Q. I am coming up on 10 years in the federal government and have not done a good job with my Thrift Savings Plan. I have left it at 100 percent in the G Fund, contributing 5 percent of my salary to TSP. I am now looking to maximize my TSP contribution (although perhaps not right away; I am considering increasing it to 8 percent this year and the upping it again next year until I’ve maxed it out). I was planning to put the additional contribution this year into the L Fund. I am almost 35, will soon have two kids and am married. Thoughts on how to better allocate my contributions?
A. If you want to do it yourself and don’t know what to do, I suggest that you put it all into the L Fund that most closely matches your life expectancy. To use my usual airplane analogy, this is like advising you to fly straight and level at 20,000 feet. I have no idea if it will get you where you want to go, but it’s the safest alternative without more information.
