Readers' Comments
Total Comments: 16
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Investing for the Long Term
Total Comments: 16
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| Close | Change | YTD | |
| G | $12.6972 | +0.0013 | +3.40% |
| F | $11.9749 | +0.0219 | +0.38% |
| C | $8.6601 | -0.6223 | -47.70% |
| S | $9.4250 | -0.7684 | -52.37% |
| I | $11.4821 | -0.6136 | -53.63% |
| Close | Change | YTD | |
| L 2040 | $10.4314 | -0.5746 | -42.81% |
| L 2030 | $10.7668 | -0.5171 | -38.16% |
| L 2020 | $11.2461 | -0.4459 | -32.46% |
| L 2010 | $12.8789 | -0.2531 | -16.70% |
| L Income | $12.1740 | -0.1561 | -9.62% |
November 21, 2008
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Time to Really, Really, Live with Risk
DOD
Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:33 AM
Post Reply
We are entering a long stretch of time, that will separate the men from the boys.
Sleeping Well
ACF
Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:13 AM
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Near the end of this article you mention the people in the G and F funds sleeping well at night. My wife and I are both 100% in a mix of C, F, & I. I would just like to say I sleep well at night also. I invest for the long term. I recogonize your efforts in getting people to understand this investment strategy. As people get nervous and start moving their money into safe investments after the market goes down, this causes the funds to go down further. My only concern is I can't invest enough right now in the C,F, & I to take advantage of other peoples short sided investment philosophy. This is a great opportunity for people to purchase more shares for the same money each month. In 1-2 yrs the articles will be about the recovery and how well those with staying power capatilized. I would like to thank those who are jumping ship. You are ultimately helping my portfolio grow. I just have to wait and weather the storm. Thanks!!!!
Great time to invest
DOD
Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:02 AM
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I can imagine the babyboomers are losing sleep, however this is a great time to buy for long term investors. I sold at 14,000 in October and went into G and F, and all new contributions are going into I (70%) and C (30%). If you place it all in the G fund inflation will probably eat up most of your gains. Protecting the nest egg is important, however you have to take some risk in order to gain enough to outpace inflation. Lets face it, the I fund has Oil stock in it, is the price of gas dropping?
Investing for the Long term
DCMA-LA
Thu Jan 24, 2008 9:05 AM
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Mr. Smith,
My question is this. What about the people who are/were investing for the long term, say 15-20 years ago and then comes this present time of a market decline. Let's say they have only 5 more years to go before retirement and now see their investment take a hit. At what time before retirement (years ahead) would you consider switching from let's say all your investments in the C Fund, to say the G. Thank you and take care. Alex.
Re: Investing for the Long term
DoD
Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:33 PM
As you approach retirement (5 years away as in your example), your allocation should move gradually towards including more G and F, but not completely out of C,S and I. You need some stock exposure in order to not risk having inflation outrun your growth rate.
I fund versus C&F
DOT
Thu Jan 24, 2008 9:25 AM
Post Reply
Actually oil prices are falling because of the impending recession. Likewise I have read where some of the Oveseas markets are overpriced (China and India are prime examples) and are bracing for major corrections, which have been recently occuring. This may be a better time to invest in our market which has pretty much been corrected and would recommend the C and F. F because bond prices will continue to rise as the Federal Reserve tries to stave off the recesssion and C because large companies have the means to borrow and invest in themselves.
TSP returns
VA
Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:21 PM
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It is like I stated several times before in comments to articles you have written. The key to financial success in investing is "to buy low and sell high". Those who buy and hold stocks will receive only mediocre returns on their investments. If you don't move your money out of stocks during downturns like this current one you pay a high price. The investment vehicles offered by the TSP are not very good investments to begin with. I wish we were able to invest our money in any mutual funds we chose, consider the CNG Focus fund which returned 79% last year. The FERS retirement sytem, the TSP investment funds are basically a failure and will put most government workers in dire straits in their old age.
TSP returns
VA
Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:21 PM
Post Reply
It is like I stated several times before in comments to articles you have written. The key to financial success in investing is "to buy low and sell high". Those who buy and hold stocks will receive only mediocre returns on their investments. If you don't move your money out of stocks during downturns like this current one you pay a high price. The investment vehicles offered by the TSP are not very good investments to begin with. I wish we were able to invest our money in any mutual funds we chose, consider the CNG Focus fund which returned 79% last year. The FERS retirement sytem, the TSP investment funds are basically a failure and will put most government workers in dire straits in their old age.
Re: TSP returns
DoD Navy
Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:33 AM
Market timing does not work. The "Buy and hold" strategy has been proven time and time again to outperform actively managed funds and active trading.
When you move your funds around you are chasing returns. That means you are selling low and buying high.
I for one am very happy with FERS and TSP. They are both super programs and if you manage them correctly will provide for a very secure retirement.
Re: TSP returns
dod
Fri Jan 25, 2008 9:09 AM
That being said, comparing buy and hold to actively managed funds is not valid. It should be compared to market timing. Buy and hold can be applied to either indexed funds or actively managed funds.
The TSP is a good 401K plan, but it's not great. There are some shortcomings(not much International small cap exposure, no foreign bond exposure, no way to diversify between growth and value for instance).