100% i Fund- Read and give 0.02 please

[Hawkeye]

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Hello

First, a little history...

Active Duty- with 9 years of service, 11 to go. :shock:

TOTAL invested: $2,800ish

Monthly Investments: $290's

Allocation: 100% of the farm on I fund.

Now, is this pretty stupid of me to do? I am not going to fake the funk here and pretend I am a 'know it all' but I have been watching this site on and off for awhile now, and I don't see many here going 100%.. OR maybe I have missed something. Could I get some feedback on what the best option is. I like everyone else wants their investments to grow at the best rate possible (DUH)

Thanks for takin a look and giving me some better ideas, or insight that you have learned or can address to help me make the most of my investment.

Hawkeye

 

[pyriel]

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Hawkeye, I a going to be moving your post to the I fund where other moderators can moderate your question. This place is the allocation talk and people talks about the reasoning (or sometimes madness) on their moves. It took me awhile to navigate this place but we have alot of people that should be able to help you.

Namor and System Trader are twoof the regular posters here that move 100% at all times. As to tell you if you are doing a good job leaving everything 100% in one fund. I can't. This is why I like tracking people's moves because i am looking for the same answer to the question that you posted.

Again, I'll be moving your question to the I fund section. Just scroll down under TSP Talk Forum and look for the i fund...

Pyriel

 

[tsptalk]

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Hawkeye wrote:

Allocation: 100% of the farm on I fund.

Now, is this pretty stupid of me to do? I am not going to fake the funk here and pretend I am a 'know it all' but I have been watching this site on and off for awhile now, and I don't see many here going 100%.. OR maybe I have missed something. Could I get some feedback on what the best option is. I like everyone else wants their investments to grow at the best rate possible (DUH)

Welcome Hawkeye -
I assume you are choosing 100% I fund because it has done so well over the past few years. That's good, but sometimes going against the grain can be the best move.

If you look at this link... http://www.tsptalk.com/returns/returns2.html, you will see that the I fund (actually the EAFE index as there was not an I fund the entire time) has actuallyunder performedthe US stocks indices since the 1980's, and not by a small amount. That may have been reason enough back then to get into the international stocks. Now that it has been outperforming the US stocks for a few years, that trend may be ending.

I'm not saying that it will happen, but it is a way to approach investing. Buy cheap dogs and sell shining stars, hopefully as they peak.

That said, to invest 100% in the I fund you should be fairly certain that the US dollar is not going to rally for any significant period of time. That will hurt the I fund no matter how well international stocks perform.

In the mid 90's when US stocks were flying, the EAFE index lagged. I believewe are due for a big rally in US stocks, probably in 2006. I would consider making a move at some point to take advantage of it rather than staying put. Watch the charts for a sign of the I fund lagging.

I hope that rambling helped some.
Tom

 

[Birchtree]

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Hawkeye,

I'm currently a 100% C fund buy and hold position trader with a long cycle view. However if I had 200% available I'd put the other 100% on the I fund. I would consider dividing my contributions for dollar cost averaging to 50% C fund and 50% I fund. You really don't have enough money to hurt yourself - so I would stay away from trying to short term trade - and rather concentrate on accumulating as many shares of both funds as possible. It should be remembered that the I fund is mostly composed of UK and Japan (50.1%). The Japanese economy is coming off of a 15 year base pattern - so they have paid their dues. The large cap stocks in the S&P 500 have been lagging for at least 5 years and as Tom stated are preparing for a multi-year advance. You can win both ways - just keep the money working through dollar cost averaging. At some point in the future you will be substantial enough to begin doing some trading and make it profitable. Until then use the extra time to learn about investing so you will be ready to assume the necessary risk inherent when it comes to trading large somes of money.

Dennis

 

[Hawkeye]

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Hey~ Thanks for your responses..And sorry it took so long to get back on here. I just moved across country (GA to WA) and starting to get settled.

I am going to look into splitting my $ up into atleast 2 different areas..
Again, thanks for your input!

Hawkeye

 

[Rolo]

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Welcome back, Hawkeye.

I'm 100% I right now...so...I'm all for it.

 

[Hawkeye]

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Rolo wrote:

Welcome back, Hawkeye.

I'm 100% I right now...so...I'm all for it.

Rolo- Looks like today was a good day for the I fund.. .went up a bunch!!!! hope that stays going!!! (prays)

thanks-

Hawkeye

 

[Rolo]

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Hawkeye wrote:

.went up a bunch!!!! hope that stays going!!! (prays)

I'm thinking 10-20% increase over that flat trading range over the next 2-3 months.

Don't forget to have your SELL RULES...how much will you lose before you sell...