For best results, all forms mentioned below must be printed out, filled out and signed in ink, and mailed directly to OPM at the following address:
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Attn: Federal Employee Retirement System
Post Office Box 45
Boyers, PA 16017-0045
In order to send directly to OPM, you must wait 30 days after your last day at GSA. However, because part of the process requires you to mail some forms to your financial institution and wait for them to send them back, you can start the process about 15 days after your last day.
Here is the step-by-step process:
Page 1 should be self-explanatory, but just in case, here is what I entered for the items that might be ambiguous:
- Department or Agency: General Services Administration, Technology Transformation Service/18F
- Title of Position: Innovation Specialist [c]
- Indicate whether retirement deductions were withheld from your salary: Withheld
- Have you paid deposit or redeposit...: Not Paid
No
- Pay ALL to my Thrift Savings Plan Account
-
Pay ALL by check made payable to my IRA or Eligible Employer Plan Name of Financial Institution of Employer Plan: Vanguard
-
This rollover is to a Roth IRA
Mail the check:
- to the above institution or plan
Note that you also have the option to mail the check directly to yourself. In my case, I was planning on investing that money in my Roth IRA, and so having OPM mail the check directly to my Roth IRA made the most sense. As far as I recall, this is considered a rollover, and therefore annual contribution limits do not apply.
Even if you choose to have the check mailed directly to you, you can still put the money in a Roth IRA and have it be considered a rollover. However, you have to complete the rollover within 60 days. So, if you are planning on investing the money in your Roth IRA, and you think you might forget to do it in time, choose the same option as I did above.
Obligatory disclaimer: I am not a tax or financial advisor, and the information above about rollovers might not be accurate anymore, so please consult a professional for the best advice for your situation.
Just my wet signature and date
My wife signed this page, then took it to her office and had 2 colleagues sign it as witnesses
I called Vanguard to find out where I needed to send this form, and they said to send it to the address below, along with instructions.
Vanguard Group
P.O. Box 1110
Valley Forge, PA 19482-1110
Here is the letter I sent:
Letter of Instructions for Vanguard pertaining to form SF3106 for rolling over the refund of
retirement deductions to Moncef Belyamani’s Roth IRA account (my account number)
To Whom It May Concern,
Please fill out the top portion of the form labeled “Certification by Financial Institution
or Eligible Employer Plan”, and please send the original signed form with wet signature back
to me at the following address:
Moncef Belyamani
my address
Thank you,
Moncef Belyamani
In retrospect, I should have included more details because I got an email (or a call?) from Vanguard asking for more details. The person I spoke to wasn't familiar with SF 3106 and I had to explain that I was expecting $X amount to be transferred to my Roth IRA account from OPM. They asked if there was an account number the money was coming from and I explained that there wasn't.
By the way, the amount you should expect to receive is listed on your last paycheck in Employee Express at the top under Cumulative Retirement Agency.
Just fill out Part I (1-11) and include it with SF 3106 when you send it to OPM
YMMV, but I mailed everything on January 21 or a few days later, and I got an email from Vanguard about the transfer on February 26.
I gave this whole conversation to Gemini to help me write a letter to Vanguard for a signature and this is what it came up with.
I sent the letter and the signature page from SF3106. Vanguard sent me back a wet signature within a couple of weeks; no calls or extra information needed.
Gemini also summarized the process nicely. Thanks, everyone!