Tracking TSP Returns

[mayday]

Gee, there is only one n in anal - even phil knows that much.

Leave it to Birch to pick up on that word.

 

[Boghie]

Gee, there is only one n in anal - even phil knows that much.

I'm not real aNal about spelling, though

I think I'm going to sue UCSD.

Phil would tell you that the two 'n' version of anal is spelled annal. That is the way it is spelled, that is the way it should be, and here is a wiki proof of that.

Then, he would hope you don't read his link...

Here is just one example.

 

[burrocrat]

You guys get waaayyy to caught up in details.

I look at it this way-

Did I end up with more $$$$$ at the end of the year, then I had at the beginning?

If yes -> GOOD. I like it that way.
If no -> Ah shucks.


Worked real well until 2008 came along. I am still licking my wounds out of that.

Other than that, everything else is gravy.

View attachment 7789​

I'm with you there James, here's to plenty of gravy for all of us in 2010, if I can beat the 20% each allocation then I'll be happy.

Of course, if you know exactly how much gravy you got, it makes it a lot easier to order the potatoes.

 

[Boghie]

Of course, if you know exactly how much gravy you got, it makes it a lot easier to order the potatoes.

I think Quicken 2010 is a tremendous upgrade.

All that stuff about clicking reports, choosing investment reports, blah, blah, blah...

All you have to do is select your TSP account (I called mine 'Federal TSP 401(k)', then select the 'Performance' button. Viola, you have an annual chart, a 1 year, 3 year, and 5 year IRR, and value verse cost basis.

I am a happy vacationer.

Thanks Burrocrat.

 

[Bullitt]

I tried to track my TSP in Microsoft Money for about a year and half and then stopped. I intended to track my cost basis and actual percent gains. Yes, the percentages were off from what the tsp tracker excel file gave me because the excel doesn't provide for contribution allocations or buy-ins on a portfolio rebalance. I missed one pay period in July or so and when I tried to fix it I just said, "WTF am I spending time adding and subtracting shares for? Am I going to spend 10 minutes on this every pay day for the next 30 years?" I no longer bother with the cost basis.

You can probably get the same advice (or better) from a book on portfolio indexing than what Quicken can tell you weekly. Yeah, it might remind you to rebalance every now and then, but if you take the asset allocation approach, then the day to day moves should no longer matter in your investment outlook. Unfortunately too many on this MB spend their time looking at 15 minute charts and then can only claim that the market is rigged after they realize they are down 15% and the market is up 5%.

I wish you guys luck, not only in developing your system, but more importantly, staying the course.

 

[Boghie]

Bullitt,

I use Quicken mostly for my bank account and loans. However, the investment stuff become real good sometime aroung 2006 or so. That is also around the time I started poking around...

For me, this is not part of a system. I am more wedded to 'Buckets of Money' and Ric Edelman portfolios than market timing. But, I can look at actual numbers. They kinda kick you in the noggin. No more wishful thinking.

In fact, the only transaction(s) I have made this month have been to allocate to a moderate portfolio I picked from 'The Lies About Money'. I flubbed the first one (using a very fallible memory) - so, the next one rejiggered my allocation to what I wanted.

Hopefully, I can bore Tom and the rest of you to tears in 2010

 

[burrocrat]

So I'm doing a little advance work on these tracking spreadsheets. I plan to use all three at first here and see how it goes.

Tsptalk: I was going to enter # of shares (I don't plan on a IFT tomorrow)and then just have to enter tomorrow's closing prices for the baseline. But I notice on this spreadsheet one enters % instead. So I will have to wait until tomorrow's close to get exact percentages of my tsp holdings.

It looks like I will enter those in row 6 (the gray area) under 'Fund Price' correct? Do I also enter 2009 closing % in row 6 too?

Then whenever shares change I just start on row 7 with 'Trans' 1 and fill in both price and current %? The spreadsheet does the rest right?

Column S shows returns of last trade, Column T shows returns YTD, and if I fill in the L-funds data then I can do more comparison at the bottom?

Did I miss anything?

 

[burrocrat]

You can probably get the same advice (or better) from a book on portfolio indexing ...

Got any reccomendations?

 

[burrocrat]

The statistic you are seeking is called an Internal Rate of Return ... Make certain to use the Buy/Sell rather than the Add/Remove to manage contributions and allocation changes.

Yes, those were the droids I was looking for, thanks.

Do I also use the Buy/Sell when starting out in Quicken, or just for subsequent changes?

I don't have it in front of me right now so I can't check, maybe it's self explanatory when setting it up?

 

[burrocrat]

Scout: yours takes %'s too so when I have the closing for tomorrow after the TSP.gov website updates, then I enter data on row 7 right? Stock/Cash values, fund prices, and porfolio value in cell T7?

After that just follow tips tab and enter when contributions or IFT's happens, spreadsheet does the rest?

 

[Bullitt]

The beauty of TSP is that when you make an IFT you input the percent you'd like in each fund. Seeing that TSP has only a few funds, it's very very easy to maintain a balanced portfolio. Most 401K's are made up of 12-20 crummy mutual funds run by a retirement manager. With TSP we can easily maintain a portfolio that many followers of John Bogle lay awake dreaming of, and that being a 30%C, 30% I, 30% F allocation. Set it and forget it- or so they say.

