Introduction

[sparksals]

Hi,

My husband is the federal employee, but I'm the one who handles the finances and watches the TSP. I have read through some posts and it is a bit overwhelming! :blink:

I have never been one to follow the stock market, although I know what the Dow, S & P is etc. I have always been interested in learning the ropes to get into other stock market investing, but I know nothing about how any of this stuff works.

Our FP suggested a diversified distribution and I generally followed her advice, but put more into C,S,I and the returns have been quite nice. I don't do ITF's on a regular basis, but I would really like to learn to have a strategy and how to follow the market so we can maximize our retirement savings.

Am I doomed if I know nothing about Dow, etc., and / or how the stock market works?

One thing I am confused about is when you do your Account changes as of cob, are you just doing an ITF, changing your contribution allocations or both?

I'm going to continue reading through the site so I can get some idea of how all this works. Any suggestions on where else to research so I can learn this maze? I am a SAHWNK, so I have alot of time to figure all this out.

 

[Spaf]

Sparksals,

Welcome!

Have you considered the Life-Cycle funds at TSP?
Your correct, get all the facts before jumping in. The home page for this site has a lot of information.
I don't think a lot of us change the contribution allocation when an IFT is made. Some just use the G-fund for the contribution.

Regards....... .........Spaf

 

[sparksals]

Hi Spaf,
Yes, we did consider the L funds, but we are a bit older. My dh joined the Feds after getting out of the military (the dork (jk)didn't contribute to the TSP then) and we are both 40.

I always thought the L funds were for a much longer term as in the number beside the fund is the time away from when you retire. Given our ages, we need to be a bit more aggressive since the TSP is our main form of retirement income (except for IRA's, Roth etc.), hence me wanting to learn as much about it as I can.

When you say some use the G Fund for contribution, do you mean that they allocate their contribution every pay 100% to G, then do IFT's on a regular basis?

 

[tsptalk]

One thing I am confused about is when you do your Account changes as of cob, are you just doing an ITF, changing your contribution allocations or both?

Welcome sparksals! The answer to this depends on how you handle your account. The easy answer is to do both as it doesn't take that much time. I normally only do the interfund transfer unless I happen to be in one allocation for longer than a month. In that case I would do the contribution change as well.

Good luck!
Tom

 

[Spaf]

Hi Spaf,
Yes, we did consider the L funds, but we are a bit older. My dh joined the Feds after getting out of the military (the dork (jk)didn't contribute to the TSP then) and we are both 40.

I always thought the L funds were for a much longer term as in the number beside the fund is the time away from when you retire. Given our ages, we need to be a bit more aggressive since the TSP is our main form of retirement income (except for IRA's, Roth etc.), hence me wanting to learn as much about it as I can.

The L funds have an age factor. They progress less aggressive as you near retirement. Sounds like you should be around the L-2030 or L-2020 funds.
I would compare your returns with the returns from the L funds and reevaluate the risks vs rewards.
In the meantime if you consider trading, study up on it first. Basically, you then manage your own funds in a market with risks.

When you say some use the G Fund for contribution, do you mean that they allocate their contribution every pay 100% to G, then do IFT's on a regular basis?

Yes, but it's a matter of preference. It was kind of like a cash account.

Day traders don't hold positions overnight. [You can't day trade with TSP].
Swing traders hold positions for days or weeks.
Position traders hold positions for weeks, months, years.

 

[rokid]

Hi Spaf,
Given our ages, we need to be a bit more aggressive since the TSP is our main form of retirement income (except for IRA's, Roth etc.), hence me wanting to learn as much about it as I can.

The flip side of aggressiveness is losing your retirement. If you want to do some research, get A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel or Common Sense on Mutual Funds by John C. Bogle. The former is comprehensive and the latter is an easy read. Both are considered classics. You might also want to solicit advice on the Vanguard Diehards forum http://www.diehards.org/?ndays=10. A number of well known financial authors (Rick Ferri, William Bernstein, Taylor Larimore, and Larry Swendrow) post there.

Also, take a look at the 2006 tally: http://www.tsptalk.com/utilities/tally_122906.pdf. Some TSPers beat the L2040 (32%). However, most (68%), including myself, did not.

In any event, Good Luck!

 

[sparksals]

Hi Spaf,
Yes, we did consider the L funds, but we are a bit older. My dh joined the Feds after getting out of the military (the dork (jk)didn't contribute to the TSP then) and we are both 40.

I always thought the L funds were for a much longer term as in the number beside the fund is the time away from when you retire. Given our ages, we need to be a bit more aggressive since the TSP is our main form of retirement income (except for IRA's, Roth etc.), hence me wanting to learn as much about it as I can.

When you say some use the G Fund for contribution, do you mean that they allocate their contribution every pay 100% to G, then do IFT's on a regular basis?

Welcome sparksals! The answer to this depends on how you handle your account. The easy answer is to do both as it doesn't take that much time. I normally only do the interfund transfer unless I happen to be in one allocation for longer than a month. In that case I would do the contribution change as well.

Good luck!
Tom

Thanks Tom. I saw your account page and that you didn't do the changes all that often, compared to the others who do them almost daily!

 

[sparksals]

The L funds have an age factor. They progress less aggressive as you near retirement. Sounds like you should be around the L-2030 or L-2020 funds.
I would compare your returns with the returns from the L funds and reevaluate the risks vs rewards.
In the meantime if you consider trading, study up on it first. Basically, you then manage your own funds in a market with risks.

I definitely need to take the time to learn all this b/c according to my calculations, we made less than 10% Return on all our funds. Better than nothing, but after seeing all the returns here, I want to be able to manage our retirement funds to be of the most benefit.

Given our age and that my husband has less than 20 years to retirement, we tend to be more conservative than someone in their 20's or early 30's.

Yes, but it's a matter of preference. It was kind of like a cash account.

Day traders don't hold positions overnight. [You can't day trade with TSP].
Swing traders hold positions for days or weeks.
Position traders hold positions for weeks, months, years.

So, that means TSP Talk Tom is a combo position/swing trader since he only moves his stuff around every month or so.

I think I will keep a diversified allocation in terms of the payroll deposit and then do the IFT's. I would get too confused if I had to switch both of them. Maybe when I become a pro like all of you, I will have a bit more confidence!

 

[sparksals]

The flip side of aggressiveness is losing your retirement. If you want to do some research, get A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel or Common Sense on Mutual Funds by John C. Bogle. The former is comprehensive and the latter is an easy read. Both are considered classics. You might also want to solicit advice on the Vanguard Diehards forum http://www.diehards.org/?ndays=10. A number of well known financial authors (Rick Ferri, William Bernstein, Taylor Larimore, and Larry Swendrow) post there.

Also, take a look at the 2006 tally: http://www.tsptalk.com/utilities/tally_122906.pdf. Some TSPers beat the L2040 (32%). However, most (68%), including myself, did not.

In any event, Good Luck!

Thanks for those reading suggestions and for the Diehard site!