News Articles about TSP

[James48843]

Fedsmith has another article today:

http://www.fedsmith.com/article/1486/

The stock market is poised to take a significant drop today.

Perhaps you are thinking that the market has already taken a step drop and you might be asking yourself: "How can it drop any further?"

It is understandable why readers would be thinking that it cannot drop any further. Before the market has opened this morning, the C fund is down 9.66%; the I fund is down 8.97% and the S fund is down 11.72%. The lifecycle funds are also down with a range of -1.72% for the income fund to -8.06% for the L2040 fund.

But these figures do not mean the market cannot fall further. In fact, it is likely to take a big dip. There has been panic selling in overseas markets while the federal government and the stock market was closed on Monday. The market futures show the possibility of another drop of 4% (500 points) or so.

In answer to the question on the minds of many readers, keep in mind this point of reference: The stock market dropped 500 points in one day on October 19, 1987. The leadiing Dow Jones index at that time was about 2300. A 500 point decline equaled a drop of more than 22% in one day. Check out the charts that depict the wild ride. Also keep in mind that after the dramatic drop, the stock market started going up and, even with the recent drops, it is still above 12,000 at the time of this writing.

Most of the participants in the Thrift Savings Plan have a considerable part of their investments in the G and F funds. These funds are not as likely to be damaged in a sudden drop of the market. As you can see from our TSP charts at the top of many pages on our site, these funds are up as of this morning while the other funds are all down.

Read the complete article at: http://www.fedsmith.com/article/1486/

 

[Rod]

Most of the participants in the Thrift Savings Plan have a considerable part of their investments in the G and F funds. These funds are not as likely to be damaged in a sudden drop of the market. As you can see from our TSP charts at the top of many pages on our site, these funds are up as of this morning while the other funds are all down.[/B]

Read the complete article at: http://www.fedsmith.com/article/1486/

I would hope the (G) Fund was "up"!

 

[Silverbird]

So much for the "safe" Lincome fund!

 

[James48843]

From "Govexec.com" yesterday:

TSP prepares for increased activity due to stock market plunge
By Brittany R. Ballenstedt
bballenstedt@govexec.com January 22, 2008


Officials overseeing the Thrift Savings Plan said Tuesday that they are prepared to handle an influx of calls and other activity resulting from market volatility.

At a monthly meeting of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, officials said they have increased call center support for participants worried about their plan assets. Stock markets worldwide took a nosedive on Monday, while U.S. markets were closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 index lost 1.1 percent, ending the day at a more than 16-month low.

"Obviously the markets are going through some sizable amount of volatility both here and around the world," said Andrew Saul, chairman of the board. "Long-term investing has proved a very sensible thing, but on the other hand, this is a free country, and everyone has to make their own decisions as to how they want to handle their own finances."

The news comes as officials are working to limit the number of interfund transfers participants can conduct to two each month. They plan to publish final regulations on transfers in the Federal Register in February. The rules will take effect in late March or April.

Still, trading was down slightly in December, when 133,550 interfund transfers were processed, compared with 188,623 in November. Officials chalked up the decrease to media reports on the potential impact of interfund transfers on the overall cost of running the plan.

"People have read that this is an issue of concern," said Gregory Long, TSP executive director. "Some have calmed down; others haven't."

Meanwhile, officials noted that for 2007, the administrative costs to TSP participants were only one basis point, or 1 cent for every $100 invested. Last year's low cost was largely due to a significant amount of money being forfeited to the plan to cover employees who were placed in the wrong retirement system.

The forfeitures are a result of the 2000 Federal Erroneous Retirement Coverage Corrections Act, which sought to provide relief to employees who spent at least three years in the wrong retirement plan after the Federal Employees Retirement System was introduced in 1987. Once the law is phased out, officials said, administrative costs likely will increase to what they were in recent years. In 2006, TSP participants paid three basis points, still far below comparable private sector plans, which often cost 50 to 80 basis points to run.

"It's really how many angels can dance on the head of a pin because we're talking about such small numbers," Long said. "The primary point is to say that the one basis point figure may go up."

TSP Legislative Director Thomas Trabucco said officials recently met with members of Congress to make minor changes to legislation that would allow automatic employee enrollment in the plan and change the default fund for indecisive investors to the appropriate life-cycle fund. Trabucco said the legislation should be ready for introduction soon.

