So I made my 2nd IFT....

[Nate]

Well, last few days spent getting the wife somewhat interested in learning. Looked at ING Direct as they are advertising a no account minimum or inactivity fees. Not sure about their trading fee's though, but may be something to drop $50 into & see how things work.
My local Barnes & Noble has a copy of Truth about Money. Probaby head about to pick something up. Unsure if this one would be better than Lies about money.
Other thing is, looked at individuals on the autotracker some more. Being a noob to all this, I have to ask out of ignorance.....Ive been given advice of considering just possibly following a random individual on the tracker. Follow his moves for perspective, or financially mock his moves.
- If say Intrepid Trader or AviatorGuy are in the top 5, with +20% returns.....why is everyone not mocking their moves to place 100% of IFT allocations (or is it contributions?) from say, the S fund on the first week, then move to the C fund on the 4th week?
This, versus Bogies maneuvers & recommendations of percentages broken down between 3 indivdiual funds......and sitting at 159th position?
Im not trying to throw anybody under the bus.....its an honest (and not smarta$$) question.
I decided on Saturday to change my contributions from 100% I fund, to Bogies "Yummy market crash" numbers of 40% C, 30% S, 30% I. Its most likely a temorary move, maybe not the best for the market, but has to be an improvement over contributions 100% I fund since 11/2009.
My TSP balance is still sitting in the G fund until I decided where to place it. Being new to all this, trying to follow posts here have been confusing as I didnt even remember until day 3 of posting here that I have 2 different maneuvers in the TSP, allocations & contrbutions.:embarrest:
Hey, I never claimed to be the sharpect tack :laugh:
I could probably speculate the answer myself. I'd just like to verify my thinking is correct. Since this may be treading dangerous waters, anyone may feel free to PM me their reply.

 

[Birchtree]

When it comes to investing you'll find that everyone has an opinion - some have more than one like armpits. ING now owns Sharebuilder and their costs are around $4 per trade. I know several people using it and are satisfied. Rather than buying a book you might consider taking a subscription to Barrons. It comes once a week so you don't get inundated with data. Just think about how many shares of the C fund you could have bought when it was at $8 vs $14.26. The same would be true of the I fund. In March '09 the I fund was selling at $10.29. The point is it will take time to accumulate shares and now that prices are rising it will take even longer to build a serious position. So you have plenty of time to build your TSP. I'm so fortunate that I'm not starting new because this bull market is going to be my salvation. My redemption is years of earned experience and now that I'm retired all the taps are wide open and the dollars are flowing. The Nasdaq 100 index (NDX) is printing higher highs and that can be an indicator that this recovery rally has many more years to run. Snort.

 

[Nate]

Well I considered your suggestion, and headed off for a simple start at browing through Barnes & noble. Ive got my wife interested in learning, and bluntly, both of us really are not familiar with economics, much less investing. We hit the both isles. Economics has a few good books, including the "for dummies". We decided to only buy 1 book, and went to the investing isle searching for something basic, bang for buck. Decided on a book called "All about stocks" (3rd ed) by Esme' Faerber. Very basic, explaining different types & styles, but concentrating on stock investing.
"The Truth about Money" kinda headed off into financial planning more than I wanted at the moment...myself (& wife) are more interested in learning "why", uncle sam's decisions affect "what" & "how", so that we may be able to benefit & make correct financial decisions the way some of you do.
For now, were reading the book, and Im watching closely at everyones "account talk" posts.
I've learned quite a bit over the last week, thanks for everyones help here, and eager to learn more. Been paying attention to Fox Business...and trying to understand this foreign language they speak :laugh:.
Most of my family & friends pay 99% less attention to politics, the economy and investments than myself.....at 35, im behind the curve.....but better late than never.

 

[Nate]

I dont mean to beat a dead post, but Ive had an ongoing confusion with the general TSP lingo used here.
If i understand it correct: my contribution allocation (aka allocation) tracked by the autotracker is my monthly contribution into the TSP fund.
I dont know what term is for what TSP referrs to as my account distribution. I'd assume its distribution.
I ask, because i've gotten alot of recommendations regarding allocations. Do most of you here divide up your "distribution" similar to your allocations? -Or quite differently?

For the record, the education im getting here is passed along to a friend also....a fellow soldier I've known since Basic. Shes had her funds sitting in G for the last 1-1/2 year. Were both looking into some seriously needed TSP classess offered by the Army.

