RETIRED never in stock fund Just meager G fund Should i Put tsp balance in C fund?

[olefoggie]

Yeah retired last year , interest low but always avoided stock funds , real risk averse guy.
Now I have postal bud whose really done well w/ c fund whole career his balance is big .He just made $ 60.000.
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He inherited ton a property I didn't.I don't have big checking account jus house paid off.
I just feel maybe for last 4 years before I have to start w/ require minimum distributions that I could make 10/ per year for 31/2 years?
Were both 4 years from 70.
All he says is interest is low money making environment for stocks.
I feel a fool either way if I just leave in G fund for rest of time 2.06. If I throw whole amount in C fund may make 10-20% even 55 a years better than 2.06 % . That's my quandary. I just wonder how much of you invester t.sp. 'ers are like me or ya think C fund and ya also made lotta money in that fund?
Id appreciate any comments suggestions please
thank you very much :suspicious:

 

[Cactus]

Well, if you never invested outside of the G Fund be forewarned that you could lose a lot of money. That's what happened to me. It ain't easy and we tend to be our own worst enemy letting our emotions get in the way.

My story is I was 100% G Fund throughout the 90s. Folks at work kept saying I needed to be invested in stocks to make money. I was scared so I kept stalling. I waited until the Y2K thing blew over in 2000, remember that? I finally took the plunge into the C Fund (No S or I Fund yet) that Spring. As you can see from historical data I bought high so it went down from there. I left it in there expecting dollar cost averaging to fix my mistake. I guess that works when you are first starting out and don't have much in there, but I already had 12 years of contributions in there when the Dot Com Bust took a big chunk of it and I never got back to my pre entry value before the 2008 crash took even more from me. I'm part of the so called "Lost Decade" that got nothing in what was supposed to be our prime earning years.

Now I'm here taking more risk than I should in my later years to make up for zero gain in my prime earning years. I'm doing better here at TSPTalk than I ever have before, but as you can see from my sig line, I'm not getting the 10% - 20% year after year you are talking about. People like to talk about the big year they once had but if you look at their 3 or 5 year average it isn't that high and that is what counts.

In my opinion you are at a very dangerous place being already retired. You have a lot to lose and not that much to gain. More importantly, you have no way to add more contributions to your retirement balance like I am doing. If I were you I'd leave it in the G Fund or L income Fund and learn to live on that. Just my 2 cents worth

 

[olefoggie]

Well great advice sorry to hear that and well this rich sucker rode c fund down to 600 in 08 and left it for years not sure 1,2,3, or 4 years he got it all back then let it sit from there and now its at 2400 c fund guys over $400, 000 in it now.Guy inherited 2,3 s.f. houses paid off swimming in money bunch a rentals. Even he tells me its too late now , but then says well if ya want go for yer whole balance which aint that much into the C fund. I well put in like a scaredy cat several times back in late 90's but yanked it back out befor I could tak e any loss.
Its reall rough and ive always been so risk averse so as usual w/ yer comment and my risk averse nature most likely probably 100% wont change to C fund.I know other postal employees while working that also let it ride whole career in c fund never moved it and they say that's wat yer supposed to do. I could never do it so I didn't and there fore my balance aint near what theirs is.Well yeah its jus when you retire it aint easy, taxes , SS, pension, fixed everything else keeps going up. WEll reason so many postal workers never retire I did and well it aint easy.
They take medical out of SS and supplemental required to have. Retirements Rough, think twice about retiring!!!

Well, if you never invested outside of the G Fund be forewarned that you could lose a lot of money. That's what happened to me. It ain't easy and we tend to be our own worst enemy letting our emotions get in the way.

My story is I was 100% G Fund throughout the 90s. Folks at work kept saying I needed to be invested in stocks to make money. I was scared so I kept stalling. I waited until the Y2K thing blew over in 2000, remember that? I finally took the plunge into the C Fund (No S or I Fund yet) that Spring. As you can see from historical data I bought high so it went down from there. I left it in there expecting dollar cost averaging to fix my mistake. I guess that works when you are first starting out and don't have much in there, but I already had 12 years of contributions in there when the Dot Com Bust took a big chunk of it and I never got back to my pre entry value before the 2008 crash took even more from me. I'm part of the so called "Lost Decade" that got nothing in what was supposed to be our prime earning years.

Now I'm here taking more risk than I should in my later years to make up for zero gain in my prime earning years. I'm doing better here at TSPTalk than I ever have before, but as you can see from my sig line, I'm not getting the 10% - 20% year after year you are talking about. People like to talk about the big year they once had but if you look at their 3 or 5 year average it isn't that high and that is what counts.

In my opinion you are at a very dangerous place being already retired. You have a lot to lose and not that much to gain. More importantly, you have no way to add more contributions to your retirement balance like I am doing. If I were you I'd leave it in the G Fund or L income Fund and learn to live on that. Just my 2 cents worth

 

[evilanne]

olefoggie,

If you are really risk adverse, now would not be a good time to get into the stock market with it at all times highs. Suggest you read about the stock markets and learn as much as you can before investing in the stock funds. I made a lot of money during my career mostly in the C Fund (they only had 3 funds to start with). The G Fund is unlikely to keep up with inflation over time. Another option would be for you to start with the L Income fund that has some stock exposure but is primarily in G Fund. It is designed to keep up with inflations but there is also a possibility to lose money in the fund. Another option is to wait for a market correction and then put whatever percentage you are willing to risk in the C Fund. Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[James48843]

If you are risk adverse, do NOT out everything in C fund.

Instead, I would encourage you to consider putting it in "L-income " fund, which is a blend designed for folks like you- It contains mostly G find, with a small amount of stocks and bonds to fortify your retirement income stream, while preserving a lot of capital.

In the end, WE can't make the decision for you- only YOU can do that. Learn, and make the choices that YOU are comfortable with.

Best of luck!


Sent from my iPhone using TSP Talk Forums

 

[uscfanhawaii]

One thing to consider....you will probably be in retirement for a lot of years. Maybe 30. That's a long time, and G will not get you through it. G will continue to lose to inflation over those years.

L Income is a good idea. And if you can tolerate a little more risk, go to one of the outlying L Funds. L2020, L2030, L2050. The higher the targeted year, the higher return (but also higher risk/volatility).

And of course, you don't have to do it all at once. You have 2 IFTs per month. You can split it up and just transfer a little at a time. this is especially important if you DO go to all C. It will reduce your risk of putting all your Funds in C, only to see the market drop on you. If you are going in to C a little at a time, it doesn't matter near as much whether the market is going up or down. It will average out.

Good Luck. Let us know what you decide.