A few weeks ago, some investors were bemoaning the lack of returns in their stock investments. Certainly some TSP investors were not happy either. All three TSP stock funds were down in April and May and future retirees could see in unmistakable black and white figures that their retirement income was slipping away.
Some analysts were urging people to pull back their stock investments and put the money into less risky, more conservative investments.
So, as often happens, the sky did not fall and, in the next month, stocks headed up again. For May, the S fund was up 6.05% and it is up 13.05% for the past 12 months. The C fund also went up 3.15% and it is up 8.21% for the past 12 months. The I fund was off again in May going down 0.40% but it is still the best performing fund in the past 12 months with a positive return of 14.20%.
The super-safe G fund is up 0.37% in May (up 4.51% for the past 12 months) and the F fund was up 1.05% in May (up 6.84% for the past 12 months).
Part of the reason for the performance of stocks in May is due to a belief that the Federal Reserve may be easing up on its drive to raise interest rates. Fears of inflation cooled, the Federal Reserve may ease up on raising interest rates, and the dollar has risen against the Euro as voters in France and the Netherlands rejected a constitution drafted for the European Union.
So, for this month at least, you can sit back and think about how much your TSP investments were up in May–and hope the trend continues for the near future.
