Q. I saw you use the term risk efficiency in a recent response, and it made me curious. I have a nice little amount in the Thrift Savings Plan now. I don’t think I will be needing it in the future, except to hand down to future heirs, and so have tried to maintain a 70 percent stocks (35 percent C, 15 percent S and 20 percent I), 15 percent F, 15 percent G ratio. I read in a financial magazine (sometime around 2009) that a 70/30 ratio of stocks to bonds and/or cash reduced the risk considerably over a…
Browsing: G fund
Q. I am 47, have been investing for seven years, have reached maximum contributions at a total of $115,328.22 and will eventually retire at 63. Recently, there is talk in the stock market of a global sell-off. I have had all of my investments in the S Fund and doing quite well. As of Jan. 23, I’ve shifted my contribution of 100 percent from S to G. Was this a financially dumb move? A. Not if you’ve guessed right. Only time will tell. For what it’s worth, if we’re talking about your entire portfolio here, you should be invested in…
Q. It seems everywhere a person reads, the “expert” advice is to get out of bonds. It’s likely that interest rates will climb soon (they certainly will not go lower), the world is awash in debt etc. Your advice is to substitute a portion of other funds in place of F. Given the predicted bond climate, why not reduce F Fund allocation to near zero? Is there some reason I’m missing for maintaining an allocation in F above low single digit percentages or perhaps no F fund allocation at all? In other words, if the F Fund is about to…
Q. I am a federal employee, almost 30 years old and contribute to my Thrift Savings Plan, as well as a Roth IRA toward retirement. I contribute the maximum to my Roth IRA at $5,500 a year and contribute 15 percent of my $82,500 salary (approximately $12,500 a year). I have a comfortable emergency account, life insurance, $500 per month to a 529 plan for my 1-year-old, on top of the basic necessities. How much should I be contributing if I can’t max both my TSP and Roth IRA? Should I continue with this allocation, or should I be maxing…
Q. In your recent column “4 keys to TSP success,” you mentioned, regarding asset allocation, to “diversify your holdings among cash, stocks and bonds to hedge the risk lower.” I agree with this approach wholeheartedly, but ask where in the TSP to keep “cash”? There is no money market option, just the L funds (which I don’t use, preferring to personally allocate my investments), and the G, F, C, S and I funds. By the way, I took everything out of the G Fund and ceased all future allocations to it when there was a proposal by our leaders last…
Q. I recently decided to shift the corporate bond portion of my overall portfolio into my retirement accounts (i.e., shift my retirement account holdings largely into corporate bonds, and shift my taxable account holdings away from them) since the income from bonds is taxed at a higher rate than income from equities. Since the Thrift Savings Plan is about one-third of my retirement account money, I took a closer look at the F Fund and I was shocked to see that the majority of the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index that the F Fund tracks is treasuries. I think…
Q. I am a civilian FERS employee who will retire this summer at age 59 with 35 years of civil service. After retiring, I intend to start monthly withdrawals from my Thrift Savings Plan account ($2,000 per month). Even though I will have begun making monthly withdrawals from my TSP account, can the remainder of my money in the TSP continue to be invested in the various funds (G, C, F, S, I) and continue to grow via earnings within these funds? A. Yes.
Q. I’m a federal employee, I contribute 6 percent to my Thrift Savings Plan account I’m planning on putting more into my account this year. When the market went sour and I lost money, I put everything in the G Fund. If that fund doesn’t do anything, is there any advice you can give me? A. Sounds like you’ve done exactly the opposite of what you should have done. Managing your resources to support your financial goals with a minimum of risk is complex exercise. It requires strong analytic skills, diligence and a cool head. If you’re not up to…
Q. I will be retiring in January. I have approximately $180,000 the G Fund. Should I consider the one-time withdrawal to a money market account that is FDIC-insured so I can have some liquidity in my cash flow? Could you recommend such a fund? Could you recommend any restructuring of my Thrift Savings Plan to accommodate current federal reductions in the stimulus program? A. Yes, should consider taking a withdrawal from your TSP account to provide needed liquidity, but only if no other resources are available to do the job. The best place for liquid cash reserves in this economy…
Q. A sad tale: I am 64 and still working for the Defense Department. For most of my career, I have left my money in the G Fund except for some short periods where some of it was in the C Fund. I now have $430,000 in the G Fund but just can’t find it in myself to diversify although I see that I have lost a lot of money over the years this way. Can you recommend a relatively safe future strategy that won’t keep me awake at night? A. Find a trustworthy and affordable adviser to help you.