You can roll money from the Thrift Savings Plan into a Gold IRA once you have separated from federal service or the uniformed services, or once you reach age 59½ while still employed. The move is done as a direct rollover through the TSP's withdrawal request, is not taxed when handled correctly, and can be partial. Traditional TSP money goes to a Traditional Gold IRA; Roth TSP money goes to a Roth Gold IRA.
In this guide
The decision deserves more thought than most rollover articles give it. The TSP is one of the lowest-cost retirement plans in existence, and a Gold IRA is one of the more expensive ways to hold a retirement asset. This guide covers eligibility, the mechanics, the arithmetic and the cases where staying put is the better choice.
Key takeaways
- You need a separation from service or an age-based in-service withdrawal at 59½ before TSP money can leave the plan.
- Use a direct rollover: the TSP pays the IRA custodian, nothing is withheld, and the 60-day clock never starts.
- Partial rollovers are allowed, so you can move the gold slice and keep the rest in the G, C and other TSP funds.
- TSP expenses are a small fraction of a percent; a Gold IRA costs roughly $225 to $300 a year plus a dealer markup of about 3% to 5% on coins.
- If you separated in or after the year you turned 55, TSP withdrawals avoid the 10% early-distribution tax. IRA withdrawals before 59½ do not.
Who is eligible to move TSP money
The TSP covers civilian federal employees under FERS and CSRS, members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Space Force and Coast Guard, and some other federal groups. The plan is not a brokerage account; money leaves it only through a withdrawal event the law and the plan allow.
There are two practical routes to a rollover:
- After separation. Once you have left federal or military service, whether you retired, resigned or were discharged, you can withdraw any part of your balance at any age and direct it to an IRA.
- Age-based in-service withdrawal. If you are still working and have reached 59½, the TSP permits an age-based withdrawal that can be sent directly to an IRA. Since the plan rules were modernized in 2019, you can take more than one of these.
What does not work: a financial hardship in-service withdrawal cannot be rolled over, and a TSP loan is not a distribution at all. If you are under 59½ and still on the job, there is no route to a Gold IRA from your TSP balance. Money in an old 401(k) from a private-sector job or an existing IRA is the usual alternative; see rolling over while still employed.
Traditional TSP and Roth TSP go to different accounts
Many participants have both balances, especially service members who switched to Roth contributions while deployed in a combat zone. The tax character follows the money:
| TSP balance | Destination | Tax on rollover | Tax later |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional (pre-tax contributions, agency or service matching, earnings) | Traditional Gold IRA | None if direct | Ordinary income on withdrawals; RMDs at 73 or 75 |
| Roth (after-tax contributions and their earnings) | Roth Gold IRA | None if direct | Tax-free if qualified; no RMDs for the owner |
| Tax-exempt combat-zone contributions (Traditional side) | Traditional IRA, as after-tax basis | None | Contributions come out tax-free; earnings taxable |
The third row trips people up. Combat-zone pay contributed to the Traditional side was never taxed, and the TSP tracks it separately. When you roll it over, ask the TSP how that basis will be reported and tell your IRA custodian, because it affects how later withdrawals are taxed. If you have a Roth balance, the Roth Gold IRA rules in our Roth Gold IRA guide apply, including the five-year rule, which starts fresh if this is your first Roth IRA.
The direct rollover, step by step
Open the Gold IRA first
The TSP needs an account number and payee details for the receiving custodian. Pick a Gold IRA company, which will open a self-directed IRA at a custodian such as Equity Trust or STRATA Trust on your behalf. If you have Traditional and Roth balances, open both account types. Our comparison of Gold IRA companies and Noble Gold review cover the options.
Decide the amount
A partial withdrawal is allowed and is usually the right call. Decide the dollar figure you intend to hold in metal, add roughly 5% for the dealer spread and first-year fees, and request that amount. Leave the remainder invested.
Submit the TSP withdrawal request
Log in to My Account on the TSP website or call the ThriftLine and start a withdrawal request. Choose a single payment, select "transfer to an IRA" for the full amount, and enter the custodian as the payee. The Gold IRA company will typically help complete the custodian portion. If you are married and under FERS or a uniformed service, your spouse's notarized consent is required.
Wait for the funds
The TSP sends a check or wire to the custodian for the IRA's benefit, not to you. Processing time varies; the Gold IRA company tracks it. The general timeline is in how long a Gold IRA rollover takes.
Buy the metal
Once the cash lands in the IRA, you instruct the dealer which IRS-approved coins or bars to buy. The custodian pays, and the depository receives and stores the metal in the IRA's name.
Avoid having the TSP pay you with the intention of depositing the check yourself. The plan must withhold 20% for federal tax, you have 60 days to replace the full amount from your own pocket, and any shortfall is taxed. The details are in the 60-day rollover rule.
The honest case for keeping most of it in the TSP
Here is the part that gold dealers rarely volunteer. The TSP's administrative expenses are among the lowest of any retirement plan in the United States, a few hundredths of a percent a year on each fund. A Gold IRA, by contrast, has fixed custodian and storage fees of about $225 to $300 a year and a dealer markup of roughly 3% to 5% on common one-ounce gold coins. None of that is hidden; it is simply the cost of buying, insuring and vaulting physical metal.
The G Fund also deserves a specific mention. It invests in special short-term U.S. Treasury securities that pay a rate tied to longer-term Treasury yields, and its share price never declines. For a retiree who wants a stable, government-backed holding that still earns interest, there is nothing like it outside the TSP, and once money leaves the plan you cannot buy it in an IRA.
