imported post
The stock war zone shock
The TSP funds, and participants generally had a safe haven in the 1990's. But in 2000 we were in a stock market war zone, a free-for-all fight to protect our funds without the slightest knowledge of how to do it. Funds in the stock section got mangled and mutilated. If we were luckey some found asafe haven in the G and F funds, others were not that fortunate. The stock war zone ended in 2003 with the prior bull market. Many TSP participants were reluctant to venture intostock, it was just too risky, why not just save what you had already.
And then comes along Tom and his TSPTalk forum. TSP participants are amazed at what they can do with their funds when they talk with others and share their knowledge. This knowledge becomes the power they need to adequately manage their accounts. And, for the record should of had all along.
However, we (myself included) need discipline in this endeavor to manage our funds. But, we don't have to re-invent the wheel. The trading practices, guidelines, and etc already exists for us to optimize the management of our funds
We are not day traders (generally). We don't all have news letters and systems to time the market (remember, TSP has a 1 - 2 day transfer time). And, a lot of us do not appreciate the old system of buy-an-hold. Some of us are new to TSP, some in the middle and some near retirement.
After reading the posts, we are doing a good job, i.e., See all the good work that was done researching and discussing the I - fund.
I will admit I'm not a market guru, but I'm willing to learn. Members on this site, are here becouse they need help maximizing their funds. This, I believe is also Tom's goal, and others too. This is the area of greatest benefit for all, and also have fun along the way. Our gift should be one of guidance. We can't predict the market, what it is going to do tomorrow or the week after, otherwise we would all be retired millionaires. My fault is one of impatience, I have zero patience. I wish I had a tenth of the patience LK has. I guess I spent too much time in hot LZs, whatever. What I'm aluding to is that everone has baggage that can be helped, concerning TSP. i.e., why are some jumping around in different funds while we have a new bull market? We should be concentrating on the proper mix of funds that suits our goals and risk tolerance. Some have a clouded view of the big picture, maybe shell-shocked over the past bear market of cycles up and down. I don't know the perfect solution. However, I feel that our goal should strive to help everyone on this forum, and everone associated with TSP. We have been neglected. Now we have a (2nd)chance.
Well close with a-nuff said. I see a bull market, and will be in stocks. I'll diversify amoung the stock funds with allocations mainly in US funds (C & S) and use the Internationalfund ( I ) as a hedge. I'll keep a close eye on the I- fund because of it's two fold risk, and will limit allocations to that fund to 30% or less. At the current time the S-fund is a very good performer and a larger allocation will be placed in that fund. Ocassionally I will tweak funds for as I see, to be better allocations. And, alsostay tuned for futher guidance on this site. Also, I will develope an exit plan (plan B) for exiting the bull market when it expires ( what goes up has to come down) hoping that the bull market last as long as posible.
My regards and be careful out there!
Spaf
Spaf
