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prudence

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Hi everyone,

I have my funds divided up in the following ways L2040 -20, C-20, S-30, I-30. I am really concerned about losing more money. I know it might be a little late asking to move the money. do you think I should move some money into the G and F fund during this time.

Thanks:)
 
All I'll say is good luck with what ever you decide because ultimately it's your decision.
 
Prudence,

There are two rules of thumb:

1. Move to safety and lock in your losses. Play another day

2. If you have lost money in the past and you are nowhere near retirement, you may want to ride this wave (deep, deep) and be ready to reap the rewards later.

Good luck, I hope youe feel good with whatever decision you make.
 
It depends on a lot of factors: How long before you can retire? How long have you had this allocation? How much risk aversion do you have? Assuming you are just starting your career, you might want to stay in as you will have a long time to recover from this. On the other hand if you are near retirement you may want to get out with what you have left to try to conserve your nest egg. These losses may take years to recover.
 
prudence said:
Hi everyone,

I have my funds divided up in the following ways L2040 -20, C-20, S-30, I-30. I am really concerned about losing more money. I know it might be a little late asking to move the money. do you think I should move some money into the G and F fund during this time.

Thanks:)
Click to expand...

Hi,
If I were (me?) then I'd watch the market/stock news. You saw how Dr. Greenspan has said that he's sorry for this current mess and that he thought that this is going to take a long time to correct.
I have a nice bundle in this TSP and I lost well over $5k on just the 2nd day. So I went into the G,F funds 60/40 res. and before all settled, I still lost another $3k. To be totally safe of no loss then you need to go 100% G, and just make a few crumbs?
IT'S YOUR MONEY, DO AS YOU PLEASE AND RISK WHAT YOU CAN?
I'm just another 'newbie'!
 
As far back as I can remember I've never been in the G fund - it's simply anathema to my financial health. Accept the pain and ride the thunder for the long term and increase your contributions - you'll never see prices this low again so grab'em while you can - afterall your money is working harder and buying more shares. You need to accumulate before you get serious about IFTs. Simply learn before you churn.
 
prudence said:
Hi everyone,

I have my funds divided up in the following ways L2040 -20, C-20, S-30, I-30. I am really concerned about losing more money. I know it might be a little late asking to move the money. do you think I should move some money into the G and F fund during this time.

Thanks:)
Click to expand...

"Dear Prudence, can you come out to play?" - great Beatle tune.

How often are you willing to review your account? How much time do you want to put in to managing it? We could have hit a bottom here, or there might be a bottom at S&P 500 776 from October 2002. That is another 12% down from here. And it could go below that.
 
Yes.

The stock funds, along with the L funds, are losing value. As long as they are losing value, it makes no sense (to me at least) to be invested in them.
 
Thanks for the welcome.

I think people are confused. They mix two different topics: price and returns. People keep talking about price. Price is lower, therefore you can afford more shares, etc. But price is irrelevant. What is relevant are the returns. Returns are negative. A lower price does not change that.
 
On the long term, for new purchases, price is a BIG factor. G is nice, but frankly if you are not within a few years of retirement, it doesn't exceed inflation.
 
Price makes no difference. 100 shares at $1 each is the same as 1 share at $100. What matters is not the price but the returns.

I never said to stick your money in the G fund and then sit on it for years. What I said is that right now (or rather, starting a few months ago), put your money in the G fund. That's because right now, its returns are higher than those of other funds.

People look at price because they think that the price just "has to" return to what it used to be. In other words, they are making a prediction of a very high return. But the price doesn't have to do anything. Look at what it's actually doing, not at what you think it has to do.
 
prudence said:
Hi everyone,

I have my funds divided up in the following ways L2040 -20, C-20, S-30, I-30. I am really concerned about losing more money. I know it might be a little late asking to move the money. do you think I should move some money into the G and F fund during this time.

Thanks:)
Click to expand...

I'm hoping you're aware that you already have money in the (G) and (F)
and more then 20%(C)30%(S)30%(I). If your not aware of this, I would
gladly explain. If your concerned about losing "any more" money, then that
tells me that your risk tolerance has reached its peek and you should do a
reevaluation of what your willing to lose vs. what you hope to gain. Last
but not least, you have asked other members if they think you should put
some more of your hard earned money into the (G) and (F) funds during
this unsettling time. You'll find many different opinions on this topic and I
caution you to take each and every one of them into consideration and
ultimately form your own opinion based on the available information you'll
find throughout this glorious website. ;)

If you want more information concerning why you have more in your Funds
then you might think, please stop by my thread and give me a shout out. I'd
be more then happy to explain. If the answer is already known, then I hope
that this post helps in some small way. ;)
 
james_smith said:
Price makes no difference. 100 shares at $1 each is the same as 1 share at $100. What matters is not the price but the returns.

I never said to stick your money in the G fund and then sit on it for years. What I said is that right now (or rather, starting a few months ago), put your money in the G fund. That's because right now, its returns are higher than those of other funds.

People look at price because they think that the price just "has to" return to what it used to be. In other words, they are making a prediction of a very high return. But the price doesn't have to do anything. Look at what it's actually doing, not at what you think it has to do.
Click to expand...

Actually, I don't agree with that. Price does make a difference. If you buy 100 shares at $1 each, and in a year the share price is $10 then you just made $900. If you bought the shares at $10 each a year ago and they are now $1 each and you sell them to move to the G fund, you just lost $900. TSP isn't an interest based plan, it is based on the share price and the value of your shares.

No, there is no guarantee that the price will return, but if look at the historical returns on the website you will see that there have been down periods before and it should (hopefully) go up again, so to me it makes sense to leave the money if you have the time to ride the wave back to the top and to buy shares at a lower price. But, I agree, it depends on your comfort level.
 
Harley69 said:
Actually, I don't agree with that. Price does make a difference. If you buy 100 shares at $1 each, and in a year the share price is $10 then you just made $900. If you bought the shares at $10 each a year ago and they are now $1 each and you sell them to move to the G fund, you just lost $900. TSP isn't an interest based plan, it is based on the share price and the value of your shares.

No, there is no guarantee that the price will return, but if look at the historical returns on the website you will see that there have been down periods before and it should (hopefully) go up again, so to me it makes sense to leave the money if you have the time to ride the wave back to the top and to buy shares at a lower price. But, I agree, it depends on your comfort level.
Click to expand...

Well said Harley, I share your opinion as well !
 
prudence said:
Hi everyone,

I have my funds divided up in the following ways L2040 -20, C-20, S-30, I-30. I am really concerned about losing more money. I know it might be a little late asking to move the money. do you think I should move some money into the G and F fund during this time.

Thanks:)
Click to expand...

How much time do you have for retirement?

I have just under 20 years to go. With so much time before I retire isn't this a great opportunity for me to buy as many shares as possible? If I were to get 1,000 (I Fund)shares at this $12.?? rate, won't that equal a nice chunk of change when and/or (IF) the share gets up to say $50 or $60 a share in 2029? Even, if the market gets worst, say shares dip down to $5 or 6 a piece..... that just equals more money in the long run for those who have many years to go. Is this correct?
 
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