TSP (Thrift savings Plan)

[45DAVID1]

Any of you participate in it? What funds do you invest in? Overall are you in the RED or the GREEN?

[chris]

i have used TSP since it was opened up to military in 2001. if you are going to start to put into it. i suggest the G fund. it is the safest right now and no one what the hell Congress is gonna do next let alone Obama is gonna do. the G fund is pretty safe does'nt lose money does'nt make alot either about a penny a day.

but it is a good thing to use. i use it on the mil. side and my civilian side also.
right now i'm doing good.

[boxtype1]

Well, I have 30 more years to go and I am invested heavily on C fund(Common stocks) some on S and some on F International fund. Im probably down about 15k. Right now I think about how many shares I can purchase and not value because stocks are on sale right now. Buy low and sell high( hopefully high in 30yrs)

[thebloodsonthewall]

I have all of mine in the G fund currently. I just started putting money into it a couple months ago but I have plenty of time until I retire.

[cgseanp1]

i have used TSP since it was opened up to military in 2001. if you are going to start to put into it. i suggest the G fund. it is the safest right now and no one what the hell Congress is gonna do next let alone Obama is gonna do. the G fund is pretty safe does'nt lose money does'nt make alot either about a penny a day.

but it is a good thing to use. i use it on the mil. side and my civilian side also.
right now i'm doing good.

Only a penny a day? Isn't this all relative to how much you invest, or already have invested? I think my savings bonds make more than a penny a day!!

[whocares]

I would highly advise you to get your money out of the G fund as soon as possible. Your not even beating inflation.
If you have no idea what your doing and don't want to mess with it then just choose a lifecycle fund based on your estimated retirement date and forget it.

I have my money divided between the Small Cap, Large Cap and International funds.

[famas619]

I started puting in in 2008. I have the G fund also. Not trying to get rich or anything, just a little fund for a vacation when i reitre in 8 years...from military side, not life...lol

[chris]

Only a penny a day? Isn't this all relative to how much you invest, or already have invested? I think my savings bonds make more than a penny a day!!

the G fund is the safe fund on TSP and if you don't want to lose you a** like many last year when the stock market took a crap and it continues to be pretty crappy at the moment. the I fund is no where near what it i was a 2 yrs. ago. it was up to 25.00 or more today it's 17.41. so it has lost quite a bit. also you can change whatever you invest in anytime.

my boss at my shop was telling us to transfer most of your money in the G fund considering no one knew what Obama was going to do and the market reacts to what the new president will be like well the market crapped out and lots of the funds on TSP took a crap except the G fund. so i save my a** last year.

it is up to the indvidual where they invest their money.

[AEC1]

As long as you have faith in the US government and the value of the Fed then G is safe.


I have zero in anything with the federal criminals. All in C, S, I, and gold/silver fighting for room in my gun safe.

[daves100]

TSP

I have zero in anything with the federal criminals. All in C, S, I, and gold/silver fighting for room in my gun safe.

I ove mine around all the time C,S,I and G fund. 100% right on Gold and silver about 3 or 4 years ago had some extra cash and started buying old coins every month, Gold up over 1050 a Ounce

[whocares]

the G fund is the safe fund on TSP and if you don't want to lose you a** like many last year when the stock market took a crap and it continues to be pretty crappy at the moment. the I fund is no where near what it i was a 2 yrs. ago. it was up to 25.00 or more today it's 17.41. so it has lost quite a bit. also you can change whatever you invest in anytime.

my boss at my shop was telling us to transfer most of your money in the G fund considering no one knew what Obama was going to do and the market reacts to what the new president will be like well the market crapped out and lots of the funds on TSP took a crap except the G fund. so i save my a** last year.

it is up to the indvidual where they invest their money.

The G fund is Safe but in the long run it won't get you anywhere near what you need to retire. Your right, last year sucked but this year the S&P 500 made 27 percent. The G fund is going to get you 3 percent (total guess) but an Index fund, ETF like SPY or some combination of the Small/Large Cap fund is going to return 8 percent (historically)
So you take the good with the bad. Like you said, the I fund has gone down so dollar cost average and buy it on sale.
All this advice is assuming your 401k isn't coming to fruition for 35 years or so....If your retiring soon then yes the G fund makes more sense.
Plug the numbers into a 401k calculator and see what wins out........compound interest is fun !

[chris]

The G fund is Safe but in the long run it won't get you anywhere near what you need to retire. Your right, last year sucked but this year the S&P 500 made 27 percent. The G fund is going to get you 3 percent (total guess) but an Index fund, ETF like SPY or some combination of the Small/Large Cap fund is going to return 8 percent (historically)
So you take the good with the bad. Like you said, the I fund has gone down so dollar cost average and buy it on sale.
All this advice is assuming your 401k isn't coming to fruition for 35 years or so....If your retiring soon then yes the G fund makes more sense.
Plug the numbers into a 401k calculator and see what wins out........compound interest is fun !

i have no intention on leaving it in the G fund. it is temporary right now. i can't retire for another 20+ yrs.

[CavTrooper]

Just got my TSP statement in the mail. Made 12.77% on my investment in 2009. I have it spread across the G(30%), F(30%), C(15%), S(15%) and I(10%) funds. Everything made money last year, the S and the C funds being the big winners overall. I have no clue as to what Im doing, just dropped money into it and Im hoping that itll pay off when I retire. One of these days I might actually take the time to talk to someone about how Im invested and make adjustments, until then... its working.

[Rem1492]

I do the C fund. I wish my wife had a job or we were rich, cause we are allowed to put 100% of our income into the TSP, that'd be an awesome retirement, well, assuming it'd be there in 40 years like the swell idea of social security or Pelosi's idea of the gov taking over our investments for us.

Do all new enlisted guys get briefed on TSP and advantages of investing?

[whocares]

Chris, It's impossible to time the market, with a retirement so far away you can afford to take some bad years. For instance you missed out on 30 percent gains last year while in the G fund

Hey Rem1492, I can only speak for the Coast Guard and no we don't recieve any formal training on it.