Boghie, I also like Ric Edelman and it's funny how in his earlier work he recommended trying to find a fund that outperforms while recently he's been on an index fund kick. Anyway, he does give very good money/investment advice. In fact, I'm looking at his book, The Truth About Money, on my shelf right now. I'm with you on your thoughts on an indexed portfolio with a smart allocation.

One good thing about figuring the cost average was seeing first hand how well it works once we bounced off the March lows. Bottom line: Saving money and investing it bi-weekly into a managed portfolio of index funds works.

 

[grandma]

....being a 30%C, 30% I, 30% F allocation. Set it and forget it- or so they say.

...30% in F ? What do you do with the other 10%?

 

[Bullitt]

Burrocrat: If you're looking for books on indexing, I would start with The Little Book of Common Sense Investing.

Any book by Larry Swedroe works just as good. Here's another on my shelf.

Coffee House Investor is my personal favorite.

Richard Ferri has written a few good books on indexing. Here's All About Asset Allocation.

Another classic, Intelligent Asset Allocator by William Bernstein.

Read these five books and you'll know more than 95% of your co-workers when it comes to investing.

 

[burrocrat]

Nasa1974: in row 5 4-Jan I entered my # of shares from TSP.gov website and price per share just to see (i'll update prices after the close), after that i just update prices daily, only update shares when they change due to contribution or IFT?

Also put in total porfolio value after the close tomorrow on the daily-weekly-monthly tabs and it does the rest?

The Fund% tab updates automatically it looks like, and i can add Tracker position and % just to see.

Looks like I'm good to go, let's get this party started.

 

[burrocrat]

Burrocrat: If you're looking for books on indexing, I would start with The Little Book of Common Sense Investing.

Any book by Larry Swedroe works just as good. Here's another on my shelf.

Coffee House Investor is my personal favorite.

Richard Ferri has written a few good books on indexing. Here's All About Asset Allocation.

Another classic, Intelligent Asset Allocator by William Bernstein.

Read these five books and you'll know more than 95% of your co-workers when it comes to investing.

Thanks Bullit,

I'll start with Bogle, and if i add in James's book suggestion then I've almost got enough for free shipping already.

Also noted is the advice about staying the course.

 

[Bullitt]

...30% in F ? What do you do with the other 10%?

Speculate. No, no just kidding. I meant for the final 10% to go in the G fund.

Of course, that was a hypothetical portfolio. The rule of thumb is age in bonds, so I'd say 30 F 10 G would be suitable for someone around 40-45 years old.

 

[Scout333]

Scout: yours takes %'s too so when I have the closing for tomorrow after the TSP.gov website updates, then I enter data on row 7 right? Stock/Cash values, fund prices, and porfolio value in cell T7?

After that just follow tips tab and enter when contributions or IFT's happens, spreadsheet does the rest?

Burro, Just put in your fund balances for each fund on line 7 and 12-31-09 share prices as a beginning point for 2010. Fairly self-explanatory. Check the tips tab for helpful hints,quirks, etc. Hope to have the 2010 version out early next week. Good luck!

 

[nasa1974]

Nasa1974: in row 5 4-Jan I entered my # of shares from TSP.gov website and price per share just to see (i'll update prices after the close), after that i just update prices daily, only update shares when they change due to contribution or IFT?
I copy/paste the shares daily unless I change the percentages in each fund. Then I input the current shares.

Also put in total porfolio value after the close tomorrow on the daily-weekly-monthly tabs and it does the rest?
If I remember correctly it is in the top left hand corner.

The Fund% tab updates automatically it looks like, and i can add Tracker position and % just to see.

Looks like I'm good to go, let's get this party started.

I will double check tomorrow at work but I believe you are correct.

 

[nasa1974]

Originally Posted by burrocrat
Nasa1974: in row 5 4-Jan I entered my # of shares from TSP.gov website and price per share just to see (i'll update prices after the close), after that i just update prices daily, only update shares when they change due to contribution or IFT?
I copy/paste the shares daily unless I change the percentages in each fund. Then I input the current shares.
You are correct for updating shares. You will change the shares depending on contributions (every payday) or IFT's made (including any <1% IFT's).
I use the TSP website to verify my shares after making a contribution or an IFT.

Also put in total porfolio value after the close tomorrow on the daily-weekly-monthly tabs and it does the rest?
If I remember correctly it is in the top left hand corner.

The Fund% tab updates automatically it looks like, and i can add Tracker position and % just to see.
Correct. Inside the funds tab everything should be automatic. The tracker feature is just an FYI to see how you are moving up or down the tracker.
If you wanted to you could add extra columns to track how some of your friends are doing also. :laugh:

 

[burrocrat]

I didn't expect TSP.gov to update so soon, thought I'd have to wait until Monday. But I've got all three populated with 2009 ending data and ready to go.

Since they're all the same software it occurs to me that I could enter current values in a new simple spreadsheet and then copy/paste or 'call' the new data into each one instead of typing it each time. I'll have to look into that after we're up and going for a bit. Maybe the 1212 files or decoder wheel may already have that, eliminating typing altother, I haven't look at them closely yet.

Happy new year all.