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Pensions · TSP · 401(k) · 457(b) · 403(b)

Before you retire, there are decisions you don't get to take back.

Most people spend decades building their retirement and about an afternoon deciding how to take it. Below is a plain-English brief on the choices that are permanent — whether your money sits in a federal pension and TSP, a state system, or a 401(k). Written for you to read whether or not you ever speak with us.

Start with the brief Request your free review

No cost · No obligation · We are not OPM, a retirement system, or any government agency

The brief

Five decisions that are hard — or impossible — to undo

None of this requires a meeting to understand. Read it, keep it, and verify anything that applies to you with your HR office, your retirement system, or your plan administrator before you act. Each one is tagged with who it affects.

01
FederalState401(k)

Who inherits your income is decided once, and rarely changes

If you have a pension — federal or state — you choose at retirement whether your spouse keeps receiving income after your death, and at what level. It lowers your own monthly payment, which is why people decline it. Outside a narrow window, that choice can't be reversed.

For federal retirees there's a second consequence that catches families off guard: without a survivor annuity, the surviving spouse generally loses the ability to keep FEHB health coverage too. And if your savings are in a 401(k) or TSP, the beneficiary form on file governs — it overrides your will, and naming someone other than your spouse usually requires their written consent.

Decided once, at retirement
02
FederalState401(k)

The year you turn 55 changes what your own money costs you

If you leave your employer in or after the calendar year you turn 55, withdrawals from that employer's plan — a 401(k), a TSP, often a 457(b) or 403(b) — are generally not hit with the 10% early-withdrawal penalty. For many public-safety roles the age is 50.

Here's the trap: roll that balance into an IRA and the exception goes with it, because IRAs use 59½ instead. Leaving in December rather than January, or moving money a few months too early, can change the arithmetic by thousands.

A date on a form
03
FederalState401(k)

Health coverage between your last day and Medicare

If you retire before 65 there's a gap to cover, and it's the expense people underestimate most.

Federal: to carry FEHB into retirement you generally must have been continuously enrolled for the five years immediately before you retire. Retiring a few months short, or dropping coverage for a year to save money, can cost you that benefit permanently. State and local: retiree health rules vary enormously by system, and many set minimum age or service thresholds. Private sector: COBRA typically runs about 18 months, then it's the marketplace — at a cost that surprises people.

Often decided by your retirement date
04
FederalState401(k)

Money is easy to move out and hard to move back

Rolling your balance out of a TSP or employer plan into an IRA or an insurance product is simple to do and often sensible. It's also close to one-way in practice.

What can go with it: the very low fees of a plan like the TSP, the age-55 exception above, institutional pricing you can't get as an individual, and in some cases stronger creditor protection. Some products you move into carry surrender periods lasting years. We're not saying don't — we're saying understand what you're trading before the transfer, not after.

Effectively one-way
05
FederalState401(k)

The order you draw income in changes what you keep

Pension, Social Security, taxable savings, tax-deferred accounts, Roth money — the sequence you take them in, and the year you start each one, can change your lifetime tax bill considerably. States differ too: some tax retirement income fully, others barely at all.

And there's often a gap before the first full payment arrives. Federal retirees usually receive reduced interim payments while OPM finishes processing; state systems have their own timelines. It's not money lost, but it is cash flow to plan for.

Plan the sequence, not just the total

Why we do this

We'd rather you knew this and never called us.

Most of what goes wrong in retirement isn't dramatic. It's a box checked on a form by someone who had never had it explained to them, and who found out years later what it meant.

So we wrote the brief above and put it in front of the form on purpose. If you read it, check the details with your HR office or plan administrator, and handle everything yourself — that's a good outcome. Genuinely.

If you'd rather have someone walk through your specific numbers with you, that's what the review is. A licensed retirement professional goes through your pension or plan balance, your survivor and health-coverage choices, the rollover question, and the tax side, and answers your questions in plain language.

How we're paid, since you should know: the review is free to you. We're compensated by the licensed professionals we connect people with — not by you. That's exactly why we put the education first: we'd rather be useful to a hundred people than pushy with ten.

No pressure, no scripts, and you can end the call whenever you like.

The Ready Retirement Review team
A private service — not affiliated with OPM, any state retirement system, or any government agency

Straight answers

What the review is, and what it isn't

What it is Yes

  • A plain-English walkthrough of your pension, TSP, 401(k) or other plan, and your benefit elections
  • A second set of eyes on the decisions above, before they're permanent
  • A look at how taxes and your state treat retirement income
  • Free, roughly 30–45 minutes, by phone or video
  • Yours to keep, whatever you decide afterward

What it isn't No

  • An official benefits estimate — always verify figures with your retirement system or plan administrator
  • A government service, or connected to one in any way
  • Personalized financial, tax, or legal advice
  • A sales pitch you can't leave — end the call any time
  • Something that costs you anything, now or later

What happens next

Three steps, and you can stop at any of them

Step one

You tell us the basics

A few short fields below — enough for a professional to prepare before your call, and nothing more.

Step two

You pick a time

A calendar appears right after you submit. Choose whatever suits you, or close the page and think about it.

Step three

You have the conversation

Your questions, your numbers, plain language. Then you decide what to do — including nothing.

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Tell us where to send it

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We've got your details. If you'd like, pick a time below and a licensed retirement professional will walk through your review with you. No cost, and no obligation to do anything afterward.

Questions people ask

Before you fill anything in

Is this really free?

Yes. You're never charged, and there's nothing to buy on this website. We're compensated by the licensed professionals we connect people with, which is how a free review is possible.

Are you part of the government or my retirement system?

No. Ready Retirement Review is a private service. We're not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of OPM, the Thrift Savings Plan, any state or local retirement system, or any government agency, and we can't process or change your benefits. Always confirm official figures with your retirement system or plan administrator.

I have a 401(k), not a pension. Is this for me?

Yes. Three of the five decisions in the brief — the age-55 rule, the health-coverage gap, and the rollover question — apply squarely to 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) savers, and the withdrawal-order question matters even more when there's no pension underneath you.

What happens to my information?

It goes to a licensed retirement professional so they can prepare and discuss your review, and we may be compensated for that referral. Our Privacy Policy spells out exactly how it's used, shared, and how to opt out at any time.

What if I decide to do nothing?

Then you've still got the brief above and a clearer picture of your options — which is a perfectly good outcome. Nobody will chase you.

I'm not retiring for years. Is it too early?

Usually the opposite. Several of the decisions above depend on timing and on service dates, which means knowing about them early is exactly when it's most useful.