 

[Steel_Magnolia]

I dont mean to beat a dead post, but Ive had an ongoing confusion with the general TSP lingo used here.
If i understand it correct: my contribution allocation (aka allocation) tracked by the autotracker is my monthly contribution into the TSP fund.
I dont know what term is for what TSP referrs to as my account distribution. I'd assume its distribution.
I ask, because i've gotten alot of recommendations regarding allocations. Do most of you here divide up your "distribution" similar to your allocations? -Or quite differently?

For the record, the education im getting here is passed along to a friend also....a fellow soldier I've known since Basic. Shes had her funds sitting in G for the last 1-1/2 year. Were both looking into some seriously needed TSP classess offered by the Army.

We don't talk about our monthly contributions into our accounts much and if we do they are usually referred to as "monthly contribution." What the autotracker tracks is the amount of the total TSP account (contribution and any interest earned) that is placed into each Fund (G, F, C, S and I Funds), which may be what you meant by "distribution."

Keep asking, we'll keep trying to help. If you have a question about something, someone else probably wants to know the answer too.

Maggie

 

[Nate]

Thanks for the quick reply & helping me not feel stupid lol.
To clarify.....like described, the autotracker lists what individual funds im contributing to monthly, as well as the percentages gained/lost.
IE: Im currently putting $X this month into 40% C fund, 30% C fund, and 30% I fund, and made X% YTD & monthly.
But, I have a balance in my TSP of $X sitting in the G fund. I guess this is where im getting confused. A screenshot may better explain.

Should the autotracker reflect the G fund, even though my monthly TSP deposits dont go into the G fund?

 

[nasa1974]

We don't talk about our monthly contributions into our accounts much and if we do they are usually referred to as "monthly contribution." What the autotracker tracks is the amount of the total TSP account (contribution and any interest earned) that is placed into each Fund (G, F, C, S and I Funds), which may be what you meant by "distribution."

Keep asking, we'll keep trying to help. If you have a question about something, someone else probably wants to know the answer too.

Maggie

Maggie is right. The tracker does not reflect your monthly contribution to your account. The tracker is just a teaching tool. It may or may not track your real TSP account, that is up to you. For most of us we use the tracker to show how we change the % in the different funds we are in. As an example my tracker position (165) shows that I am 40%, 30% & 30% in the C, S & I funds. That does reflect the % that I have in my real account. At the beginning of the year we all start with $100,000.00 in the tracker. That way it keeps us all on the same playing field for comparision purposes. Make sense? Keep asking questions.

 

[Nate]

So if the tracker should reflect how we change the % of different funds we are in, I am actually able to change two different % of funds per the table below. When I registered with Tom for the tracker, my "initial" allocation is currently 40% C, 30% S, 30% I

Yet, the percentages of my "account distribution " of 2.34% C, 1.75% I, 1.76% S, and 94.15% G have monthly % gains, can be changed as well, but are not part of the autotracker?

Im only mentioning this as when Boghie gave me some ideas, he stated:
"discussion of contributions is radically different from discussion of allocation. You want the market to be cheap when you buy (contributions from your pay check). But, if you want to play with the money already in your account you can fudge your allocation based on where you think the market is going".

If I choose to follow someone on the autotracker, I assume Im following their contributions, but I dont know what their allocations may be...?...


Wait a minute Nasa....youre saying the autotracker doesnt reflect the % of what in your real account? Are you telling me these are make-believe numbers just to win a coffee mug? :laugh:

 

[Boghie]

Nate,

Contributions - This is the NEW money you are placing in your account every month. My current contribution of NEW money is split this way: 40% C, 30% S, 30% I. At my age (mid-40's) and at my risk tolerance (something less than BirchTree but higher than Amoeba) I like to use my new money to buy stock. Maybe when the stock funds (C/S/I) become overly expensive I'll buy F. But, I don't think so.

Thus, my paycheck contributions are split like this:

Allocation - This is the breakdown of assets ALREADY in your TSP account. My current allocation is: 10% F, 40% C, 10% S, 40% I. It is an odd allocation for me. I generally try to keep to something closer to the three allocations I noted previously. However, like Birch, I think that the weak dollar will positively affect the I Fund. And, the S Fund had a bigger chance to swing radically. I may accept risk, but I don't love it.

And, my overall account allocation (tracked on the AutoTracker) is split like this:

We use the AutoTracker to track allocation. Why? Because generally you will have much more money in your account than what you are putting into it with your paycheck. The allocation affects earnings much more than your contribution. But, as BirchTree stated, buying the C Fund at $7 with your contributions was sure tasty...

By the way, you found two of the folks who are quite good at swing trades. Just not my style. And, by the way, I'm not used to being mid-pack

 

[Boghie]

Nate,

I can make this real clear now that I have reread your last post.

