A couple of observations- from doing this for the last 20+ years. Right now everything seems to be all pretty, and drifting higher every day. We KNOW that this isn't going to last forever, but it is times like this that I really enjoy looking at what I've been able to accumulate, and thinking about whether it's time to rebalance my accounts and bank some gains.
Many years ago I used to just put all my ducks in a single fund (*originally, all there was was G fund, then C and F were added). I'd move to C fund and keep it there for a while, and back in those days, we had to MAIL in a request to move money by the 15th of the month, in order to have the money moved on the last day of the month.
Then we got S fund and I fund added. AND quick enough movement that we could actually move the money the NEXT DAY, instead of having to guess 15 days or more ahead of time. Having those earlier rules were like handcuffs, but it really made you think hard about where you wanted your money to sit for a while.
Now I am at the point, just prior to retirement, that I SHOULD be much more cautious, and should have a good chunk of my money today in G and F. I know that,
But that's not me.
Today, I only want to go into those "more stable" funds if I have a specific need to become defensive.
And at the moment, I'm not seeing it.
Sure, things can change on a dime, but for the time being, I'm letting it ride.
What do YOU use to tell yourself that it's time to rebalance, and set things off to a safer fund? What would you have to see in order to move more to the safety of G, or , like falling rates, to a growing F fund?
I'm also curious as to the changes in the people who are using our site here. When I started, 20 years ago (or so) , it was perhaps 90% Federal Civilian, and maybe 10% military, because military just started having the ability to contribute to TSP (with no matching) around the year 2002 or so.
How about now? What is the composition of our readers? Are you civilian? Military? both through Guard/Reserve?
Comment below both about YOUR triggers are around re-balancing. DO you watch and think about it a lot? Is your style more an all-or-nothing thing? Or how do you weigh how much of each fund where?
- and what your thoughts are about where the markets are headed- for the near future time frame (over the next year). Up? Down? Sideways? ANything you'll be watching for?
Many years ago I used to just put all my ducks in a single fund (*originally, all there was was G fund, then C and F were added). I'd move to C fund and keep it there for a while, and back in those days, we had to MAIL in a request to move money by the 15th of the month, in order to have the money moved on the last day of the month.
Then we got S fund and I fund added. AND quick enough movement that we could actually move the money the NEXT DAY, instead of having to guess 15 days or more ahead of time. Having those earlier rules were like handcuffs, but it really made you think hard about where you wanted your money to sit for a while.
Now I am at the point, just prior to retirement, that I SHOULD be much more cautious, and should have a good chunk of my money today in G and F. I know that,
But that's not me.
Today, I only want to go into those "more stable" funds if I have a specific need to become defensive.
And at the moment, I'm not seeing it.
Sure, things can change on a dime, but for the time being, I'm letting it ride.
What do YOU use to tell yourself that it's time to rebalance, and set things off to a safer fund? What would you have to see in order to move more to the safety of G, or , like falling rates, to a growing F fund?
I'm also curious as to the changes in the people who are using our site here. When I started, 20 years ago (or so) , it was perhaps 90% Federal Civilian, and maybe 10% military, because military just started having the ability to contribute to TSP (with no matching) around the year 2002 or so.
How about now? What is the composition of our readers? Are you civilian? Military? both through Guard/Reserve?
Comment below both about YOUR triggers are around re-balancing. DO you watch and think about it a lot? Is your style more an all-or-nothing thing? Or how do you weigh how much of each fund where?
- and what your thoughts are about where the markets are headed- for the near future time frame (over the next year). Up? Down? Sideways? ANything you'll be watching for?
