April Stock Fund Returns Cheer TSP Investors

The three stocks funds of the TSP are up substantially in April.

The official returns for the TSP funds have been released and investors have something to feel very good about their stock investments for the first time in a few months.

With the end of the intense fighting in Iraq and with some analysts and investors anticipating an upturn in the economy in the near future, stocks did well in April. The upturn has to feel good after the dismal performance of stocks for the past three years (the C fund was down 9.14% in 1999, 11.94% in 2001, and 22.05% in 2002.

The common stock fund (the C fund) had a positive return for April of 8.26%. It is still down 13.23% for the past twelve months but the April return is the highest since last April when it had a return of 8.77%.

The small company stock fund (the S fund) did even better. It was up 8.31% for April. It is still down 15.02% for the past twelve months but after being down in 18.14% in 2002, investors in this fund have to feel better about the good return for the month.

The international stock fund (the I fund) did the best of any fund for April. It produced a positive return of 9.82% and is down 16.21% for the last twelve months. It had a negative return of 15.98% for all of 2002.

The F fund also had a positive return for April. It was up 0.83% for April and is up 10.65% for the past twelve months. It had a positive return of 10.27 for all of 2002.

The safest investment of all, the G fund, was up 0.33% for April and is up 4.55% for the last twelve months. It had a positive return of 5.00% for all of 2002.

About the Author

Ralph Smith has several decades of experience working with federal human resources issues. He has written extensively on a full range of human resources topics in books and newsletters and is a co-founder of two companies and several newsletters on federal human resources. Follow Ralph on Twitter: @RalphSmith47