Lawmakers have expressed concern over the cost implications of the automatic enrollment proposal, since it would result in more federal employees deferring some of their salary from their taxable income. While a Congressional Budget Office estimate cannot be made until the legislation is introduced, Trabucco acknowledged that an unofficial accounting indicates the proposal could deprive the U.S. Treasury of hundreds of millions in tax dollars.

The legislative proposals will be discussed further at TSP's next board meeting, set for Feb. 19. Officials also plan to provide an update on the potential for creating customizable user identifications to replace the 13-digit account numbers participants have been using since October 2007.

"The 13-digit account number is very challenging for folks to remember," said Mark Hagerty, TSP chief information officer. "There's lots of work required to get the [customizable identification] up and operational, but it should make the site more user-friendly."


Source: http://govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39084&dcn=todaysnews

 

[kam]

Re: What YOU can do to fight back - IFT limit

"Staff Told to Protect Thrift Savings Plan's Assets"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/22/AR2008012203066_pf.html

Are they talking about costs our OUR ASSESTS?

 

[DrFaustus]

"The 13-digit account number is very challenging for folks to remember," said Mark Hagerty, TSP chief information officer. "There's lots of work required to get the [customizable identification] up and operational, but it should make the site more user-friendly."

Holy Cow ... I had my 13-digit number memorized after using it a couple of times. Just how stupid do these people think we are???

 

[James48843]

Rumor check:

I just saw this message on the TSPSHAREHOLDER.ORG petition site-

And entry that the TSP has screwed up bigtime, and sent the wrong quarter statemetn out to over a hundred and fifty thousands employees (At a cost of about a buck apiece):

# 3,142: Jan 24, 2008, Anonymous , Maryland
The TSP just mailed over 150,000 people the 3rd quarter statement (2nd copy) instead of the 4th quarter statement so guess who will pay for this mistake. We need to make some real changes to the TSP Board!

My question- is this true? Can anyone confirm that they got a third quarter statement rather than a 4th quarter statement just mailed to them?

I would like to double check some facts and get thrid party verification before I do anything with this....

Thanks

 

[Eldritch Flatus]

"The 13-digit account number is very challenging for folks to remember," said Mark Hagerty, TSP chief information officer. "There's lots of work required to get the [customizable identification] up and operational, but it should make the site more user-friendly."

Holy Cow ... I had my 13-digit number memorized after using it a couple of times. Just how stupid do these people think we are???

Heh! You can bet your account that they are absolutley convinced that you, and we all, are stupider than they. So if we are stupider than them; and we already know how stupider they themselves are, you can get an idea of how stupider they think we are, cheese! :worried:
(all grammatacal, punctuation and spelling errors intentionally not corrected for illustrative purposes):embarrest:

May God bless this Country, it's people, and all of us on this message board, and especially our Country's leaders, whoever they are, Please pray with me for our leaders to be lead out of their darkness, and into the light. I truly fear they are lost.
God bless us all.
Ray

 

[Miss_Piggy]

"The 13-digit account number is very challenging for folks to remember," ..............Holy Cow ... I had my 13-digit number memorized after using it a couple of times. Just how stupid do these people think we are???

Help With Passwords
I’ve been using a tiny program to handle my trillion passwords for years that is excellent. I’m still using a ’99 Pro version but I’m sure today’s Lite, $20 or Standard $30 will suffice for quick handling of passwords. It’s called Perfect Keyboard and there’s a Trial Version. I love it. One just has to press 1 keyboard character to insert a password.

Homepage: http://softwareutilities.com/pkindex.htm Versions: http://softwareutilities.com/pk-editions.htm
Costs: http://order.kagi.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?storeID=PI2&&

 

[DrFaustus]

Help With Passwords
I’ve been using a tiny program to handle my trillion passwords for years that is excellent. I’m still using a ’99 Pro version but I’m sure today’s Lite, $20 or Standard $30 will suffice for quick handling of passwords. It’s called Perfect Keyboard and there’s a Trial Version. I love it. One just has to press 1 keyboard character to insert a password.

