Fees Associated with New Funds

[Bullitt]

I'll be passing on those additional funds for now.

I don't know why every article about fund fees needs to be so dramatic, but the fees are going to be higher via TSP than if you had the ability to purchase through a discount broker. Better to wait until some day when I convert some to an IRA.

• $55 annual administrative fee to ensure that use of the mutual fund window does not indirectly increase TSP administrative expenses for TSP participants who choose not to use the mutual fund window
• $95 annual maintenance fee
• $28.75 per trade fee
• Other fees and expenses specific to chosen mutual funds

If you Invest 100k (remember you can only put up to 25% of your money in the window) of your 400k in a mutual fund with a 1% fee your total fees would be:

• $95 Maintenance Fee
• $55 Annual Fee
• $28.75 Per Trade (Let’s assume 4/year) so a total of $115/year
• 1% Mutual Fund Fee on 100k is $1,000
• .076% Fee on your other 300k is $228

Total: $1,493/year

https://www.fedsmith.com/2022/04/04/tsp-mutual-fund-window-will-be-expensive/

 

[rdodson]

Re: TSP news from our Executive Director

What a great deal!!!!!
For someone :deal:
Seems the Thrift Board has complied with the bill Congress passed and at the same time discourages any participation by extraordinary fees.
I’d make a political statement but…

 

[rdodson]

Re: TSP news from our Executive Director

I guess six senators sent a letter to the thrift Board asking the board to suspend the Mutual Fund window. They suggested that Thirft members could end up investing in China.

I think the fees alone would tank the program, but I could be wrong. The board can't really believe that anyone is going to make any better return (than the life cycle or C or S Funds) on their investment with incredibly high fees associated with the Mutual fund window.

Isn't there an old saying about fools being separated from their money so easily...

 

[ginahoy]

1% for the mutual fund fee (expense ratio) is not representative of the options. There are more than 3,000 funds on the list with ratios less than that, and 142 funds with ratios less than 0.1

BTW, where did you come up with the 0.076% expense ratio for TSP funds? The expense ratios currently range from 0.043 to 0.059

 

[tsptalk]

BTW, where did you come up with the 0.076% expense ratio for TSP funds? The expense ratios currently range from 0.043 to 0.059

It looks like it came from the Fedsmith article that he was quoting: https://www.fedsmith.com/2022/04/04/tsp-mutual-fund-window-will-be-expensive/

 

[ginahoy]

BTW, where did you come up with the 0.076% expense ratio for TSP funds? The expense ratios currently range from 0.043 to 0.059

Sorry... I just realized Bullitt was quoting from a 3rd party article. But even in the article, the author fails to point out the wide range of fees associated with the funds available through the MFW so the article is highly misleading.

Still, I totally agree with this comment from the article:

"the majority of mutual funds do worse than the market and the ones that do beat the market don’t do it consistently."

OTOH, the MFW provides a means to focus a portion of one's portfolio on specific market segments, such as energy or commodities at very low expense ratios, and with larger balances, the $150 annual fee becomes less burdensome. More importantly, if one rolls over TSP funds to a private IRA, the fees are likely to be even higher for same or similar funds.