Q. I have eight years and nine months of government service and had my entire Thrift Savings Plan contribution in the G Fund until about two weeks ago. I had around $50,000, and I moved that $50,000 into 40 percent C Fund, 40 percent S Fund and 20 percent I Fund, and moved my contribution from 100 percent G Fund to 50 percent S and 50 percent I. I am 34 and have probably 25 to 30 years of service left. How would you rate my contribution move?
A. To rate it, I’d have to clearly understand your goals for the money and then estimate the probability of it meeting those goals. Given that the allocations you’ve chosen are risk-inefficient, they could likely be improved.
1 Comment
The answer you received to your question is “technically correct but (nearly) completely useless.” Yes, the original answer is correct that the fund mix you have chosen likely doesn’t lie on the efficient frontier (of the risk – expected reward space) and could be adjusted to be more efficient. The change you made to your TSP positions serves to diversify your total asset portfolio, in recognition that you can expect have some amount of “pseudo bonds” in the form of your FERS retirement. For more information on the “total portfolio” idea, see the writings of Jennings & Reichenstein.