Q. I am a Postal employee contributing to the 2030 Life Cycle Fund. I would like to know when my stock market shares are purchased. Is it before the market opens on payday Friday, during that day or after the market closes that Friday? A. The purchased is made using the end of day valuation on the day the contribution is received by the TSP. Ask your payroll office when their TSP contributions are processed.
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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…
Q. I am 25 years old, and recently joined the government. It is difficult to fathom retirement at my age, but I understand that I can get ahead by taking time to address my financial planning needs now. I don’t really have solid retirement goals. Let’s imagine I will retire around 2050. My investments need to provide support beyond any retirement date. I understand the risks associated with investing in stocks vs. mutual funds. I also understand that I can take more risk at a younger age. And I am comfortable taking on risk. After all, we’re only talking about…
Q: I am just about to retire from the FBI, where I’ve worked for 30 years. My parents left me a stock portfolio which dates back several decades. I would like, after retiring, to find and purchase a home using the stock portfolio, which is held in a trust my parents set up for me. I have never purchased a house, and I am wondering if there is any way to get around the capital gains taxes that probably would eat up huge chunks of the value of the stock portfolio once I liquidate most of the stocks to purchase…
Q: So what you’re saying is, the S Fund falls under NASDAQ and the I Fund falls under the Dow? Am I understanding that correctly? A: No. You’re confusing exchanges with indices. The C Fund tracks the S&P 500 and the S Fund tracks most of the rest of the domestic stock market.
Q: Is there any way for me to see what specific stocks my Thrift Savings Plan is invested in? I can see the general funds, but what about specific companies? A: You’ll need to check the TSP Fund Fact Sheet for each fund for the description of the index on which the fund is based, and then research that index for a list of its components. For example, the C Fund tracks the performance of the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index, which is a proprietary, weighted collection of 500 stocks. By the way, there is no guarantee that the funds…