Q. I have reverted back to a more conservative Thrift Savings Plan allocation: 67 percent G Fund/33 percent C Fund. I put in the maximum, including the maximum catch-up and, with match, it’s nearly $30,000 per year. My balance at 60 when I retire in five years should be between $500,000 and $600,000 depending on the return. I am estimating a 4 percent return.
I am wondering about keeping this asset allocation and taking monthly payments starting near 4 percent or slightly higher at age 60. Is a distribution with 70/30 as indicated above a bad idea? I like the conservative allocation and feel fairly comfortable with it. But some people say taking monthly payments out of TSP is a bad idea. Any suggestions?
A. It’s impossible to judge what’s best for you from the information you’ve provided. I can tell you that your asset allocation model is risk-inefficient. That is, you could achieve a higher rate of return for the risk you’re taking.
Adjusting your allocation to 20 percent C Fund, 8 percent S Fund, 2 percent I Fund, 30 percent F Fund and 40 percent G Fund will stay within your preferred 70 percent debt/30 percent equity constraint while increasing sustainable TSP lifetime withdrawal rate by about 20 percent.
Greater increases could be achieved by shifting toward more equity-heavy allocation models.
