Browsing: I Fund

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…

Q. I understand why you defend leaving your money in the Thrift Savings Plan because of low expenses, security, protection from lawsuits, etc. However, how do you address the issue of “locking in losses” when withdrawing money in retirement from the TSP? For example, in an IRA, I can have (for a basic portfolio) a cash fund, an income fund and an equities fund. I know I can do this in the TSP, as well, G/F/C or S, but the primary difference is when I go to withdraw my money, in the TSP it comes out of all of these…

Q. I am 39. I contribute 12 percent of my salary to the Thrift Savings Plan. I have 50 percent in the L Fund and 10 percent each in G, I, S, C and F. I plan to retire around 62. Is this a reasonable contribution distribution? A. On its own, it’s not risk-efficient. If you don’t have a good reason to use this allocation, then it’s not reasonable.

Q. I am 31 years old and have five years of federal service. I am a GS-12, Step 3. I contribute 7 percent to the Thrift Savings Plan but have not done anything with the allocation: 100 percent to the G Fund. I have tried to determine the best allocation on my own, but there is too much information out there. I know that I need to do something now. I was thinking about 40 percent C Fund, 30 percent S Fund, 15 percent I Fund, 10 percent F Fund and 5 percent G Fund. Would this be a good start to set…

Q. I am 35 years old and am using L2040 for my fund allocation through the Thrift Savings Plan. I have been reading that I should be diversifying between C, S and I funds for a larger return, but I am not sure how to split the percentages between the three funds. How can I do that since I have 30 years or so until retirement? A. About 77 percent of your L 2040 investment is already in the C, S and I funds. You could switch to the L 2050 fund and increase that allocation to about 87 percent. If you…

Q. As precaution for what I thought was going to be a market decline, in December, I moved $350,000 out of my Thrift Savings Plan accounts from the C, S, and I fund (60 percent, 20 percent, 20 percent) to the G Fund. The end of the year came and went with no crash. The government had several “doomsday” dates that kept me guessing on market reactions. All have come and gone and the market is still going strong. I didn’t change my paycheck allocations, so I’ve continued to put money into the above funds in the percentages shown, so at…

Q. I’m 25 years old, series 1811 and have been contributing 5 percent into the Thrift Savings Plan (FERS) for three years. Until last week, I was contributing 100 percent into the L2040 fund, but now I’m doing 65 percent into the S Fund and 35 percent into the I Fund. Since I still have about 32 years until mandatory retirement, do you think I am making the right TSP choices now, and do you have any recommendations? A. Your allocation is risk-inefficient. You could reconfigure it to deliver similar expected growth with much less volatility. If you don’t know…

Q. I am a 48-year-old GS-14/7 with about $240,000 in my Thrift Savings Plan (I have a little more in a prior 401(k), and my wife makes more than I do but does not have a 401(k) plan…I am willing to take reasonable risks). I have contributed the maximum at 43 percent C, 22 percent S, 25 percent I and 10 percent F for several years and rebalanced each year. Indeed, I stubbornly left it like that during the crash but have recovered nicely. I recently borrowed $30,000 (yes, I know, that is not the best course), at the G…

Q. I am being considered for disability retirement in the coming months. My application is pending consideration from the Office of Personnel Management. I am a GS-14 FERS employee, 54 years old, with about 32 years of service. I have approximately $250,000 in the Thrift Savings Plan, and my allocations are as follows: 15 percent C, 15 percent S and 70 percent I. I realize that is somewhat aggressive, but it has been like that for about seven years or so, and I have been hopeful of the international home run. Regrettably, this hasn’t necessarily come to fruition. I will…

Q. I been following the news about Cyprus’ banks. I want to find out if our Thrift Savings Plan I Fund money is invested in Cyprus’ banks. If yes, is it good to move money back to another fund? A. No.