Building Your Retirement Paycheck
While you were working, one paycheck covered everything. In retirement, your income arrives from three different sources, and they don't all start — or stop — at the same time. Building a steady "retirement paycheck" out of those moving pieces, without overpaying in taxes, is the core of a real income plan. Here's how the timeline tends to unfold.
The federal retirement income timeline
| Stage | What's flowing in | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Retirement to 62 | Pension + FERS supplement (if eligible) + TSP as needed | The supplement is your bridge; mind its earnings test if you work |
| At 62 | Supplement ends; Social Security becomes available | The claim-now-or-delay decision; an income valley if you delay |
| 62 to RMD age | Pension + Social Security (whenever claimed) + TSP | Often the best Roth conversion window — relatively low taxable income |
| RMD age and beyond | Pension + Social Security + required minimum distributions | RMDs generally begin at 73 for 1951-1959 birth years and 75 for 1960 or later birth years |
The two problems sequencing solves
1. Bridging the gaps
The income timeline has soft spots — most notably the valley at 62 if you delay Social Security for a larger benefit. Sequencing means deciding, in advance, which source fills each gap. Usually that's the TSP: drawing it down deliberately in your early retirement years to bridge to a bigger Social Security check later can be a powerful move — but only if you've planned the drawdown so it lasts.
2. Lowering your lifetime tax bill
Your pension, your taxable Social Security amount, and your traditional TSP withdrawals stack in the same tax return. Pull too much from the traditional TSP in a high-income year and you can push yourself into a higher bracket, make more of your Social Security taxable, and raise your Medicare premiums. The fix is sequencing which account you draw from which year — blending traditional, Roth, and other savings to smooth your taxable income over decades rather than spiking it. The low-income years before RMDs are where Roth conversions often do the most good.
See your retirement paycheck, year by year.
The FedRetireCheck Readiness Report builds your income timeline across all three legs, so you can see the gaps and the tax-planning windows before you're in them.
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