New to Caring about my TSP, and the Forum too...

[Rifleman]

As the title says I am new to the whole TSP thing, I have been in the BOP for 5 years and 100% has ridding in the G fund ever since. I kept putting it off because I was "so young" and thought I had planty of time till I had to worry about retirement, but the past 5 years has been a blink... so I don't want to blink 3 times and be stuck with what I have. I am a smart guy but horrible with finance stuff like this, but in my usual fassion I am gonna educate myself and try and make some good choices so, expect allot of questions that are probably a little dim.

Also I have big shoulders and definitly don't care to hear advice, so please feel free to fire away at me if I am doing something stupid with my TSP. Also stock market stuff in general, any advice given I will probably listen to right away.

Thanks in advance!

 

[tsptalk]

Welcome Rifleman! You are right about the blinking. Procrastination costs a lot of folks since getting something churning early is the key to growing the account.

Good luck!

 

[RealMoneyIssues]

Also I have big shoulders and definitly don't care to hear advice, so please feel free to fire away at me if I am doing something stupid with my TSP. Also stock market stuff in general, any advice given I will probably listen to right away.

Read, Read, and well, Read...

Welcome Mr. Rifleman!!

Good Luck

 

[driz]

Don't feel bad at all. I've known guys who didn't even contribute the minimum into TSP for many years for one reason or another. They just threw away 5% right off the top. The secret if there is one is learn to lose graciously. You won't make money here all the time and there will be times you lose enough to buy a new car and more. It comes back believe me just don't panic and jump ship after the drop. You just have to keep the faith and the profits will happen. Get to know how moves work and how often and when you can. Above all perhaps this one seems to slip by many of us. (YOU CAN ALWAYS MOVE TO THE G FUND). So if the sky looks like it's going to fall and you are out of EFT's (all 2 of them / month). you can still run to the safety of the G fund. Jump in here ever few days at least and see what's going on and things will become clear in time. Sign in to your TSP account every few days too and make sure you can move your goodies around quickly without having to rummage around. There is no worse feeling than trying to get into your account to make a move at 1150 AM and having password / menu issues. Sign up for the autotracker in here too and learn how to use it. You'll become an old pro in a short while. :laugh::laugh:

 

[nasa1974]

Rifleman, Welcome aboard. This is a great place to learn. Some very smart people here.

 

[uscfanhawaii]

Welcome, Rifleman! You are already on the right path by joining in and getting all the info from these boards!
If you are just starting out, make sure you put in the min to get your 5%, and even better if you can go 10-15%! I have been in FERS for 25 yrs, having switched from CSRS when FERS came out. I wanted the 5% match! And guess what...my Federal match portion (only) of my TSP is over 200K! So it is well worth it!

 

[Rifleman]

Thanks guys, I found this site by google'n TSP strategies and from what I read it was apparent I didn't know jack, so time to learn.