So the sensible framing is not "TSP versus gold." It is "which slice, if any, should become gold." Points in favor of a slice:
- Every TSP fund is paper: Treasuries, bonds or stock indexes. Physical metal is the one asset class the plan cannot hold.
- Gold has often moved differently from stocks in crises. In 2008 it finished the year up roughly 5% while the S&P 500 lost about 37%.
- A 5% to 15% allocation is small enough that Gold IRA fees stay a modest share of your total retirement savings.
Points against moving more than that:
- Gold pays no interest or dividends, while the G and F Funds do.
- Gold is volatile. It fell about 45% from 2011 to 2015 and about 25% from its January 2026 record to late 2026.
- Every dollar moved to gold gives up the TSP's cost advantage permanently unless you later sell the metal and roll cash back in.
A worked example: $400,000 TSP, 10% to gold
Suppose you retire from federal service at 60 with $400,000 in the TSP, all Traditional, and decide on a 10% gold allocation.
Why $42,000 rather than $40,000? Roughly $1,600 covers the dealer spread on common bullion coins, and the balance of about $500 can sit in the IRA as cash to pay the first two years of custodian and storage fees, which run about $275 a year at a typical provider. Paying fees from IRA cash avoids selling metal or sending in new money. At about $4,050 to $4,100 an ounce as of late 2026, $40,385 buys roughly nine or ten one-ounce coins, depending on the exact premium.
The $358,000 that stays in the TSP continues to compound at the plan's near-zero expense level. Over time the fixed $275 fee works out to about 0.7% of the gold slice each year, which is acceptable for a $40,000 holding but would be a heavy drag on a $10,000 one. Run your own figures in the Gold IRA calculator.
Three TSP-specific traps
The age-55 rule
If you separate from federal service in or after the calendar year you turn 55 (50 for certain public safety employees), withdrawals from the TSP itself avoid the 10% additional tax on early distributions. That protection does not travel with the money. Once it is in an IRA, the IRA's 59½ threshold applies. A 56-year-old retiree who rolls the whole balance to a Gold IRA and then needs cash at 57 has converted a penalty-free withdrawal into a penalized one. Keep enough in the TSP to cover the years before 59½.
Required minimum distributions
If you are 73 or older (75 for people born in 1960 or later), the year's RMD must come out of the TSP before any rollover and cannot itself be rolled over. Physical metal makes later RMDs clumsier too, because you must either sell coins or take them in kind; see Gold IRA RMD rules.
Spousal rights
For FERS participants and uniformed service members, a married participant's spouse must consent in writing to a withdrawal. For CSRS, the spouse is notified. Build this into your timeline rather than discovering it after the custodian is waiting for funds.
Checklist before you file the request
- Confirm your status: separated, or age 59½ and using an age-based withdrawal.
- Know how much of your balance is Traditional, Roth and tax-exempt, and open matching IRA accounts.
- Get the Gold IRA company's fee schedule and the custodian's payee instructions in writing.
- Decide the exact dollar amount and keep the rest in the TSP.
- If you are under 59½, keep a cash cushion in the TSP for penalty-free withdrawals.
- If you are 73 or older, take the year's RMD first.
- Choose "transfer to an IRA" on the withdrawal request, never a payment to yourself.
The general mechanics of moving any employer plan to metal are in the Gold IRA rollover guide, and the surrounding account rules are in Gold IRA rules. If your spouse has a 403(b) or a state 457(b), those plans have their own quirks, covered in our rollover hub.
Frequently asked questions
Can I roll my TSP into a Gold IRA while still working for the government?
Only partly. The TSP allows an age-based in-service withdrawal once you reach 59½, and that withdrawal can be sent directly to an IRA, including a self-directed Gold IRA. Before 59½ and still employed, your only in-service option is a financial hardship withdrawal, which cannot be rolled over.
Does the TSP let me hold physical gold inside the plan?
No. The TSP offers the G, F, C, S and I funds, the L lifecycle funds and a mutual fund window. None of those holds physical bullion. To own IRS-approved coins or bars with retirement money you need a self-directed IRA with a custodian and an approved depository.
Is a TSP to Gold IRA rollover taxable?
A direct rollover is not. The TSP sends the money straight to your new IRA custodian, nothing is withheld and the move is reported to the IRS as a rollover. If you instead have the TSP pay you, 20% is withheld and you have 60 days to deposit the full amount or the shortfall becomes taxable.
Can I roll a Roth TSP balance into a Gold IRA?
Yes, into a Roth Gold IRA. Roth TSP money must go to a Roth IRA, and Traditional TSP money goes to a Traditional IRA. If you have both, the TSP can split a single withdrawal request between two destination accounts, so confirm the custodian has both account types open before you file.
Can I move money back into the TSP later?
Generally yes, as long as you still have a TSP account open. The TSP accepts rollovers of pre-tax money from Traditional IRAs and eligible employer plans. It does not accept Roth IRA money. Physical metal would have to be sold first, because the TSP only accepts cash.
How much of my TSP should go into gold?
Most financial planners who use precious metals at all keep them to about 5% to 15% of total retirement assets. Because the TSP is one of the cheapest retirement plans in the country, there is a strong argument for moving only the slice you intend to hold in metal and leaving the rest in the plan.