The Retirement Lie Everyone Tells Themselves at 57

July 21, 2025

There’s a quiet trap that sneaks up on thousands of smart, capable federal employees—and it often starts around age 57.

You’ve been building toward retirement for decades. You’ve made the contributions. Your pension is accruing. TSP is on autopilot.

And even though you know there’s more to do, there’s a voice that whispers:

“I’ve got time.”

“I’ll fine-tune things next year.”

“This isn’t urgent right now.”

But here’s the truth:

The lie isn’t that you’re unprepared.

It’s that you think the window to prepare is still wide open.

Why This Mental Shortcut Backfires

At 57, your TSP is likely near its peak value.

Your highest earning years are (or were recently) in play.

You still have the flexibility to adjust your contributions, rebalance, estimate pension + Social Security gaps, and even rethink FEHB or Roth strategy.

But if you delay, those decisions start making themselves—without your input. 

And the compounding effects are often invisible until it’s too late:

  • Keeping the wrong TSP allocation through a market downturn

  • Overpaying taxes in retirement due to missed Roth conversions in your 60s

  • Losing the FERS Supplement or mistiming your retirement date by months

  • Underestimating the real cost of keeping FEHB or living overseas

Most federal employees won’t notice these problems at 58 or 60.

They'll only feel them at 67, when “what’s done is done.”

A 15-Minute Pre-Retirement Self-Check:

If you’re 5–10 years from retirement, ask yourself:

  1. Do I know my exact pension income based on the month I plan to retire?

  2. Have I stress-tested my TSP against a 20% market drop right before separation?

  3. Would I benefit more from Traditional or Roth TSP right now—based on future tax brackets?

  4. Have I factored in FEHB premiums, Medicare timing, and survivor annuity decisions?

  5. Do I have a plan for what I’ll do in retirement—or just what I’ll stop doing?

If any of those are fuzzy, now’s the moment to sharpen them—not next year.

You don’t need to panic.

But you do need to see the next 24 months as your final strategic window.

Because once you hit 67, you don’t get to go back and tell your 57-year-old self:

"Thanks for making the hard choices when you had time."

You can’t time the market.

But you can time your own action.

— FWR