New here

[beafet]

Hi there, I am beafet. I am 24 years old, just joined the military this summer, and am excited to be investing in the TSP. I am pretty new to all this, but I figure I've got plenty of time before I retire

 

[JTH]

Welcome aboard, good to have you here!

 

[tsptalk]

Welcone beafet! Thanks for joining us. If you have any questions, let us know.

 

[KevinD]

Welcome and Thank You for your service!

 

[James48843]

Hi there, I am beafet. I am 24 years old, just joined the military this summer, and am excited to be investing in the TSP. I am pretty new to all this, but I figure I've got plenty of time before I retire

Welcome aboard, and thanks for your service. The most important thing you can do now, at Age 24, is to begin regularly contributing as much as you are comfortable investing. Every time you get a promotion or a time in service increase, or a January pay raise, take at least a part of that and make it an increase in your contribution. There is no substitute for the power of "time in the market". The longer you can keep your money in, the longer it has to work for you. You can think about HOW you want to invest it later- whether in one of the L funds, or actively managing it yourself- either way, the more you are able to comfortably add to your contributions, the better off your retirement will be. By adding a little at each pay increase, you'll hardly even miss the money. Add in those opportunities to kick in higher amounts when you are deployed, or get bonuses, and you'll soon have a nice chunk of change to work with.

Good luck, and welcome.

 

[nnuut]

Welcome to the Board Beafet best of luck with your investments!
Norman

 

[beafet]

Thank you for the warm welcome everyone.

Welcome aboard, and thanks for your service. The most important thing you can do now, at Age 24, is to begin regularly contributing as much as you are comfortable investing. Every time you get a promotion or a time in service increase, or a January pay raise, take at least a part of that and make it an increase in your contribution. There is no substitute for the power of "time in the market". The longer you can keep your money in, the longer it has to work for you. You can think about HOW you want to invest it later- whether in one of the L funds, or actively managing it yourself- either way, the more you are able to comfortably add to your contributions, the better off your retirement will be. By adding a little at each pay increase, you'll hardly even miss the money. Add in those opportunities to kick in higher amounts when you are deployed, or get bonuses, and you'll soon have a nice chunk of change to work with.

Good luck, and welcome.

Thanks for the advice. I am currently able to invest 2.5% of my base pay. I've only contributed once, and it's sitting in the G fund. I changed the distribution for future contributions to 50% C, 25% S, 25% I. I plan to increase my contribution .5% every time I get a raise. I'll obviously be getting one in January, then again in March I will promote. Sorry if this paragraph belongs in a different thread...