Share Your TSP Balance and Your Age Thread

[RazorCat]

I am 32 and have been contributing to TSP for almost 5 years now. My balance is about 90k, and always looking for information to help for fund selections and timing.

Max out your contributions to the extent possible each year. At your age, and with a commendable TSP balance, you have the advantage of compound interest working in your favor for literally decades to come. I’m sure other have compounding calculators that they use to project future balances, but this is one I use. https://financial-calculators.com/compound-interest-calculator
You might also want to set up an account in the TSP Autotracker. A valuable tool for keeping up with percentages throughout the year.
Good look young man.

 

[Anthony.l]

Thanks for the insightful information BR James and Razor Cat. Seems the most common factor when asking for advice is to max (as much as possible) contributions as early as possible. Glad I have learned this pretty early in my career.

 

[nnuut]

I wish I had done that!!

 

[Cactus]

I wish I had done that!!

Don't be too hard on yourself, nnuut. If you remember, we weren't allowed to do that when we were younger. The max we were allowed to contribute was 10% back then. That's always irked me because I could have contributed a lot more early on before getting married. By the time they changed that to the IRS limit I was married and had too many obligations in place. I had to wait for step increases and COLA increases to bump mine up to the limit. It's a lot harder to do it that way.

 

[alexreb]

Don't be too hard on yourself, nnuut. If you remember, we weren't allowed to do that when we were younger. The max we were allowed to contribute was 10% back then. That's always irked me because I could have contributed a lot more early on before getting married. By the time they changed that to the IRS limit I was married and had too many obligations in place. I had to wait for step increases and COLA increases to bump mine up to the limit. It's a lot harder to do it that way.

You also had a wait period before you could start investing in TSP. I was hired in Oct 1991 but couldn’t begin investing until July 1992, 9 months later. That’s almost an entire year of not being able to invest .

 

[Cactus]

You also had a wait period before you could start investing in TSP. I was hired in Oct 1991 but couldn’t begin investing until July 1992, 9 months later. That’s almost an entire year of not being able to invest .

That is a real problem with most 401K plans. If there is any kind of required waiting period most people get used to the extra money and it hurts to start contributing. The government did the right thing when they changed it so new employees are automatically started off in the TSP unless they elect not to. A lot of new employees don't even know they have money going in there, so it doesn't hurt. Never had it, so they don't miss it.

 

[mbrogz3000]

If you haven't already, your age now is the best time to max out your contributions to $18500 (or just set the bi-weekly contribution to $711). If you still don't have any hard 'home' requirements like a mortgage or child yet, I would go as far as recommending a lifestyle change to do whatever it is you need to do to save that $18500 per year, regardless of whether its affordable. Make the lifestyle affordable.

I'm 38 and retirement wise, I can say that it doesn't really matter whether I work my way up in Government-work any further. Doesn't matter. In my case I'm at a point where I need to decide whether it makes sense to continue donating $18500 or just the minimum of 5% into the TSP since I can't touch it for other investments for another 20ish years. Its a pretty strange mindset to be in.

Save as much as possible, and also conserve a significant portion of brain power for investing or for something else you love on the side that can generate income!

 

[MrBill]

You figured it out, mbrogz3000. You’ve reached the point that managing your TSP is more beneficial than working to increase your high 3 (maybe soon to be high 5).


I just retired this year at age 56 and my EBIS estimates have been telling me that it has been costing me money to go to work every year since age 51. It’s been hard to stay motivated the last 5 years knowing that. Several co-workers I left behind that have not reached their MRA have come to the same conclusion and have the same motivational struggles I had. Now I just try to remember what day of the week it is.

I reduced my TSP to 5% the last 7 years I worked. Doing more didn’t really affect the TSP total when I retired. Instead, I bought a new car for the wife and a truck for me. I have been driving beaters to work for 34 years so I could contribute more into TSP when I was younger. It’s nice having a new vehicle. The money I put in back in 1987 is doing a lot more for me now than what I contributed in my last pay check. I have found TSPTalk helpful in managing my TSP account. I have been a member of one of the Premium services for a few years and have benefited from the additional insight it provides.


It is not a strange mindset to be in. It eventually becomes reality.

