daf307 Account Talk

[WorkFE]

That money, like a 401K, can follow other retirements. Rollovers, if you decide to take a path away from Gov't Service.
Be happy you can contribute on AD. The old timers had to invest in personal accounts or wait until after retirement to contribute to what is really a company 401K. You get a headstart. Great Job.

 

[nasa1974]

AD is active duty, I am a Missile Alert Facility Manager here

I remember the few times we had to spend the night at the MAF (we called it the LCF back then) because we didn't have enough time in our work day to get back to base. The manager would wake up the cook to make us breakfast. A few good memories. Do the vehicles have GPS's in them now or do you still depend on the map books?

 

[daf307]

Changed my distro to C-65, S-20, and I-15...did it last week but forgot to update it on the automated tracker...we shall see how things go this month...

 

[Boghie]

Changed my distro to C-65, S-20, and I-15...did it last week but forgot to update it on the automated tracker...we shall see how things go this month...

DAF307,

You sure took BirchTree to heart

It is a very, VERY good distribution. I do 40/30/30 on my distributions.

Oftentimes, there is a difference between a chosen account allocation and a chosen paycheck distibution. You dollar-cost-average (DCA) using your paycheck distribution (contribution). My opinion is to NEVER buy bonds or cash with paycheck contributions. Birch made that clear as well.

After you build a little nest egg than trying to set your existing assets to an allocation becomes important. The 'G Fund' can be treated as cash - and as you near retirement (say 3 years out) you want more cash in hand to avoid the October 2008, November 2008, and early March 2009 issues. The 'F Fund' should be a stabalizer - and normally it should go up if C/S/I dump. Skittish folks (professionals and individuals) move to bonds when equities scare them. The 'C Fund' should offer stable growth at average of 9% a year, the 'S Fund' a far less predictable 10%, and the 'I Fund' can be thought of as an international 'C Fund'.

Back to allocation of existing holdings - I strongly recommend Edelman's and Lucia's books. 'The Lies About Money' is awesome. At your age I would tend to allocate almost everything into C/S/I - maybe even the same as your contribution percentage. You can lose (like BT with a -47%) in the short term, but over a 40 year time horizon you will win big time. Investing 'safe' may not even cover inflation - and you will be dining on Alpo at 65.

Enjoy