California State Teachers' Retirement System

[lmlopez]

My @CalSTRS income is my only income.  TurboTax Premier is asking me what I did with the money reported on my 1099-R's: "I moved the money to another retirement account (or returned it to the same retirement account); or "I did something else with it (cashed out, etc.)"...since this was my primary income, how do I complete this section?  Did I technically move it to another retirement account since it is my retirement account/income?  Or, since the funds were deposited into my checking account, does that mean that I technically cashed it out (I did not cash out the full amount of the funds since this is not how the STRS system works...I will continue to receive payments from these accounts until the time of my death)?  Please help!

[MaryK4]

TurboTax is asking if you moved the distribution to another RETIREMENT account (like an IRA).  When you make a rollover, the income is not taxable. 

You can rollover funds from any of your own traditional IRAs, but you can also roll over funds to your traditional IRA from the following retirement plans:

• A traditional IRA you inherit from your deceased spouse.
• A qualified plan.
• A tax-sheltered annuity plan.
• A government deferred-compensation plan (section 457 plan)

[lmlopez]

Thank you.

So, since my teacher's retirement is an income for life, am I technically rolling it over as I receive my check each month into my retirement plan, which is funding my essential expenses (the funds will never deplete since that is not how the retirement account is set up).

[lmlopez]

(so I am reinvesting the funds into funding my retirement monthly?)

[VolvoGirl]

No you are not rolling it over to anything.   You are getting the payment each month.  That is like getting cash.   What other “retirement plan” are you putting it into?   You can’t roll over your pension payments.