Retirement Withdrawals. Since the TSP is a retirement plan, there is no penalty for withdrawing your money during retirement. If you stop working for the federal government, you can start making retirement withdrawals when you turn 55. If you keep working for the federal government, you need to wait until you turn 59-1/2.
DFAS military pay dates (active duty and reserve) are the 1 st and 15 th of every month unless those dates fall on a weekend or holiday. Whenever a payday falls on a weekend or holiday, pay is issued on the last workday preceding the 1st and the 15th. Active duty and reserve members are paid twice a month.
If you first entered the military between September 8, 1980 and July 31, 1986 you are eligible for the High 36 Retirement System. The High 36 retirement system is almost exactly the same as the Final Pay Retirement System above except that you compute retired pay using the average base pay for your three highest paid years (36 months), rather than final monthly base pay.