Readers' Comments
Total Comments: 12
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Ouch! TSP Stock Funds Down Again in February
Total Comments: 12
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| Close | Change | YTD | |
| G | $12.5884 | +0.0013 | +2.51% |
| F | $12.1938 | -0.0023 | +2.21% |
| C | $14.8877 | +0.2203 | -10.10% |
| S | $18.6925 | +0.3011 | -5.55% |
| I | $20.4024 | +0.3307 | -17.60% |
| Close | Change | YTD | |
| L 2040 | $16.6321 | +0.2116 | -8.82% |
| L 2030 | $16.1208 | +0.1804 | -7.40% |
| L 2020 | $15.6614 | +0.1476 | -5.94% |
| L 2010 | $15.1114 | +0.0761 | -2.25% |
| L Income | $13.4508 | +0.0427 | -0.14% |
August 29, 2008
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TSP stock funds down again in Feb.
BOR
Tue Mar 4, 2008 11:24 AM
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I am glad that I put all funds into the G back in Feb 2007. As you can see the stock market is the same story as the tortoise and the hare. The hare jumps and runs around everywhere but fails to win the race.
Re: TSP stock funds down again in Feb.
dod
Thu Mar 6, 2008 2:37 PM
Take any 20 year period(including the '29 or '01 crash) and start that period with a two equal amounts of money. Invest one pot in the S&P 500, invest the other in money market(essentially the G fund). At the end of any selected 20 year period you will have more money in the S&P 500 pot than the money market pot.
Hold
PWD
Wed Mar 5, 2008 4:56 AM
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I listen to all my frenemies at work moving all their money into the G fund and changing their contributions also to the G fund. It does not make sense! Buy low at least! And hold what you have. The stock market is cyclical it will rebound!
Buying Opportunity
Labor
Wed Mar 5, 2008 5:37 AM
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I'm holding my nose but, not my breath, and buying into this monster. Hopefully we will soon wake up and the nightmare will be over. How long will the the downturn last? Probably longer than I can go without air, but it is not a loss until you sell. By the time the authorities acknowledge the ongoing recession we will be back on the upswing. Now is the time to buy.
Re: Buying Opportunity
PWD
Wed Mar 5, 2008 7:49 AM
Re: Buying Opportunity
VA
Wed Mar 5, 2008 9:15 AM
When I see the I Fund has dropped 10% and the L2040 is down almost 7.5% YTD, I'm remembering anyone who had I Fund or L2040 shares during that period saw their fund balance drop as well.
Given the extent of the current market difficulties & the lack of a long term solution yet in sight, the flight to the safety of the G Fund makes sense to us --- especially when we see others who are still in the market are watching their account balances dropping like a stone.
We prefer to wait for daylight, and will re-enter the market (even with just two trades a month) when the hemorrhage stops.
We believe it is 'way too soon to re-enter, this is acceptance of an excessive & unnecessary level of risk at this time. The price per share advantage will be there later, and at an even better level than today.
Re: Buying Opportunity
VA
Wed Mar 5, 2008 11:10 AM
Assume you have 8000 shares of L2040 @ $25 a share, totalling $200,000.
1. Market reverses, you stay in L2040, price per share drops to say $20, your total valuation now = $20 x 8000 = $160,000.
2. Market reverses, but in this case you decide to go to G Fund. Then later after the market stabilizes you return to L2040 with your $200K intact @ the new share price of $20. At that point you buy 10,000 shares of L2040 for your $200K (plus whatever gain you posted from the G Fund during your flight to safety while the L2040 Fund lost ground).
Net result: You now have $200K and 10,000 shares working versus $160,000 and 8,000 shares.
Our TSP Club likes the math in the 2nd/latter case, & if someone is willing to share their perspective we'd like to hear the alternative, specifically why standing pat in a grossly deteriorating and excessively high risk market is financially more advantageous (???). We're open for suggestions!
Long term gain with a short turn vacuum
USN
Wed Mar 5, 2008 7:57 AM
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I know that the stock market is likely to make up these losses and eventually post gains, but watching an investment turn into a bottomless pit is very depressing. Considering all the doom and gloom in the housing market, inflation, mortgage/credit issues, rising fuel costs and weakening employment, there seems to be perfect storm brewing. If the market crashes, I know I'll have time to recover - some of those close to retirement don't have that luxury, and even the safest of the funds has posted a loss recently.
It's happened before
DOD
Wed Mar 5, 2008 10:14 AM
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My daddy taught me to sit tight when ALL the stocks are going down. Buy more if I can when it is low. Then see what happens over the next few years as the market goes back up.
In both my outside accounts and my TSP I have decided to leave it alone. Losses don't count unless you sell. If I let my money still go to C fund it will be able to buy more and lower the average of my share costs. When the market is back up...I will see better gains as a result.
If the market never recovers then it just doesn't matter what I did because it is all gonna go down the tubes and the entire nation will have more problems than we know what to do with.
I do have to admit that it first looked like I was nervous keeping a fairly large percentage of my TSP in G & F but now it kinda makes me feel a little better. It balances out the stock in my outside accounts.
This is a bad time right now but I still think TSP is a good deal.
Hold on for the ride
Commander Navy Region Southwest
Wed Mar 5, 2008 11:18 AM
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Although the "I" fund took a big hit, I continue to fund it as more shares are being bought at a lower price. Those that transfered out, often a a heftly loss will not see the gain as those who rode it out, continued to fund and waiting patiently for the market to adjust thus having more shares and equal value in thier account.
va tsp club
dod
Sun Mar 9, 2008 7:09 AM
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can anyone join the va tsp club? (We hired lots of veterans, and I'm married to one...) Questions on your strategy: How do you know when to sell the hypothetical 8000 shares to go to the G fund; and, how do you know when to buy those 10,000 hyphothetical shares? If your club achieved that kind of accuracy in timing movement from some risk into none and then back again, I'd pay you to let me be a member.