 

[superdave]

Hey super Dave- please be sure to let me know when you decide to bail out of stocks. I got trashed in the crash of 87; the pullback of 91, the dot.com bubble of 2000, and got shellacked in the crash of 2008-2009.

So if you got any idea of a good time to move to safety, I’m all ears!!!


Sent from my iPhone using TSP Talk Forums

I don't claim to be an expert, but sure. I used to have a much better feel than I do now. What has driven the market for ages is not moving it like it used to. I feel like we are getting dangerously close to a correction, but this is the time of year that stocks generally ramp up. I'm really going to look closely in March 2019 or so.

 

[superdave]

I am 32 and have been contributing to TSP for almost 5 years now. My balance is about 90k, and always looking for information to help for fund selections and timing.

I don't know what percentage you are contributing, so this may not be helpful. There is a lot of talk here of maxing out at the $18k allowed. Everybody can't do that. You really need to at least be doing the 5% that is matched, or you are leaving money on the table. If you start with that, and as you get pay increases, increase contribution 1% or so a year until you get to 10%, you'll never miss the money. I'm 54 now and I have pretty much always done the 5%. I'd be so much better off if I had increased it in my early years gradually up to 10%. It really wouldn't be a lot of help to do now for me. The bulk of your TSP balance at retirement will be the result of what you contribute the first half of your career and the compounded earnings from that.

I've been in 29 years and contributing 5% and my balance is $704k. If I had been doing 10%, that would have been right at a million.

 

[chadbixby]

This is such a good thread! Any updates out there?

Me:

Current Age: 44
Current TSP Balance: $405,000
Years of Service: 26
Planned Retirement Age: 58 (Hopefully)
TSP Strategy: (C-70%, S-20%, I-10%)
Contribution: Max ($19,500 annually)
Grade - GS14
Planned TSP Balance at Retirement: $1.4M

(always open to any tips/advice to make my portfolio better!)

I notice that a lot of you are 100% in the C fund. Is that recommended?

 

[chadbixby]

I lied... I forgot I changed my TSP Strategy and cannot figure out how to edit my post anymore.

Here is the current distribution:

TSP Strategy: (C-55%, S-40%, I-5%)

Let me know if anyone thinks I should make any adjustments.

 

[Mikeyjo]

Mine are at
C-34%, S-33%, I-33%

Like you also wondering if that's a good choice considering events in China

 

[chadbixby]

Exactly!

 

[James48843]

Mine are at
C-34%, S-33%, I-33%

Like you also wondering if that's a good choice considering events in China

Just understand that at the current time, the "I" fund has a high concentration of funds in Japan- it's the stock index of major industrialized nations, and does NOT include any developing markets +(like China, India, Pakistan, etc). It is mostly Japan, along with major European nations. If you are ok with that- that's fine. Japan has underperformed for the last 25 years.

 

[chadbixby]

Just understand that at the current time, the "I" fund has a high concentration of funds in Japan- it's the stock index of major industrialized nations, and does NOT include any developing markets +(like China, India, Pakistan, etc). It is mostly Japan, along with major European nations. If you are ok with that- that's fine. Japan has underperformed for the last 25 years.

Would you recommend putting everything in C & S then and not the I? Or is a diverse portfolio still a thing? Thanks!

 

[Bullitt]

I'm 46 and only have around $80,000 in my TSP act . I will work well into my 70s. I'll be aggressive with my investments to try to catch up to where I think I should be.

Be aggressive with what you can control - your savings.

Comparing how much you have saved for retirement compared to others your age is a fruitless endeavor. Everyone's needs and lifestyles are different.

 

[gibsonman]

I look at my TSP as not required for retirement, my pension (topped out GS-15), plus SS, plus VA pension + no debt is plenty...not to mention the wifes stuff

 

[James48843]

Would you recommend putting everything in C & S then and not the I? Or is a diverse portfolio still a thing? Thanks!

I can’t recommend ANY portfolio balance for you- only YOU can decide what you are comfortable with. Big or small, foreign or domestic, stocks or bonds is a decision only you can make.

If you are not comfortable deciding where you want to be, there is nothing wrong with using an age appropriate “L” fund either. Lots of folks have found those to be helpful in their quest to build a long term nest egg.
Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using TSP Talk Forums

 

[bjean]

.81 %. For me not a good year yet, I have been following free market analysis and his predictions only are correct 50% of the time!