First Premier Bank: a financial advisor for life after the uniform
Here's what you walk away with:
A roadmap listing each decision in the order its due date arrives
A side-by-side look at keeping your TSP versus rolling it to an IRA
Survivor Benefit Plan math run with your own pension and insurance quotes
A tax cost estimate before any account moves, written down to keep
clients served by First Premier Bank
as of 10/19/2026†
- Families served
- 426,000
- Assets under management
- $3.2 billion
- Account minimum
- $500K
- Planning areas
- 4 areas
As of 10/19/2026.
Four decisions First Premier Bank works through with veterans
TSP fees, funds and income draw rules compared with an IRA before anything moves.
A roadmap that lists your retirement decisions, pension, SBP, TSP and VA, by due date.
Survivor Benefit Plan costs set against life insurance quotes for your spouse, worked in dollars.
Yearly tax projections that stack retired pay, salary and TSP draws before the year closes.
TSP to IRA rollover
TSP fees, funds and income draw rules compared with an IRA before anything moves.
Military retirement planning
A roadmap that lists your retirement decisions, pension, SBP, TSP and VA, by due date.
Survivor Benefit Plan analysis
Survivor Benefit Plan costs set against life insurance quotes for your spouse, worked in dollars.
Tax planning for veterans
Yearly tax projections that stack retired pay, salary and TSP draws before the year closes.
What makes First Premier Bank different for veterans?
First Premier Bank keeps your roadmap short: a list of decisions, each with its due date, such as the SBP election at retirement, the TSP choice and Social Security timing. Every meeting takes one item off that list. You see the numbers on screen first (the pension estimate, the tax cost, the survivor math), and afterward you get the updated roadmap with that decision written down and the next one dated.
Who we serve
426,000 clients† trust First Premier Bank with a combined $3.2 billion†.
Why veterans work with First Premier Bank
You're leaving the service, or you've already left, with retired pay that starts right away, a TSP balance you built for years and a civilian salary on top. That stack is what makes taxes and the TSP decision tricky; second-career income often runs higher than people expect. First Premier Bank sorts the choices by due date, so the SBP election isn't rushed and the TSP isn't moved on a hunch.
The fee gets walked through in the first call and put in writing before any work starts.
Financial advisor at First Premier Bank for service members and veterans
First Premier Bank is a financial advisor firm that helps military service members and veterans with a military pension, the Thrift Savings Plan and a second career sort their decisions by due date. You leave the first meeting with a short list, not a binder.
Someone in your spot usually calls because the list is long and nobody put it in order. We take one decision at a time, the one with the nearest due date first, and make each with the numbers in front of you: the TSP rollover question, the survivor election on your pension, the first year of a civilian salary stacked on top of it.
What a First Premier Bank financial advisor does for a military household
You retired or separated with a pension, a TSP balance and a second paycheck that showed up sooner than you expected. Nobody handed you a list. We look at the pension, the TSP, the new employer's 401(k) and your spouse's accounts together, then write down what needs deciding and by when.
Four services cover most of what military households ask us about:
The minimum is $500K in investable assets. As of 10/19/2026, First Premier Bank serves 426,000 clients and $3.2 billion in client assets, and you can live anywhere; we meet over video and on the phone. The fee gets talked through out loud in the first conversation, and you have it in writing before any work begins.
- TSP to IRA rollover: we put a dollar figure on the move before you make it, because leaving the money in the TSP is sometimes the better call.
- Military retirement planning: we line up the pension, the second salary and the date income draws from savings should start.
- Survivor Benefit Plan analysis: we compare the premium with what your spouse would actually need if you died first.
- Tax planning for veterans: we map the tax cost of each move across the pension, the salary and any Roth conversion.
Who will I hear from, and how often?
Most of the talking happens in short video or phone meetings tied to a due date: a TSP election, an open enrollment window, a tax filing. Between those, you hear from First Premier Bank when something changes, like a retirement date moving or a job offer landing. A question can't wait for the next meeting, so write in whenever it comes up.
