TonysSista Account Talk

[TonysSista]

Hope my 1st posting is done correctly. Thanks for the welcome and looking forward to learning more about managing my TSP acct.
So, I get the idea is to sell high and buy low. Does that correlate generally to what I'm seeing today. On Bloomberg the markets are all green compared to yesterday when stocks were reporting losses and all in red. If I moved funds from C/S/I today into G/F would this be considered selling high? With the state of our Nation I've been wanting to move from Stock funds because like everyone else leary of getting caught when the "correction" hits. This will be my first reallocation of TSP funds since retiring 5 yrs ago. I'm thinking of:
70G 20F 10S.

 

[Bullitt]

Don't get too caught up in the daily moves, you'll go nuts. We'll only know what "high" and "low" are in hindsight.

If you retired five years ago, then capital preservation should be your goal, but you don't want to run out of money either. Depending on how much you need to draw down each month/year, your allocation may be too conservative. L Income fund is very hard to beat when it comes to safety + growth if you don't expect to draw down more than 4% a year.

 

[flalaw97]

Welcome to the conversation TonysSista! I agree with Bullit that only 10% in stocks might be too conservative, depending on when you will need your money and how long you need it to last. L income is still pretty conservative but is closer to 20% in stocks: L Income

[FONT=&quot]July 2021[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]

G Fund​

71.23%​

F Fund​

5.78%​

C Fund​

12.07%​

S Fund​

2.87%​

I Fund​

8.05%


​

[/FONT]​

 

[bmneveu]

Welcome! I agree with Bullitt below. Try not to focus too much on if the market is up or down every day. The S&P 500 historically averages ~10% a year, and you can't grab that 10% if you aren't in. We make more money being in stocks, not cash. If the market crashes while you are in, just buy more on discount.

 

[nasa1974]

If the market crashes while you are in, just buy more on discount.

bmneveu, great advice except for those of us that are retired. We can't put any additional money into our accounts.

 

[bmneveu]

bmneveu, great advice except for those of us that are retired. We can't put any additional money into our accounts.

Good catch! Thank you!

 

[TonysSista]

I feel my focus was definitely preserving my TSP acct balance rather than maximizing gains, and thus I stayed with 50% in G fund for the 5 yrs since retirement. This was my conservative investment mode but feel now obviously not a great one because of all I missed out on in this bull market.

 

[TonysSista]

Appreciate all your replies..not sure yet how to respond individually.
..On Friday I did make my 1st reallocation since retiring but it was after 2pm by the time I logged in and had another "gut" check. So it seems I'm a bit more risk tolerant than I'd thought. Just couldn't bring myself to reduce my stock holdings to only 10%. So instead I'm still holding 50% G. I ended up at:
50G 5F 30C 10S I5

Unfortunately I was one of those that took a massive hit in I believe 2008 and 2011 and have since been gun shy going 100% C/S/I. Of course I know I've paid dearly for not jumping back in full force. But when you know better you do better. So now I'm balancing wanting to see better gains along with keeping my balance intact. Although I know I don't have a need to draw from my TSP until I'm forced to, I'm fearful of taking another hit like I did previously, especially since I can't make deposits as said.
Anyway, I think I got the gist of what I should be doing and that includes being actively involved in monitoring market activity and trend analysis discussions. Not sure how often I'll make IFTs, but for sure I don't think I'll just keep sitting and doing nothing like I've these past 5 years. I'm on mission to do better LOL