Wray, i wondered the same thing. Dont know whats best for you but can tell you what i finally did.
I finally put this in context with my other savings instruments. I KNOW I WAS WAY TOO CONSERVATIVE WITH MY INVESTMENTS WHEN I WAS ON ACTIVE DUTY. Never had time to follow them closely enough to venture beyond money market CD's. Since retirement, ive become much more aggressive and have mostly US stocks. A lot of the talking heads on tv still advocate foreign markets as to where people should be investing. So i reallocated 100% of my TSP account to the I fund. Its less than 10% of my savings and is the only foreign investment that i have. I know nothing about foreign markets or individual foreign stocks so i thought id trust the assest managers at TSP. So far ive done great but know that what goes up cerrtainly can come down just as fast. Bill
C, S, and I funds are already mixed into the L2040. I would suggest dropping L2040 and moving it to C. Or you can just invest all your contributions to L2040. Although the TSP considers L2040 the riskiest, in actuality investing all your contributions among the 3 funds (C,S,I) are more risky (L2040 has some G mixed in it). I have my allocations invested as follows: 65% C, 20% S, and 25%. I am comfortable with these allocations and I plan on leaving it like that because I don't plan on retiring from the civil service for another 10 years.
Just a note: this is just a suggestion and based only if you plan to invest long term (5 yrs or longer).
we have almost the same-- BUT we are going to change to the L funds- we were advised that if we have 10 yrs or less on AD to change for the maximum benefit.
skrup ---> thanks for that info... since I may decide to retire (again) any day now, I want MAXIMUM ... not worried about risk... I have secure funds elsewhere... Perhaps I should throw it all into the L2040. ya think?
The various L funds are only a blend of all of the other TSP funds that already existed. The blends become more conservative as the contributor nears retirement (2010, 2020, etc). They are intended to be a fire and forget investment for the person who doesn't have the time, interest or knowledge to monitor and adjust their investment dollars on a daily basis.
Ideally, the L funds are an 'all or none' option: If you put a portion of your funds into an L fund but continue to contribute to other funds, you might be diluting your earnings potential. You might also be diluting your exposure to loss.
If you aren't concerned about market volatility (read as: losing your money) then the more aggressive fund (L2040) might be the one for you.
I am NOT a financial advisor, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last week.
Wray, unless you are going to be retiring from VA soon, leave them as you have them. Cost weight averaging will work itself out. When the price goes up, you buy less. When the price goes down, you buy cheap. It works itself out on the long term. You should only monkey w/ them when you are in that 1-3 year window before retirement. That's when a loss in paper becomes real...unless, you keep them in TSP post retirement, which I believe you can do until age 70. I have mines distributed at 20% each and I still have 9 years left before minimum age. I can sustain a couple of ups and down in the market. It all depends how close to real retirement you are.
Need advice on TSP on starting out. I never took the TSP while on active duty with most of my income going out to tuition. I recently started a new job with NOAA after 28 years of active duty and plan on being with the Fed Gov another 10-15 years.
I want to start investing in the TSP program but have really no idea where to put the funds. I am thinking of dividing into three areas, safe, moderate riska nd high risk with good return. Anybody have any recomendations?
Simple, maximize your contribution. I take it your will work for no less than 10 years to draw retirement from the Feds at your minimal age. Distribute them equally throughout the funds. Don't try to speculate by putting more into one than the other. Dollar cost average will take care of it on the long term.
Last but not least, Wray's advice is the best. Take whatever you can from Social Security at 62 and enjoy it. Why wait until you are older and perhaps not as healthy to take more in that you might not even be able to enjoy?
Ah, yes; recently returned from exile in SWA so I haven't been around much to post.
Really I do know TSP, but I'm late on this thread and the posters above gave you some really good information. Some of the best, most accurate I've read in a while.
Coast Guard is still holding it down for TSP. That's great, but I'm sad to see nothing changed for the better in the other services while I was out...