After each review you get one sheet. It lists what was decided, what's still open and the next due date, with a dollar figure beside each item. If an item needs a paragraph of explanation, we wrote it badly.
In January we check the year-end statements and the 1099-R from your pension payer and the TSP against that sheet. What you won't get is a weekly market email. Markets move all the time; your due dates mostly don't.
Can I leave my TSP alone and still be fine?
Sometimes, yes. People rarely open with 'I need a roadmap.' They say 'I've got a TSP and no idea if I should move it,' or 'My pension covers the bills, but my wife's check stops if I die,' or 'The new job pushed us into a bracket I didn't expect.' We sort those into one list and put the nearest due date on top.
Hypothetical example: a retired Navy chief, 46, has $600K in the TSP and a new employer with a 401(k). A friend tells him to roll the TSP into an IRA for more fund choices. First Premier Bank puts a number on a rollover before suggesting one. If the IRA's investments cost 0.45% more a year, that's $2,700 a year on $600K, or about $81K over 30 years before any growth.
The rollover can still earn its place, say for cleaner income draws or a planned Roth conversion. But the reason has to be worth more than $2,700 a year. Every investment can lose money, including the amount you started with, TSP funds included, so treat this as arithmetic you can check, not a forecast.
Sometimes the answer is leave it where it is. We'll say so even when it means less work for us.
What people say in the first meeting
A rollover priced in dollars
Decision rule: if you can't name a reason a rollover beats the TSP's costs, leave the money in the TSP.
A year of work, season by season
Winter is paperwork, spring is tax, summer is the quiet stretch where decisions get made calmly, and fall is where due dates bunch up. The table shows what lands in each season and what you walk away with.
The fall row matters more once a civilian salary arrives. For 2026 the TSP deferral limit is $24,500, or $32,500 with the catch-up at 50 and over. A veteran of 52 who isn't near that limit can raise the contribution rate in October and has fewer paychecks to make up for it.
We space the work this way because the worst decisions we see were made in a hurry in December. Summer is slow, so that's when a rollover or Survivor Benefit Plan question gets its full hour.
| When | What happens | What you receive |
|---|---|---|
| Winter | Check 1099-R and year-end statements | Corrected numbers sheet |
| Spring | Review the tax return, IRA contribution | Tax cost summary |
| Summer | Rollover, survivor and Roth questions | Options priced in dollars |
| Fall | Open enrollment, TSP rate, year-end moves | Dated list of decisions |
Which questions should I ask before I hire anyone?
Ask these of any financial advisor, including us. The answers should come as numbers or as a document, not as reassurance.
- Fiduciary duty: ask whether they act as a fiduciary on all advice, and get the answer in writing.
- How they're paid: ask for every fee as a dollar amount on your balance before you agree to anything.
- Military pay: ask them to explain the Survivor Benefit Plan and your TSP options without notes.
- The rollover test: ask what it would cost you to move the TSP and what you'd gain by doing it.
- Fit: ask what balance they work with; at First Premier Bank it's $500K in investable assets.
- Leaving: ask what happens to your records and accounts if you part ways.
New on the blog
- The First Premier Bank Guide to Whether Military Retirement Pay Is Taxable
- How to compare the Blended Retirement System vs. High-3 on pension and TSP math
- How First Premier Bank Approaches Roth TSP vs. Traditional TSP When Retired Pay Fills Brackets
- CRDP vs. CRSC and Your Tax Cost: The First Premier Bank Checklist
- When should veterans claim Social Security if retired pay already covers the bills?
