Browsing: inflation

Q. With a 300 percent increase in the money supply since 2008, I believe inflation will have a devastating effect in the years to come. Is there any recommended Thrift Savings Plan strategy to prepare for it if it occurs? From the risk information on the TSP website, it appears inflation will have a negative risk on all of the TSP funds. A. The C, S, I and G funds should be the most resistant to inflation pressure.

Q. I assume a high inflation rate is in our near future, based on the high amount of money being printed. I also assume the economy could go into a greater depression when all the corresponding actions take place — high inflation, high interest rates, market crash, possible dollar collapse. Is the G Fund going to be safe through all of this? With it being a government-backed bond, what if the government defaults on all debt and can no longer borrow to keep the economy from collapsing? Is any money in the Thrift Savings Plan safe? Basically, can I move…

Q. Your Sept. 24 column in Federal Times made the suggestion to increase allocation in the G Fund at the expense of the other funds, including the F Fund. I have not normally been heavily invested in the F Fund in my 25 years. However, with the F Fund having the second-highest return of any fund since its inception (5.86 percent); that it has never had a negative yearly return; that there is a continually declining performance of the G Fund; and the low probability that interest rates will go up any time soon, I see the F Fund as…

Q. I’m preparing to retire and trying to learn about TSP options and the outside world with investing my life savings. I have most of the outside world telling me to pull it out now — I’m 61 — because the G Fund is not even keeping up with inflation. I also have looked into investing some of it in a program called Diversified Stock Income Plan with Wells Fargo. Under $200,000 will cost me 1.5 percent every year if I invest in this program. What do the experts say about the advice I am getting? A. This expert says:…

Q: I like to make plans for my savings and would like to know whether the contribution limits will be increasing for the Thrift Savings Plan and the TSP Catch-up contribution plan for 2011 and 2012. A: The limits are indexed to inflation, and we won’t know whether they’ll be increasing until the inflation figures are in.