rangerray's Account Talk

[ALRetiree]

Same story, different verse...waiting for a pullback. I hate to try and get in at the top.

As an aside, I'm at an all time high for my account balance and would at least like to say that for another 26 days; I will be retired on 30 NOV.

Congratulations Scott. I hit my tsp all time high balance on my last day of work 8/31 so I took that as a good omen. September I lost over $30k but gained that back plus a good bit more in the last month. I think I need to not watch it so closely. :smile:

 

[flalaw97]

Congratulations on your impending retirement! Everytime I see someone say they are about to retire, especially folks like you who have been very active on TSPTalk, I say wow, that could be me in a year and a half! Then I check my balance and my spreadsheet again Good luck and keep us informed on how the transition goes!

 

[retread]

Congrats! You strike me as pretty strong (at least in my opinion) in your allocations for a near retiree. I envy your returns! Curious if you are going to continue this into retirement or will you start to be more cautious?

 

[tsptalk]

I will be retired on 30 NOV.

Wow, awesome! Congratulations!

Got any fun plans?

 

[Whipsaw]

Way to go RR! You better keep showing up here...

 

[ravensfan]

Wow rangerray, news of your impending retirement is awesome. Getting the new bike now makes sense. And with retirement just around the corner, plenty of time to ride it. Congratulations and well deserved!!!

 

[DreamboatAnnie]

Congratulations on you upcoming RangerRay! Wooo...hoooo....hope you enjoy it! :arms:

 

[mmk119]

Congratulations rangerray! awesome news. Hope you continue to post on the site. I'm sure there are many here glad for you and looking forward to their own time as well. Sad to imagine losing touch with any of our TSP Friends. More time to play now or other plans?

 

[rangerray]

I will not be shedding this resource because I’ve still got to manage my TSP balance, and like it or not, TSP Talk has become part of my morning work routine, so In a way I’m taking this part of the job home with me.

I will start every morning with TSP Talk and a coffee, look at charts, take in comments, suggestions and personal strategy plans of others, then study how I think my TSP balance should be allocated. My goal will be to continue to build.

My other plans are to devote some of my wide-eyed, morning energy to a couple of seriously neglected Gibson guitars. See my mom more where she lives in Nashville, double the amount of properties I mow in the spring, and ride a motorcycle.

And, we’ve got two young, teenage grandkids that have been with us for 6 years now going on fifteen.


Scott Harrison
Senatobia, MS

 

[papahotel66]

Congrats RR! I am not too far behind you so I'll be interested in how your process plays out. I'm forced out in June (ATC) but put in for a one year extension. I still enjoy it and qualify for the crazy bump in retirement if I can make it to 56 and 4 months. Enjoy Every Minute!

Same story, different verse...waiting for a pullback. I hate to try and get in at the top.

As an aside, I'm at an all time high for my account balance and would at least like to say that for another 26 days; I will be retired on 30 NOV.

 

[rangerray]

It'll be interesting too because I'm stressing the system. I was going to retire Dec 31, but this week I changed my retirement date to Nov 30. they said they would act on my date change withing 48 hours of receiving the forms.

 

[flalaw97]

Did tax considerations prompt the date change?

 

[rangerray]

Did tax considerations prompt the date change?

No, just wanted to leave a month earlier than planned because December is kind of chaotic with our family anyway. There was just going to be a skeleton crew at our office due to everyone taking holiday leave and all, it just seemed like a little less gloomy to go in November instead of December.

 

[Valkyrie]

No, just wanted to leave a month earlier than planned because December is kind of chaotic with our family anyway. There was just going to be a skeleton crew at our office due to everyone taking holiday leave and all, it just seemed like a little less gloomy to go in November instead of December.

that can mess up your high three fers calculation? yes?

 

[DreamboatAnnie]

Not sure it would because I do believe they use your highest 36 month period to calculate Annuity. If someone knows otherwise, please advise.

