nguyensv's Account talk

[nguyensv]

Just joined the MB!
Hello Everyone!
Just got the autotracker started as I am a new employee with the Government.

100% G Fund.

 

[SWAVET]

Since you are still young part all your money in the L2040 or L2050 (in Jan) while you learn. You will tell a big different than G.

Co gan lam giau!

 

[2moryrs]

I agree with SWAVET. Park your money in 2040 or 2050 (in Jan 2011) and you will build a nice balance while you read the posts here and learn. There is some great advice here.

csh

 

[JTH]

I disagree, the L-Funds are for those who have no desire to manage their money. Clearly, by you being here you have a desire to do better than the L-Funds. There's nothing wrong with leaving your cash in the G-Fund while you figure out what works for you. You'll also notice that very few (if any) folks on the tracker use the L-Funds.

 

[nasa1974]

nguyensv,

I agree with JTH. If you want to manage your money then the L funds are not the place to place you dollar. However, if you want your start up funds to be safe while you are learning the system then the G fund is a safe place to earn about 3% a year. But if you are willing to take a small risk then the L funds could be the funds to be in, while learning what is right for you. According to the tracker the L2040 has earned 12.73% YTD, L2030 11.47% YTD. That looks a lot more attractive than the 2.74% YTD for the G fund. It's just that the G fund has no risk.

The biggest thing you have to remember is that if you want to manage your money right out of the box you ONLY have 2 IFT's per month. That means you can only move your money into or out of any of the funds twice, then the only move you would have is into the G fund.

Good luck.

 

[FAB1]

Just joined the MB!
Hello Everyone!
Just got the autotracker started as I am a new employee with the Government.

100% G Fund.

Are you making FULL contributions to TSP to get all your matching funds?
Unless you are in otherwise pressing circumstances where you need the take home pay I would get all the matching so you can begin to accumulate more shares. Upon entering federal service I was unwise and only did Agency automatic and that hurt me much over time.

So contribute enough to get all the government matching at least. The more money in your TSP the more you can make investing it in the funds.

You might also consider one of the "pay services" available on the MB to help guide your investing - good luck!

 

[nguyensv]

Are you making FULL contributions to TSP to get all your matching funds?
Unless you are in otherwise pressing circumstances where you need the take home pay I would get all the matching so you can begin to accumulate more shares. Upon entering federal service I was unwise and only did Agency automatic and that hurt me much over time.

So contribute enough to get all the government matching at least. The more money in your TSP the more you can make investing it in the funds.

You might also consider one of the "pay services" available on the MB to help guide your investing - good luck!

I am contributing 10% of my paycheck to tsp + %5 of government.

 

[FAB1]

Thats really good. I cant put that much aside.

For the civilian WF we all get 1% agency automatic, then the gov matches up to 4% of our pay we contribute. Thats how you get 5%. I envy those who can put money in up to the cap...what? its around $15,000 - but theres bills to be paid!

 

[travelingman]

The max that you can contribute to TSP (2010) is 16,500. If you can increase it one or even two % per year, before you know it, your there. Remember, what is taken out in TSP $, is slightly compensated by less fed tax $ taken out each pay day. I remember back in the day.., 50.00 per pay (5%), was about what I was doing. Years later, I am up to or near the max for the year. Make it your New Years resolution/ goal 1% per year. Good luck and may the investing force be with you....

 

[Birchtree]

Someone over 50 gets an extra $5,500 for catch up to equal $22K. That's one benefit of age.

 

[SWAVET]

I agree with travelingman to increase 1% - 2% per year, but I will not recommend for the next two more years with pay freeze since the impact of other increase such as health insurance, etc. The best way to increase is on the same payperiod you have step increase or promotion as you can look forward within the next six months and you still see an increase on your paycheck too.

 

[nguyensv]

Someone over 50 gets an extra $5,500 for catch up to equal $22K. That's one benefit of age.

bah... i just turned 24:cheesy:

 

[alevin]

other thing to do is look forward at major necessary expenses coming up that need to be planned for-be it downpayment on home, vehicle needs replacing, whatever, work those into the budget annually-calculate what needs to be part of your takehome to save for those future big expenses within the next year or 2 or 5. If you can accommodate those needs and bump the tsp, you're doing great!!!!

And take a look at some of the discussions here about Roth accounts too. taxfree earnings from posttax $ could really add up if you start early. some here say, do the 5% match to tsp first, then do the Roth as you're able, and once you hit the max there, then go back and add to tsp.

I started following that strategy the past couple years, finally able to do all of the above now the house is paid off and new roof on. but I'm over 50 and just starting the 50+ catchups this coming year. It takes time. and forethought and planning.

 

[2moryrs]

Great thoughts from great thinkers (which i am not). My reasoning for parking in an L fund was to get some eddication before jumping into the equities funds. In hind sight, if you park in the G fund, you will be buying more shares for the pot. Then when the market dips, you can buy equities when they are down. "Buy low, sell high". (buying more shares just got through to my grey matter this week.) But, i am retired and much more conservative as i no longer have a salary to increase my TSP, just the growth of previous investments. By the way, the growth has been good with learning from the great thinkers here on this board. One thing i learned here, when you increase your contributions to the TSP, you actually have more take home pay as the contributions are pretax $.

csh

 

[nguyensv]

Great thoughts from great thinkers (which i am not). My reasoning for parking in an L fund was to get some eddication before jumping into the equities funds. In hind sight, if you park in the G fund, you will be buying more shares for the pot. Then when the market dips, you can buy equities when they are down. "Buy low, sell high". (buying more shares just got through to my grey matter this week.) But, i am retired and much more conservative as i no longer have a salary to increase my TSP, just the growth of previous investments. By the way, the growth has been good with learning from the great thinkers here on this board. One thing i learned here, when you increase your contributions to the TSP, you actually have more take home pay as the contributions are pretax $.

csh

definitely agree.
a lot of veterans in this field with great experience.
I'm looking at the L2050 funds that will be available Jan 28. Starting shares are at $10. But I think I should look at the dispersement of the funds...

question: if the higher dispersement of the L fund does bad does that mean i would be buying shares of that fund at a lower cost?

question 2. how do you determine the share price of a stock of each fund?

 

[2moryrs]

question: if the higher dispersement of the L fund does bad does that mean i would be buying shares of that fund at a lower cost?

Yes, if the $10.00 share price goes down, you be buying more shares with your $$ invested.

I don't have the answer to your second question but I can guarantee that someone else does!

csh

 

[Birchtree]

Question #2. The answer is a composite of all the shares that make up any particular index - as they trade in price up and down. The C fund tracks the S&P 500 and as those 500 individual stocks change in value so does the C fund. The same is true for the I fund. I forget how many stocks there are in the I fund - maybe 300 or so, but they are primarily large cap stocks.

 

[alevin]

And Birch, those 300 large caps are mainly in developed countries, Euro- and Japan-centric. something I didn't understand for a really long time myself.

 

[Birchtree]

And they are all exporting into the BRIC countries as well as the emerging growth countries. Acting as a proxy for the emerging growth risk. I'm staying large caps all the way for 2011.

 

[nguyensv]

what does the y axis stand for on the graphs at the bottom?