Homepage: http://softwareutilities.com/pkindex.htm Versions: http://softwareutilities.com/pk-editions.htm
Costs: [URL="http://order.kagi.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?storeID=PI2&&"]http://order.kagi.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?storeID=PI2&&[/URL]

I've been looking into password vaults myself ... basically its a minature database that is encrypted. Pretty neat idea, I think.

 

[charmed855]

I've been looking into password vaults myself ... basically its a minature database that is encrypted. Pretty neat idea, I think.

I have a simple system - all my passwords are equal.

 

[Tempest]

My problems at work- passwords change ALWAYS. But I do not have ' system administrator ' privileges to install. I guess Perfect Keyboard is for home use? Right?

 

[ChemEng]

I have a simple system

I created an excel spreadsheet that creates randomized passwords that are 10 digits long including 2 upper case characters, 2 lower case characters, 2 numbers, 2 special characters, and 2 random character cases.

To use it, just hit the "New Password" button to create random passwords until you get to one that you want. Then click the "Copy It!" button to copy the password to the top place on the list. Just make sure to save the spreadsheet before you close it because you wont be able to remember the passwords!

View attachment 3150

 

[Miss_Piggy]

Charmed855 That is a very poor practice and you should never admit something like that on a public forum. You should have one of the moderators delete that post.

Tempest - Yeah for home use. At my agency one would have needed almost a Presidential approval to have a personal program installed on one's computer.

 

[charmed855]

Charmed855 That is a very poor practice and you should never admit something like that on a public forum. You should have one of the moderators delete that post.

I was just teasing. :toung: (forgot to include the appropriate smilie).

Sorry if I annoyed any hackers out there.

 

[DrFaustus]

I created an excel spreadsheet that creates randomized passwords that are 10 digits long including 2 upper case characters, 2 lower case characters, 2 numbers, 2 special characters, and 2 random character cases.

To use it, just hit the "New Password" button to create random passwords until you get to one that you want. Then click the "Copy It!" button to copy the password to the top place on the list. Just make sure to save the spreadsheet before you close it because you wont be able to remember the passwords!

View attachment 3150

ChemEng,

I am impressed ... Very Nice!

Dan

 

[James48843]

Mike Causey today:


Round Up The Usual Suspects
February 1, 2008 - 2:00am

At a baseball game, scorecards are nice but not essential. But in tracking things like federal pay raises, and improvements -- or cuts -- in benefits, a combination calendar roadmap comes in handy.
For long-suffering career feds, February is 'Bring In The Usual Suspects' month. That's because this is the time each year when feds find out what kind of pay raise they should be (but won't be) getting.

Also, January and February are the launching pad months for horrible-but-real-sounding rumors. They are often circulated out of ignorance, or for the purpose of reducing civil servants to quivrieng jellyfish. Happens every year, even though the rumors never come true.

Here's a quickie survival course!

First pay: This is the budget time period when the president proposes an amount for the next white collar federal pay raise. Congress -- since the Clinton administration -- always counters, saying it is not enough. Congress (with the exception of one year) always wins. The final amount often isn't known until December but this being an election year, it could come sooner.

Fringe Benefits: This is also the time when politicians dust off ideas on ways to save money. Changes in the federal retirement programs are always on the list. But, like the annual proposal to eliminate the tax deduction for home mortgages, the retirement system isn't touched.
And that's it.

We'll be dealing with those issues -- the size of the pay raise and attacks on the retirement system, plus rumors, but remember, this is 'Bring In The Usual Suspects' month.

TSP Trading Limits

Most 401k plans have limits on the number of trades participants can make in a given period. In the federal 401k plan, about 3,000 investors are considered to be frequent (as in hard-core) traders. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board says the costs of handling their trades will drive up the administrative fees for the other 2.9 million TSP account holders.

So . . .

Beginning next year (probably around April) the TSP plans to limit electronic trades to two per month. Any trades over that amount must be done by mail. Although small (but growing) in numbers, many of the frequent traders are making a lot of noise. They dispute the cost numbers put out by the TSP, and they don't like what they see as the Nanny State interfering with their right to make more (or lose more) money by moving from fund-to-fund.
On the other hand, many investors want to see the frequent-traders reigned in.

Whichever side you are on, you can comment on the proposed new rules. For information on the situation, click here.

