Just turned 22, looking to learn :)

[TheB3RG]

Hey all,
Just joined, lot of good advice out here, figured I'd get myself into the mix. For some background, I was hired in April 2008 as a GS-4 SCEP intern and have been contributing the matching-max of 5% since then. I graduated in May 2010 and was converted to a GS-7 position (non-competitive 7/9/11/12/13 track) in July.

In terms of TSP, when I started working and heard the words "agency-matching", I thought that was good enough. Never realized I could move/invest my money.

So all of my money (not too much, <5K) has been sitting in the G fund thus far, and I'm looking to change that. From what I've read, the L funds aren't too well-regarded, and most people mix it up between the C, S, and I funds (correct me if I'm wrong). Since I'm young, I'm not too afraid of taking risks, but I also know 100% I fund isn't the right choice either (or is it? :blink. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I've heard 100% C fund, 25%/50%/25% C/S/I funds, and others strategies.

Also, I'll be finishing up my Master's degree this year and am strongly considering joining the Air Force Reserves as an Officer. I know there are a lot of servicemen/women on here, so if anyone has any advice regarding that, I'm all ears.

Thanks,
Berg

p.s. Newcomer Question: You cannot withdraw from your TSP before retirement (without penalty), correct?

 

[Aviator_Guy]

My son Dave, age 25 also graduated in May 2010 (Political Science) after serving 4 yrs in the USAF (2003-2007). He’s now working for the USAF reserves. Dave unlike his father just lets it ride in the L2040 fund. My younger son Mike, age 23 is an Air Traffic Controller and he also just leaves it in the L2040. I cant complain as both of my boys know the importance of saving money long term. Congratulations on your federal job promotion!!!

 

[tsptalk]

You cannot withdraw from your TSP before retirement (without penalty), correct?

Welcome TheB3RG! Lots of strategies out there. At some point you'll find one that meets your comfort level, whether it is trading, buying and holding, all in one fund, diversified in many.

To answer you question, you cannot withdraw money from the TSP for the most part, without a hardship of some kind, or a loan.

 

[JTH]

The good news is you're young, so you should prepare yourself to accept an amount of risk that others would find scary. The biggest mistake a new investor can make is moving their money around too much. Fire & forget, pick a fund(s) and pile it in. Also consider a ROTH IRA.

 

[Afishegg]

Hey all,

p.s. Newcomer Question: You cannot withdraw from your TSP before retirement (without penalty), correct?

Well if your a civi and you get "fired" then ..YEAH, you can ......"get your money" hehehe..... I'm personally invested @ %80 S fund right now (20 G). I would suggest that you look at all of the funds performances over the last several years on TSP.gov, then just pick a fund and put it in and watch it grow. The S fund is up 24% for the year so far ...so, I agree with the comments about just "sticking it in and leaving it" If you get antsy and start pulling it out and putting it back in (back out and back in) and you don't really know what your doing... your gonna lose alot of money....WAIT!, THAT DOESN'T SOUND RIGHT!:laugh:....:embarrest:

P.S On a side note: My dad told me the same thing once!

 

[James48843]

First- welcome aboard. At least you are starting to save early.

Here is the thread I recommend all new federal employees read:

http://www.tsptalk.com/mb/showthread.php?t=3629

An age appropriate L-Fund is perfectly acceptable as a place to start while you are learning what your own level of risk/reward is going to be.

Check out that thread, and then you'll have a better idea of what to do next.

Good luck-

Jim

 

[SWAVET]

DO NOT buy and hold as I did for more than 15 years as begin of this year my TSP balance was only 146K.

Here is the basic formula that I get from another website, which are some time I fall back to it after I try to pick a few % gain:

JAN 100%F
FEB 100%G
MAR-MAY 100%C
JUN-OCT 100%F
NOV 100%C
DEC 100%S

From this formula and all the news including daily news and chart that provide by Tom and others. You get a lot of news from this message board then invest what is best for you or you can follow the leader (there are a lot of other that are not necessary in the top 50, but they info can help increase your balance). I learn a lot from this website and other free websites related to TSP since May 10 my TSP balance was 151.7K and as of this morning is 201.8K (including my contribution).

 

[James48843]

DO NOT buy and hold as I did for more than 15 years as begin of this year my TSP balance was only 146K.

Here is the basic formula that I get from another website, which are some time I fall back to it after I try to pick a few % gain:

JAN 100%F
FEB 100%G
MAR-MAY 100%C
JUN-OCT 100%F
NOV 100%C
DEC 100%S

From this formula and all the news including daily news and chart that provide by Tom and others. You get a lot of news from this message board then invest what is best for you or you can follow the leader (there are a lot of other that are not necessary in the top 50, but they info can help increase your balance). I learn a lot from this website and other free websites related to TSP since May 10 my TSP balance was 151.7K and as of this morning is 201.8K (including my contribution).

