Roth TSP vs Roth IRA vs Trad TSP

[Anonymous]

Hey guys! So, I'm in the military and have a Roth IRA in a mutual fund, plus I'm maxing out my (traditional) TSP contributions.

Nobody seems to be able to tell me if I can create / contribute to a Roth TSP over and above the Roth IRA max. So, I'm hopnig maybe someone on DCUM knows this, because last time I checked even the TSP website didn't have useful information here.

How would a Roth TSP impact my ability to max either the Roth IRA or the Traditional TSP?

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

AFAIK, There's a max you can put into your TSP. And within that max you can have some be traditional and some be Roth. That's separate than maxes that you can put into Traditional or Roth IRAs.

Also, if you have rollover IRAs (ie, pre-tax money, like from a former employer's 401k) you should consider rolling them into the TSP (non-Roth). You can't beat TSP's low costs.

[Anonymous]

Yes-- your TSP max is one limit (covers both trad and Roth) and your IRA max is another limit (cover both trad and Roth).

A Roth TSP contribution would have to come out of your max for trad TSP but wouldn't affect your max for IRAs.

[Anonymous]

Okay. Wish it made that clear somewhere. I assume the Roth TSP vs Traditional TSP has the same pros & cons as Roth v Traditional IRAs...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay. Wish it made that clear somewhere. I assume the Roth TSP vs Traditional TSP has the same pros & cons as Roth v Traditional IRAs...

Yes, but also for now when you withdraw you have to withdraw from both the trad and Roth TSP in equal proportions, which isn't great (although there are some complicated ways around that).