $24k in an ideal case, but I’m sure there will be loads of other expenses.

[Anonymous]

Stop paying for college. Community college if you must. Get another job. Make the college student get a job.

[Anonymous]

No empathy to someone with a $5k mortgage. Go into savings, get second jobs, figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Sell car if you can, check insurance rates and buy a quality used car - this may take time but can make a real difference in cash flow. Good luck to you. Agree with comments re kid. Do not agree re loan - how will you pay back $? We opted for a hardship withdrawal and paid back through continuing contributions and market gains. Talk to college NOW about what happens if RIF’d. - Another Fed Family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No empathy to someone with a $5k mortgage. Go into savings, get second jobs, figure it out.

We had two stable govt jobs and wanted a sane commute and good schools. It’s a complete sht shack. We bought after pandemic because of family obligations and paying off student loans first.