I'm not sure where THAT formula came from- I've never seen it posted here before- BUT....

Just a quick reminder-

NO ONE on this site is advsing you how to invest your money. You have to make your own decisions. We are not licensed securities advisors and cannot legally provide you with advice on exactly where to place your invesments at any given time.

Again, WE ARE NOT LICENSED INVESTMENT ADVISORS, nor did we stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

[FAB1]

Again, WE ARE NOT LICENSED INVESTMENT ADVISORS,

Amen, but a lot of us try to set a goal for the year and work for that (or more if possible). You just get 2 ITFs (into equaties or bonds) so unless you buy and hold the trick is to sell before the market goes down. Good luck on that but hey if you can snag 2% a month you'll get 24% in gains. That aint bad if you can pull it off.

The year has been tricky - you see the leaders are around 30% but last year the leaders made over 50% gains (and that was mainly Buy and Hold the I FUND believe it or not).

 

[nnuut]

Best of luck TheB3RG, contribute as much as you can, I wish I had.
Best of luck and BE CAREFUL it's not easy!
Norman

 

[SWAVET]

OF COURSE WE ARE NOT LICENSED INVESTMENT ADVISORS, nor did we stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night

Use the info as you wish as I learn from this MB and other links or prior mentioned on this website. The tracker follow my real account and my goal is try to gain 1% a month and anything extra are my retirement bonus since no salary increase for 2 yrs.

2% a month is not easy, but it is out there for you to test your skill and see if you can pull it off if you are not too greedy. Greedy that kill a lot of profit for this year from Apr 23 to July 6 that invest in C -15.18%, S -18.29% or I -12.89%.

Best of luck

 

[TheB3RG]

First- welcome aboard. At least you are starting to save early.

Here is the thread I recommend all new federal employees read:

http://www.tsptalk.com/mb/showthread.php?t=3629

An age appropriate L-Fund is perfectly acceptable as a place to start while you are learning what your own level of risk/reward is going to be.

Check out that thread, and then you'll have a better idea of what to do next.

Good luck-

Jim

Thanks james, that thread was immensely helpful. After I make an IFT, will my bi-weekly paycheck contributions still go into the G Fund? Can I change where those go, or do I have to move it from the G each month or so?

 

[James48843]

After I make an IFT, will my bi-weekly paycheck contributions still go into the G Fund? Can I change where those go, or do I have to move it from the G each month or so?

Log into the TSP.GOV website. There, you will find that you can IFT- and that changes the money that is already IN the account.
The button marked "Interfund transfer" (Here, I've marked it in blue) moves the balance of the current account, but does NOT change what is going in in future deposits.


You can also, from that panel, hit the button marked "Contribution Allocation". A "Contribution allocation (Here, I've marked it in green) directs where you want the money to go from future deposits. It is defaulted at the "G" fund until you set it for whatever you want.

Good luck.

View attachment 10302

make sense?
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[Frixxxx]

Thanks james, that thread was immensely helpful. After I make an IFT, will my bi-weekly paycheck contributions still go into the G Fund? Can I change where those go, or do I have to move it from the G each month or so?

The B3RG - You can IFT your money to any funds. Your contributions are where the paycheck money go to....

So you could IFT 50% C and 50% S

And your contributions could go 100% G

Hope this helps.

(+ What James said!)

 

[TheB3RG]

The B3RG - You can IFT your money to any funds. Your contributions are where the paycheck money go to....

So you could IFT 50% C and 50% S

And your contributions could go 100% G

Hope this helps.

(+ What James said!)

well don't i feel dumb :cheesy:
is it safe to say that contributions should be initially placed into a lower-risk fund?

 

[Birchtree]

The only fund I ever bought with my contributions was the C fund and then I bought it regardless of what the markets were doing in both good times and bad. I used a dollar cost averaging approach as my goal was to acquire as many shares as possible while I was working.

 

[James48843]

is it safe to say that contributions should be initially placed into a lower-risk fund?

If you read my thread- My take is that initially a new employee should put the money where YOU feel comfortable doing it. An age-appropriate L-fund is fine if you want some exposure to stocks, but aren't really comfortable yet putting it directly into any of the stock or bond funds. Once you begin learning and understand the risks, you'll be in a much better position to make your own call.

Again, no one here can advise YOU where YOU should put your money. Only you can make that decision. When I started out, I was already quite comfortable with risk, and I put it all in stocks from the start. But that's just me. YOUR decision will have to be your own.