If you have more than $200 in your Thrift Savings Plan during retirement from the service, you can opt to keep the money in the account, or withdraw in full through

• monthly payment
• single withdrawal
• as a life annuity, if the amount equals to or exceeds $3,500

The choice of Thrift Savings Plan withdrawal depends on you. You can use any or all of the above options to get back your returns. For instance, say you have $6,000 in your account, you can either withdraw the amount in full, or have a monthly income, or have half amount as monthly income and half as annuity.

If you intend to withdraw all the money from your TSP, you can do that effortlessly. You can also opt to transfer funds to your traditional IRA account, or any other eligible plan offered by employer.

If you intent to withdraw a predetermined amount every month, you must first make a choice of how much would you withdraw every month. You can have a fixed amount of dollars every month. Or you can seek help from the life expectancy table that provides a fixed amount every month for a fixed number of years.

If you intend to withdraw money in form of annuity, you have numerous options. You can go for a single life annuity, or a joint life annuity that would cover you wife as well with you, or another joint annuity that would cover a person other than the spouse. If, however, the amount accumulated in you TSP account is less than $3,500, you cannot demand a Thrift Savings Plan withdrawal in annuity. And if you select an annuity plan, you will be required to select any of the available features like 100% or 50% benefit, etc.

If you intend to have a mixed withdrawal, the regulation of each individual withdrawal would still be applicable. The tax withholding regulation, however, would differ for all the plans. For instance, if you wish to withdraw a part of your money as annuity and leave the remaining amount in the account, no amount of tax would be withheld. However, as payments are made on annuity, it will be taxed. If Thrift Savings Plan withdrawal seems to be a bit complicated, it would be wise to contact a financial expert before withdrawing any amount.