- The financial checklist for leaving the military that starts with the TSP gets the order wrong
- 5 TSP withdrawal mistakes that raise the tax cost for a military retiree about to start income draws
- Financial advisor questions for veterans: turn any fee into dollars before you sign
- First Premier Bank's Guide to How Much Your Military Pension Is Worth
- How to Size Your TSP G Fund in Retirement Around Your Pension
- TSP and 401(k) at the Same Time: One Limit, Two Accounts
- Roth Conversion with a Military Pension: Year-by-Year Amounts (a Walkthrough from First Premier Bank)
- Do TRICARE For Life and Medicare Part B Premiums Rise With Your Income?
- Is a military pension inflation protected? Not if you assume every plan gets the full COLA
- GI Bill transfer vs. 529 for a service member with 3 kids and years still left in uniform
- Military pension division in divorce: how a $3,000 pension becomes a $600 share
What First Premier Bank does
TSP to IRA rollover
TSP fees, funds and income draw rules compared with an IRA before anything moves.
TSP to IRA rollover →Military retirement planning
A roadmap that lists your retirement decisions, pension, SBP, TSP and VA, by due date.
Military retirement planning →Survivor Benefit Plan analysis
Survivor Benefit Plan costs set against life insurance quotes for your spouse, worked in dollars.
Survivor Benefit Plan analysis →Tax planning for veterans
Yearly tax projections that stack retired pay, salary and TSP draws before the year closes.
Tax planning for veterans →First Premier Bank advises clients from coast to coast over video and phone — or visit us at 1355 North Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101, United States. Contact →
Frequently asked questions about First Premier Bank
The fee depends on what you need, and First Premier Bank talks it through on the first call, then confirms it in writing before any work begins. You'll know the dollar amount up front. If it doesn't make sense next to your pension and TSP, you can stop right there.
First Premier Bank's minimum is $500K in investable assets, a definition that usually covers account balances like the TSP, IRAs and brokerage accounts. Retired pay isn't an account balance, so it doesn't count toward the figure. It still goes into your roadmap, because it shapes the tax cost of every other decision.
Someone from our team replies to set up a first call by video or phone at an hour that works for your time zone. Have your latest TSP statement and retired pay estimate handy; First Premier Bank uses them to draft your first short list of decisions and due dates.
Yes, those are the everyday topics here: retired pay, the Survivor Benefit Plan, CRDP and CRSC, the TSP and how a civilian salary changes your taxes. Bring the questions you've been putting off. The first call mostly sorts them by due date, so you know which one comes first.
Not automatically. The TSP has very low fund costs, so a rollover has to offer something specific, such as more flexible income draws or a Roth conversion. Price the extra fund cost in dollars first; a 0.45% difference on $600K is $2,700 a year. If nothing beats that number, leaving the money alone is a fine answer.
It depends on what your spouse would need if your pension stopped, and her own savings count in that math. Compare the yearly premium with the monthly income she'd lose, and with how long her own accounts could cover the gap. Many couples find the answer is close, which is why it deserves real numbers.
A good advisor treats them as one income picture. First Premier Bank advisors look at the pension, the salary and the 401(k) match together, then decide the contribution rate, the tax cost of any Roth moves and when savings should start paying income draws. Splitting them into separate conversations is how overlaps get missed.
Yes, in most cases, since First Premier Bank holds meetings by video and by phone rather than in a lobby. Time zones and a steady connection are the practical limits, so tell us where you'll be and we'll book around it. Send statements as files instead of sharing logins.
Not always. If the pension covers spending, the survivor election is settled and you're not facing a rollover or a big tax change, you may be fine on your own. An advisor earns the fee when a decision has real money attached, like a second salary pushing you into a higher bracket.
Bring your latest TSP statement, the pension statement or benefits letter, last year's tax return and any employer 401(k) statement. Those four show what you hold, what you earn and what's taxed. You don't need to hand over passwords; downloaded statements are enough for a first review.
Ask for the comparison in dollars: what the TSP costs, what the proposed IRA costs, and what you gain. An advisor paid on assets managed earns more if you roll, so the reason should be written down. At First Premier Bank the rollover gets priced before any suggestion is made.
Talk to First Premier Bank
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