Roth TSP to gold IRA: where Roth money can go

Where each kind of TSP money can go

Your TSP account can hold two balances: traditional (pre-tax) and Roth (after-tax). They follow different rollover rules, and the IRS rollover chart agrees with the TSP's booklets on every line below.

If you have both balances and move money from both, the TSP can send the traditional part to one IRA and the Roth part to another, which at the custodian means a traditional and a Roth gold IRA. That isn't the only arrangement. The TSP's tax booklet and IRS Publication 721 both allow traditional money to go by direct rollover to a Roth IRA; it is then taxed in the current year, and nothing is withheld. So the traditional part can join the Roth money in one Roth gold IRA, at the price of tax now. Which of the two suits your return is a call for you and a tax professional. Where there are two accounts, it is worth asking the dealer whether its minimum applies to each or to the total. Goldco's published minimum is $25,000 to roll over.

You can also choose to take a distribution from your Roth balance only, or from your traditional balance only, rather than pro rata. tsp.gov says the default, if you don't choose, is proportional.

The 5-year clock starts again

Roth earnings come out tax-free only when a distribution is "qualified": five years have passed since January 1 of the year of your first Roth contribution, and you are 59½, permanently disabled or deceased. Inside the TSP, that clock started with your first Roth TSP contribution.

It doesn't follow the money. The TSP's tax booklet says that when you roll your Roth TSP balance into a Roth IRA, the starting date does not carry over: you count from January 1 of the first year you contributed to any Roth IRA. If you already have an older Roth IRA, that earlier date applies. If this would be your first Roth IRA, the clock starts over.

Two more differences the booklet lists. Withdrawals from a Roth IRA come out of contributions first, then earnings, whereas a Roth TSP withdrawal always includes earnings in proportion. And money in a Roth IRA can only ever be rolled into another Roth IRA.

Roth in-plan conversions inside the TSP

Since January 2026 the TSP lets you convert traditional money to Roth inside your account. You pay income tax on the amount converted, from funds outside the TSP. Each conversion starts its own five-year clock for the 10% early withdrawal tax: take converted money out within five years and before 59½, and that tax can apply. Converted money comes out before contributions, oldest conversion first. tsp.gov strongly recommends a tax advisor before you convert; we'd say the same before you combine a conversion with a rollover.

RMDs: the quiet advantage of Roth

tsp.gov says your Roth TSP balance isn't subject to required minimum distributions, and RMD calculations only count your traditional balance. The IRS says the same of Roth IRAs while the owner is alive. Beneficiaries are a different matter.

For metal this matters more than for funds. A traditional gold IRA carries an RMD each year from 73 or 75, depending on your birth year. Under the IRS's aggregation rule that amount can be withdrawn from a different traditional IRA you own; only a gold IRA that is your sole traditional IRA has to sell metal or distribute coins to cover it. A Roth gold IRA has no RMD during your lifetime, so the question doesn't arise.

If the TSP pays you instead

A direct rollover is the clean route. If the TSP pays an eligible Roth distribution to you, the booklet's rules get fiddly. A qualified distribution has no taxable part, so nothing is withheld from it (IRS Publication 721). If the payment isn't a qualified distribution, 20% of the earnings portion is withheld, and to roll over the whole payment you replace that from other money within 60 days. A qualified distribution can't go to an employer plan this way, but it can go to a Roth IRA.

Most people never need this paragraph. Enter the Roth IRA custodian's details in My Account and let the TSP pay it directly.

Before you open a Roth gold IRA

• Check your Roth TSP balance in My Account; it is shown separately from traditional.
• Confirm the custodian accepts Roth rollovers from the TSP, and get the Roth account's own number. It is a different account from any traditional gold IRA.
• Note your first Roth IRA contribution year, if you have one, for the 5-year count.
• Ask the dealer about minimums per account.

The general mechanics of a gold IRA rollover, including what an IRA is allowed to hold, are on Gold IRA Companies Ranked, which also has a separate guide to moving a 401(k) or other workplace plan. Its record of Goldco is at goldiracompaniesranked.com.