Q. I am a FERS retiree who is below the age of RMD. I’ve often heard that a good way to invest TSP dollars is to choose the L Fund that corresponds with one’s life expectancy. My health and life outlook and family health history are pretty excellent. My personal assessment of my life expectancy is about 99 years. This would have me using the L 2050 fund. Is this foolishness? Should the L fund selected be strictly the actuarial or TSP-calculated life expectancy, rather than one’s own assessment of same?
A. I think that, as long as your own assessment is reasonable — that is, based on reason — your estimate is at least as good, if not better, than an actuarial table.