1. The "account distribution" of 2.34% C, 1.75% I, 1.76% S, and 94.15% G is what is normally called ALLOCATION.
2. Your CONTRIBUTION is 40% C, 30% S, 30% I.

So, you kinda got the AutoTracker reversed...

But, you gained postion in our little competition because of your mistake. I'm going to have to report this grevious error. You might knock me out of my #128 position - yuk, yuk.

At your age - and with the amount you probably have in your account - I would recommend having nothing in the G Fund. It is completely wiping out your gains. The 'G Fund' is gaining (guaranteed) 0.01% per day. That is fine if you are a Kennedy and have lots of money in the account, but you probably have very little. Use the 'G Fund' as a cash holding till you figure out what to do with your allocation.

Finally, I would recommend reviewing how lots of folks trade and not be too concerned with current AutoTracker position. That can change rapidly. And, one style may be good this year and rather lousy next.

Finally, finally (yuk, yuk), I recommended Edelman's books BECAUSE they are financial planning books. With TSP you aren't trying to win with 'The Big Short', you are trying to win with a long run plan. You don't game with retirement money. You invest with retirement money.

 

[Nate]

Ok got it finally! So......I just enrolled with autotracker a few days ago, and I now believe my initial allocation provided to Tom is incorrect. Not so important. -But, when looking over some numbers you've suggested, I needed to fully understand "what" money should go where.
Thanks a million Boghie for all your help!

 

[Boghie]

When you get a bit more used to the lingo start taking a peak at the blogs.

They are more in depth and can be very technical – pun intended. If you don’t get my cr@py joke, a technical trading style is very dependent on market momentum and charting. I think the swingers fall into that camp. Others take the ‘fundamental’ approach – that is, they use earnings and pricing to make their choices. Finally, others will allocate using long term analysis and kinda let it ride –reallocating when the percentages get out of whack or when their situation changes.

Then you got me.
I ain’t got a plan nor a style.
Maybe a momentum influenced allocator.
But, I know a good beer when I drink one – that’s something.

Don’t let this stuff overwhelm you…
Have some fun with it…
Happy Hunting…

 

[Nate]

Nate,

At your age - and with the amount you probably have in your account - I would recommend having nothing in the G Fund. It is completely wiping out your gains. The 'G Fund' is gaining (guaranteed) 0.01% per day. Use the 'G Fund' as a cash holding till you figure out what to do with your allocation. With TSP you aren't trying to win with 'The Big Short', you are trying to win with a long run plan. You don't game with retirement money. You invest with retirement money.

Yeah, this is why I needed to clarify what was what. I pulled out premature and seeing the error of my ways now. I had a feeling & just wanted to get in at a lower-low. Not so much worried about that anymore.

That is fine if you are a Kennedy and have lots of money in the account.

I would never be a Kennedy!
- A DuPont maybe.

 

[KevinD]

'The Big Short',

Another sample to the Kindle. 2 in one morning. :nuts: Thanks for the link.

 

[Nate]

RE: IFT's, I thought I read that a move to the G fund does not count regarding your 2 monthly IFT's. Is this true?

 

[Boghie]

Nate,

Your FIRST two (2) IFTs are the ones that count. It does not matter how you reallocate.

After your first two IFTs in a month you can only move assets into the 'G Fund'. Actually, you can use Squalebears '<1%' IFT reallocations to move back into equities (this technique is expained in a sticky thread on this site).

If you are planning on swinging or trading in TSP those two IFTs are the most valuable things you own...

RE: IFT's, I thought I read that a move to the G fund does not count regarding your 2 monthly IFT's. Is this true?

 

[burrocrat]

if on dec. 01 you move a little bit to G then that is one. if on dec. 02 you move some more to G because your fears were confirmed then that is two. and you're done. limited to G for the rest of the month. unless you left something in another fund(s), then you can do the 1% moves back from the lily pad.

it works and they'll let you do it, i tried it once for about two weeks, but i felt like a late commuter running to catch a train that wasn't going to stop anyway, yes you might catch a small bit of the coming wave, but if you are all out and now want to be in it only makes a small difference. that is the name of the game here though, small differences add up over time.

 

[Nate]

yeah I just called TSP to chat with them....and express my disgust for 2 per month. The guy was helpful and sympathetic, but informed me all that could be done is to write the tsp board regarding my disliking the limited IFT's. Thanks for the replies!

 

[Birchtree]

Nate,

Save your energy. You can always open a Roth IRA and probably should while you're young. That should be your trading vehicle while TSP is an accumulation vehicle - a fiduciary account.

 

[JimmyJoe]

Blaa blaa blaa. TSP = cottage industry that became a burrorcracy(sp). They all need to take drug tests.