Q. You state that we should invest in the Thrift Savings Program based on goals for retirement. My goal is to have $1 million in my TSP account by the time I retire; $1.5 million to $2 million would be even better. My TSP account has about $350,000. What can I do to grow my TSP to $1.5M to $2M over the next 10 to 15 years, given that I will max out the contributions (TSP $17,500 and TSP catch-up $5,500) every year until then?
A. There is no way to answer this since you’ve provided a very wide range of possible combinations; $1.5 million over 15 years requires about a 7 percent rate of return, and $2 million over 10 years requires a rate of return of close to 15 percent. You’ll need to be more specific in setting your goals.
