Managing my account

[plantera]

I have been investing in the TSP for a few years now and i really dont have much of a clue as to what to do. So i changed my allocations from the G-fund to the CSI at 25%, 25%, and 50% respectively. I also took everything i had sitting in the G-fund and moved it to the C-fund.

I was reading things on this site that talked about now being a good time to sell and move thigns to the G-fund. So i did that a couple days ago.

What is all this really going to do for me and how often do i need to move stuff around to make some money. I thought my TSP was doing pretty good where it was. Help.

 

[tsptalk]

Welcome plantera! Where you invest your money is a very personal decision. Some like to take on risk, others do not. Trying to time the market can be difficult so, since things were going so well for you, you may be better off leaving things as they were until you get a better understanding of why people here are doing what they are doing.

Feel free to ask questions. This message board is a great source for information as the members are quite knowledgeable.

Good luck!
Tom

 

[Birchtree]

Hike right on back to that C fund and wait for the outperformance that is due.

 

[plantera]

What does that mean; outperformance? What happens when it does outperform?

 

[tsptalk]

He thinks the C fund will give a better return than the S fund.

 

[James48843]

Plantera:

Before you get yourself too far in looking for day trading profits, I'd like you to read this:

http://www.tsptalk.com/mb/showthread.php?p=76255



That whole thread is a good place to start, and to think about what kind of risk you are comfortable.

Tom is right, day-trading is not an easy thing to do, and you might fund yourself with more risk that you wanted right off the bat.

Birch adivses you to put it in C. I'd adivse put it in an L fund, until you are comfortable in knowing where You want to put it, and why you want to put it there. If you ask others, they might offer different advise. The key is that you need to know what you are comfortable with before you do it.

Take your time, and learn more, so that when you are ready to start making some moves, it's because you fully understand the risks involved, and are comfortable in trying to develop an investment style you are comfortable with.

 

[Birchtree]

I maintain the wisest move may be toward conservative, large-cap stocks (C fund) that will be insulated longer from earnings trends and see less movement when volatility picks up. My full contribution goes to the C fund DCA. The L funds leave you too thin to my sizeable accumulations. The name of this game is to accumulate as many shares over the years as possible - then you'll be ready to trade and make a difference to your bottom line.

 

[plantera]

How many shares are you talking about before i decide to be more agressive with day trading? I had about 800+ in C fund with some in S and I. That's where i have been allocating almost the last 3 years without changing anything. I was always told it was good to just let it ride and feel comfortable with that, but now i want to see what i can do with it. I feel ok taking some risks now before i hit 40+ years old. Then i may want to be more conservative.

 

[Birchtree]

My personal goal has always been to accumulate 40,000 shares of the C fund. I'm now pushing on 35,000 but will probably not make the 40,000 before I retire. You can make money trading but the energy required may not be worth the gains unless you have acquired considerable assets - for me when the day arrives I want to push around $20,000 per $.50 trade. The market right now is low on volatility but that will change as we progress higher. A $20K round trip 5 times per year would be good money. We'll see if I'm capable enough to make it rock. I made $96K last year with only 1 IFT and that was only to buy insurance, which I plan to continue to do as we move higher in price. Don't worry about the age factor - I'll be sixty this year and I'm only going to get more aggressive with potential trading over the next ten years. Let'er rip when the bull is running.