However, your annual leave payout, if retiring in November, would hit calendar year 2021, so if it's significant and your at the cusp, it could throw you into higher tax bracket. I do believe that is why many folks wait until 12/31. I had an HR person recently tell me that waiting until 1/31 might be better to catch the higher wages due to yearly salary increase. However, if I previously heard correctly about the high 3 actually being calculated using highest 36-months, the salary increase we usually get in January would not have such a big impact. Need to confirm.

Also need to consider how unused Sick leave figures into years of service. HR has table for conversion and it is not exactly 8 hours per day... I think they give you a better conversion. I would like to maximize that as well... Hummm....so much to consider... gives me a headache! Eeeee. at:

 

[flalaw97]

Not sure it would because I do believe they use your highest 36 month period to calculate Annuity. If someone knows otherwise, please advise.

However, your annual leave payout, if retiring in November, would hit calendar year 2021, so if it's significant and your at the cusp, it could throw you into higher tax bracket. I do believe that is why many folks wait until 12/31. I had an HR person recently tell me that waiting until 1/31 might be better to catch the higher wages due to yearly salary increase. However, if I previously heard correctly about the high 3 actually being calculated using highest 36-months, the salary increase we usually get in January would not have such a big impact. Need to confirm.

Also need to consider how unused Sick leave figures into years of service. HR has table for conversion and it is not exactly 8 hours per day... I think they give you a better conversion. I would like to maximize that as well... Hummm....so much to consider... gives me a headache! Eeeee. at:

I think DBA has it correct: retiring one month early is unlikely to have much impact on your high 3 because it uses the high 36 months. As to annual leave payout - I think some on this site have been reporting that it took close to 6 weeks to get that so it may still be on 2022 taxes if paid out in January (6 weeks after Nov 30 retirement.

Here is a link to the sick leave conversion table: https://www.usgs.gov/about/organization/science-support/human-capital/sick-leave-conversion-chart

it is not based on a 8 hour day so it pays to see how much you will add - noting that they round down when you have a partial month when figuring time in service (e.g. 30 years, 2 months and 22 days becomes 30 years and 2 months)

 

[Valkyrie]

Not sure it would because I do believe they use your highest 36 month period to calculate Annuity. If someone knows otherwise, please advise.

However, your annual leave payout, if retiring in November, would hit calendar year 2021, so if it's significant and your at the cusp, it could throw you into higher tax bracket. I do believe that is why many folks wait until 12/31. I had an HR person recently tell me that waiting until 1/31 might be better to catch the higher wages due to yearly salary increase. However, if I previously heard correctly about the high 3 actually being calculated using highest 36-months, the salary increase we usually get in January would not have such a big impact. Need to confirm.

Also need to consider how unused Sick leave figures into years of service. HR has table for conversion and it is not exactly 8 hours per day... I think they give you a better conversion. I would like to maximize that as well... Hummm....so much to consider... gives me a headache! Eeeee. at:

yes. they will count back three yrs starting from nov, so that could go back before a cola increase in jan, thereby reducing retire payment. I think I have that right time wise.

 

[rangerray]

that can mess up your high three fers calculation? yes?

It shouldn't. I was eligible to retire anytime after Sep 25

 

[flalaw97]

yes. they will count back three yrs starting from nov, so that could go back before a cola increase in jan, thereby reducing retire payment. I think I have that right time wise.

It might go back before an increase but it would only affect the average by 1/36 of the difference between December 2018 salary and December 2021 salary. They determine the high three by averaging the salary over the past 36 months so that one month at a lower salary will not significantly impact the average. So if salary in 12/2021 was $103,600 and it was $100,000 in 12/2018, then the high three would be $100 less. So in that example, we are talking about maybe $30 more per year by retiring in Nov 2021 vs Dec 2021. Someone check my math but I think the difference is negligible.

 

[rangerray]

FOMO is strong this week.