mikekellyonline's Account Talk

[mikekellyonline]

Took the leap into I Fund and it paid off. Watching the markers this weekend and Monday to see where I go next. I am thinking 100% C Fund or split between C and S.

 

[mikekellyonline]

I started this thread with minimal detail of what I was doing with my TSP for the end of the week. Seeing that I am finding great value in TSPTalk.com and this forum, I'm going to elaborate more and give a little information on myself.

My name is Mike as you might have gathered. I'm in the Navy and have been for about 12 years. Like many folks, my TSP sat dormant in the 'G' Fund for almost 8 years. It was then that I had a somewhat knowledgeable TSP investor showed me the benefits of a set it and leave it method. That was put everything in the 'C' fund and let it grow. Truth be told, it has grown. The level of growth hasn't been anything to write home about, but it grew much more than if I left in the 'G' Fund.

Why did I set it and forget it? I really didn't have any info other what is on the TSP.GOV site.

I guess my timing was right as I found this site. I took the dive into the "I" Fund and made out.

As many of you know, this site is great! For sailors like me, I'm not experienced in investing. For the last week, I've been reading here and other places. This a gem.

I'm looking forward from here to learn and hopefully help others.

For the look for next week, I'm looking at the dollar and overseas markets to see if I am going to leave everything in the I fund for at least Monday. We will see.

I look forward to interacting with you all.

 

[evilanne]

Welcome to the forum...there definitely is a great deal of info and many different views. I changed from a portion of my investment from G to C about 5 years into my career after coworkers were bragging about how much they were making in the TSP stock fund and I eventually increased contributions totally to C Fund. We only had 3 funds back then but luckily G Funds was returning ~ 7-9% in the early years but C Fund still had better returns.
Wishing you many positive returns

 

[mikekellyonline]

I am looking into this next week with having only one more IFT left. If the I fund looks to drop (no indicators I've seen yet), then I'm going to move 100% to 'C' Fund. Then with no other IFT's remaining, I'll have to dive to the G fund if all goes downhill.

After seeing some talk about <1% transfers, that's not an option as I have been an all or nothing investor inside TSP.

My wife and I are currently widdling away at our debt. We have a few more debts to clear out then we will have an open way towards opening an IRA. We are looking at a Roth IRA. Still looking at where to go for it, however. Right now Vanguard is topping the list considering low-costs and availability of index mutual fund investments for retirement. I have many family members who invest through Fidelity and Lincoln Financial. We haven't decided yet which we will invest through.

Here is what the markets are showing me. We will be investing approx 15% net pay into a separate retirement account. We will be investing into index funds, not individual stocks. We are looking to put down enough to secure a mutual fund account with a 5-Year avg of 8% or more. Pipe dream? I don't think so.

 

[mikekellyonline]

The USD futures are up tonight. Up to 97.14 an increase of .14%. This coupled with a so far positive trip overseas for the POTUS could mean a stabilization of the markets ahead this week and a stronger USD. I'm going to be watching how the markets react after opening bell tomorrow. If the dollar looks to stabilize, I will be selling out of the I fund.

If the markets stabilize and the dollar gains strength, I think we will see a rise in the C fund and possibly see another record high on the SPY.

Ahead this week are home sales reports, and the FED should be releasing a report on the economy. This should provide a fun week of activity. We still have another week and a half left this month. Do you have any IFT's left? I have one and will be watching tomorrow very closely to see if I'll be using it. Currently 100% I fund.

 

[evilanne]

My wife and I are currently widdling away at our debt. We have a few more debts to clear out then we will have an open way towards opening an IRA. We are looking at a Roth IRA. Still looking at where to go for it, however. Right now Vanguard is topping the list considering low-costs and availability of index mutual fund investments for retirement. I have many family members who invest through Fidelity and Lincoln Financial. We haven't decided yet which we will invest through.

Here is what the markets are showing me. We will be investing approx 15% net pay into a separate retirement account. We will be investing into index funds, not individual stocks. We are looking to put down enough to secure a mutual fund account with a 5-Year avg of 8% or more. Pipe dream? I don't think so.

Good for you in getting out of debt and building your retirement assets...that is definitely a good move.
In looking at discount brokers, you may want to look at TD Ameritrade. From my research they have a better platform & tools if you plan to be actively manage your portfolio. See Compare Online Brokers - StockBrokers.com It doesn't include either Vanguard or Lincoln. Vanguard is basically a family of mutual funds and Lincoln Financial seems more of an advisory service or managed account. I believe most of the folks that transfer from TSP to IRAs often use ETF that are generally no fee for trading but there are still restrictions on frequent trading although there many more funds to chose from. As far as your desired rate of return, it depends on many factors--risk, the market, the economy & your asset allocation/investment portfolio.

 

[mikekellyonline]

evilanne, thanks for this. that helps out a ton. I'm definitely looking forward to getting out of debt to have a little more financial stability and freedom. I do want to be more active in trading. I admittedly get frustrated with the limit of IFT's that TSP allows. What that has taught me, is how to pay closer attention to timing the markets. Even this morning, I'm looking at what to do. I only have one more IFT remaining for this month. I'm 100% I fund now. I'm watching the markets and especially the USD. I've been riding the falling dollar/ raising I fund train for a little bit. Looking at the track records on here, the I fund seems to be doing great for a while. We will see. I've only been on here for about a week so far.

 

[mikekellyonline]

I'm on the ship and jumping into the 'C'. EFA is too close to the opening. We will see.

 

[Whipsaw]

Welcom Aboard Mike! (I had to read your post name twice, I was giving it a Hawaiian read at first 'Mi ke ke ly..' funny) Glad to have folks participate, sharing valuable insights found in the vast ocean of market information is a good thing for our posters. Glad to see you're getting into the swing of things.

 

[mikekellyonline]

Welcom Aboard Mike! (I had to read your post name twice, I was giving it a Hawaiian read at first 'Mi ke ke ly..' funny).

You should hear how they pronounce my name during Christmas time.

 

[mikekellyonline]

Closed the week out with a positive. I kept 100% in the C Fund. So far for this year I am at 8.85% YTD.

I'm going to leave it in C fund. We will see how Monday goes with Trump coming back to the States.