Sky,
First off, I'll say right up front that I can't answer your question ! We do have some experience with rolling 403(b)'s from various companies OUT, and into a traditional IRA....But here are some thoughts/questions I have for you (FWIW !) :
Are you talking about making the rollover after you retire ? I'm not sure a 403(b) can be created after you retire...
Are you in the military ? I assume so, but thinking about it, I guess there are civilian chaplains. I don't see the tax advantage between money already IN the 403(b) or the TSP, unless it has something to do with being able to increase your contribution, based on the housing allowance. Then you'd need to look at the annual max "cap" number. Also, the 403(b) probably would have more options for investing than the TSP does...
In our experience (Wife was a public school Teacher), we were at the mercy of whoever the School Board selected as their "provider" for the 403(b) account. Thus, we ended up with money in 3 different 403(b) companies after her career. I have NO IDEA how 403's work for members of the clergy ! If I understand it correctly, in our case, there had to be an agreement between the employer and the 403(b) company, to track the transactions...i.e., payroll deductions and deposits into the 403(b), as well as reporting the numbers to the IRS. As a Fed, I'm not sure your friends down in Payroll would even let you DO that with your contributions (unless there's some way of setting up an allotment, like buying bonds ?)...I'm sure the TSP doesn't want the "competition"
You might want to go back to the source of your information, and ask some more questions. I'm sure there are some slick financial planners out there who know how to make it happen, assuming it's legal !
See ? I told you I couldn't answer your question !
Stoplight...
