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: S 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. I currently have all of my Thrift Savings Plan investments in the S Fund, and I see that it is now losing money. Should I move my money today or this week, or wait and try to recap what I lost (Loss is recent, I think over this past weekend)? A. The person responsible for managing your investment strategy will have to make this call. I can’t tell you how to work the controls if I don’t know where you’re going, what you’re driving or how much gas you have in the tank. I can tell you that a…
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 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 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…
Q. I’m 32 years old, have been contributing to the Thrift Savings Plan since 2005. I have 40 percent in my C Fund, 30 percent in S and 30 percent in I. Is this a good contribution allocation? I want to be as aggressive as possible, but I am also looking at moving most of my gains to the G Fund due to the fact the market may be headed in the same direction as 2009. If I want to protect my gains with the means of buying back at a lower price, what would be your recommendation be on…
Here are the five basic Thrift Savings Plan funds in order from the highest to the lowest rate of return for the month of October: C Fund (4.60%), I Fund (3.38%), S Fund (2.94%), F Fund (0.89%), G Fund (0.19%). And here are the year-to-date results: S Fund (31.13%), C Fund (25.34%), I Fund (19.43%), G Fund (1.52%), F Fund (-0.78%). Interesting? Maybe to some. Useful? I don’t know how. As an investment manager — or TSP participant, as you are more commonly known — you are responsible for making, or delegating the making of, a massive series of decisions.…
Q. I am 65 years old and retired from government service in March. I have about $ 400,000 in my Thrift Savings Plan account, with over $150,000 in G Fund. (For the record, I also hold about $70,000 in the F Fund, $90,000 in the C Fund, $50,000 in the S Fund and $40,000 in the I Fund.) I am considering transferring $40,000 from the G Fund to L2020 to make my TSP portfolio a bit less conservative and also as a reflection of long-term price expectations on the bond market. Do you consider this a wise move? If so,…
Q. I’m 53 years old and plan to retire in 10 years. My current Thrift Savings Plan balance is $131,000, and I’m 100 percent allocated into the L2040 fund. I’m very aggressive in my investing. Should I allocate my TSP 60 percent C Fund, 20 percent S Fund and 20 percent I Fund instead of the L 2040 fund, which allocates in all of the funds to include the G and F funds? A. You’re the investment manager, so you’ll need to use your process for determining the correct allocation of your TSP funds. If I were responsible for the…