| Types of Retirement — Our Roadmap

Types of Retirement — Our Roadmap

03/04/2006 by: RP

I’ve just brought this site back from obscurity and into the blog format, and the pageviews and advertising responses have been gratifying. Since we so far seem to be doing something right, I’ve decided to outline where we intend to go over the next few weeks:Before we can get into any of the technicalities regarding CSRS, FERS and the many flavors of the militray retirement plans and benefits, we need to establish the general types of retirement plans that are out there. Here’s a brief list:

Individual Retirement Plans:

* Basic IRAs: An IRA is an individual retirement account, it is not started through a business.

* Roth IRAs: Roth IRA was born on January 1, 1998, as a result of Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. It is named after former Senator William V. Roth, Jr. A Roth IRA is similar to a traditional IRA except that the original contribution is not tax deductible.

Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans:

* Defined Benefit Plans (DB): A defined benefit plan promises the participant a specific monthly benefit at retirement.

CSRS: Civil Service Retirement System
FERS: Federal Employees Retirement System
Military Retirement Systems

Active Duty Plans
Reserve Component Plans

* Defined Contribution Plans (DC): In DC plans, the employee or the employer (or both) contribute to the employee’s individual account under the plan.

401(k) Plans: 401(k) employer-sponsored retirement plan
SIMPLE Plans: Saving incentive match plan
ESOP Plans: An Employee Stock Ownership Pla
Money Purchase Pension Plans: A Money Purchase Pension Plan
SEPs: A simplified employee pension (SEP)
FERS: Federal Employees Retirement System
TSP: Thrift Savings Plan

Additional Federal and State government benefits