 

[James48843]

Roth IRA Transfers Soon a TSP Option
January 30, 2008 - 12:42pm

TSP's Roth Transfers

The latest on your TSP.

Download mp3 http://federalnewsradio.com/emedia/105830.mp3


By Dorothy Ramienski
FederalNewsRadio

There are changes coming to the Thrift Savings Plan.

On Monday's Daily Debrief, Penny Moran, Director of Participant Services at the TSP, told Amy Morris about the new Roth IRA option.


"Currently, participants who are eligible, to withdrawal their TSP accounts as an age-based in-service withdrawal or a post-separation withdrawal, can transfer their funds to a traditional IRA or another eligible employer plan, like another 401k. . . . Within the next few weeks, we're going to be adding a third option, or third destination, if you will, and that is to a Roth IRA."
The difference, Moran notes, is that, unlike a transfer to a traditional IRA or other eligible employer plan, Roth IRA's have strict restrictions regarding who can transfer money into the accounts. There are also immediate tax consequences.


"For those folks who are thinking about Roth IRA transfers, we are strongly, strongly encouraging them to talk to a tax advisor to look at the benefits and make sure that they understand the eligibility requirements and the tax consequences before they request the transfer."
But why transfer TSP funds into a Roth IRA in the first place?


"Roth IRA's do provide the advantage of tax-free growth on, essentially, after-tax dollars. So that may help folks with their tax situations in the future, but it's a very individual kind of a situation and they need to understand where they think they're going to be in terms of their tax situation down the line."

Moran says not everyone is eligible to do this, however.

"You're not eligible for a Roth transfer if either one of the following conditions apply: your modified adjusted gross income is over $100,000 or you're married and file a separate return."

Even if a federal employee is eligible, there are some constraints.

"If you transfer that money, you're going to have to pay the taxes on that money either way. For example, if you transfer your money from the TSP to a Roth IRA this year, when you file your tax return in 2009, you're going to have to pay the taxes on the amount of money that you transferred to that Roth IRA. It's very similar to taking a traditional IRA and converting it to a Roth IRA."

Moran says no one at the TSP wants to encourage or discourage this type of transfer. Her job, she notes, is to simply make sure that TSP participants know this is an option.

"For some folks, it might be a really good idea. We just want to make sure that they have it right before they do it. . . . If you pay the taxes on it now, and, in the future, you're in a higher tax category, then you basically have tax-free growth on all of that money as long as you leave it in the Roth IRA for five years."

The bottom line: talk to your tax advisor or financial planner. He or she can give you the best options and let you know what's right for your situation.

The TSP will have some FAQ on their website about this new transfer program, but, Moran says, please remember that the TSP does not give tax advice to participants.

The change is expected to come in mid-February. Stay tuned to FederalNewsRadio AM 1050 for continuing updates.

(Copyright 2008 by FederalNewsRadio. All Rights Reserved.)

Source: http://federalnewsradio.com/?sid=1335853&nid=169

 

[DrFaustus]

Mike Causey today:


Round Up The Usual Suspects

Beginning next year (probably around April) the TSP plans to limit electronic trades to two per month. ...

Does he really mean April of next year (2009)? I thought the restriction was to go in place in April of this year (2008).

Dan

 

[James48843]

Again- it is time to begin to prepare.

We need to find a Postal Employee in Birmingham Alabama, who has a family member who wants to make some money.

The TSP address for mail in transfers is in Birmingham. We need someone who is close to the post office there, who will take OUR e-mail information, and sit down and fill in some ovals, put our requests in envelopes, and then drop them off at the post office in the morning. That will eliminate a couple of days in the transfer time. And we can pay them a small for the work- (lets see- what is it worth to you, Mr. or Mrs. Birmingham Alabama resident?) to do it for us.

Now is the time to get this person identified and ready to do the work- it COULD become a nice little second income for someone who lives in Birmingham-

If you are a member of National Mail Handler's Postal Union in Birmingham http://npmhu317.rocket-city.us/
or the American Postal Workers Union in Birmingham, http://www.angelfire.com/al2/balocal303/


please let me know- I need to talk to you and set you, your wife( or husband, or cousin Jimmy, etc) up.


Any takers? PM Me.