Which strategy to employ?

[adcoleman]

Background info: I'm 30 years old with at least 30 years left until retirement. Since I started with the Fed. govt. a year and half ago I have had my entire TSP account in the L 2040 fund.

I plan on increasing my contributions and I am trying to decide between the following options:

1. Continue to put everything in the L 2040.
2. Put 50% in L 2040 and 50% in C/S/I (maybe 40%/40%/20%)
3. Put everything in C/S/I


#1 would obviously be the simplest and easiest to do but...the way I look at it my social security and FERS annuity are basically bonds which need to be taken into account when looking at my overall portfolio allocation. That is why I am leaning toward option #2 or #3. L 2040 is about 20% fixed income currently plus SS & FERS, I just think that is too conservative given the fact that I am 30 yrs. from retirement.

What do you guys think?

 

[Birchtree]

#3 and you should hope the market trends sideways for the next ten years - that would give you a chance to accumulate shares at reasonable pricing. You need shares to make money.

 

[JTH]

For someone just starting out I'd take an aggressive stance with a 5G, 5F, 20C, 35S, 35I allocation, with a re-balance once a quarter.

 

[Frixxxx]

#1 would obviously be the simplest and easiest to do but...the way I look at it my social security and FERS annuity are basically bonds which need to be taken into account when looking at my overall portfolio allocation. That is why I am leaning toward option #2 or #3. L 2040 is about 20% fixed income currently plus SS & FERS, I just think that is too conservative given the fact that I am 30 yrs. from retirement.

What do you guys think?

Set a goal and watch the trends. If you set a goal of $1,000,000 and start saving, you just need to stay on top of performance. You can easily do that with a little bit of study, review, and constant savings.

Good Luck!

Remember that TSP is not your only invesment option.