Readers' Comments
Total Comments: 42
Page 2 of 4
Page 2 of 4
Why Invest in Risky TSP Stock Funds? To Make More Money
Total Comments: 42
Page 2 of 4
Page 2 of 4
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| Close | Change | YTD | |
| G | $13.0603 | +0.0011 | +2.51% |
| F | $13.3491 | +0.0193 | +6.11% |
| C | $12.6306 | +0.0333 | +21.05% |
| S | $15.3811 | -0.0198 | +26.00% |
| I | $18.1586 | -0.0075 | +27.38% |
| Close | Change | YTD | |
| L 2040 | $15.0893 | +0.0135 | +20.82% |
| L 2030 | $14.9781 | +0.0125 | +18.66% |
| L 2020 | $14.9178 | +0.0112 | +16.01% |
| L 2010 | $15.0122 | +0.0068 | +8.53% |
| L Income | $13.7138 | +0.0056 | +7.27% |
November 7, 2009
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negative growth after 10 years in an index fund
usace
Tue Oct 14, 2008 8:59 PM
Post Reply
I had $55K in a SP500 index fund before the tech bubble burst and I have not contributed to it since and left it in the the fund. There are no guarantees in the stock market. Recent history has shown there are a few people getting rich off retirement savings plans but most of them are not the investors.
Sticking with the C fund
VA
Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:05 AM
Post Reply
You guys slay me, how much does the TSP pay you to sway the little guys like me? Your theory is great if I pick when to retire but when I want to retire and it's in the bottom of a 30% plus string of losing years, guess what, I'm screwed! Who wants to "extend" their retirement that many years just to get back where they were?
Volatility
DOD
Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:08 AM
Post Reply
I think the TSP funds are properly volatile. Where we come out ahead is the lower fees which are the lowest anywhere. The C fund mirrors the S&P 500, and the S is the Wilshire 4500, and just looking at the I fund which covers some very good companies whom are also suffering from losses in these tough economic times. The bear market rally was nice, but can it be sustained when all the numbers are bad? I am not so sure. That said mind you; Even if the majority of your nest egg is in the G fund you SHOULD be buying new shares with the NEW contributions at this time. Even if the market drops to 5000 it looks like a place now to start dollar cost averaging even if you are going to retire soon. If you have more than a 20 year time horizon you should be buying as many shares as you can afford at this time. If you are skiddish, just use new contributions. Just protect your nest egg/cat food money.
Why Invest in Risky TSP Stock Funds? Educate your
DOD
Wed Oct 15, 2008 9:01 AM
Post Reply
Well as usual Smitty is still drinking the FTRIB/Barclays Kool-aid. And the imposition limited IFT’s has also CAUSED costs to rise. The trading costs would go up, not down. The FTRIB/Barclay Cabal told us they would they would go down. Costs have soared.
Through July:
YTD costs for F fund went from 192,000 to 1,552,711
YTD costs for C fund went from -216,254 to +329,258
YTD costs for S fund went from -101,308 to + 367,371
and in July alone, I fund trading costs went from $248,847 to $2,796,494
Things that make you go hmmm. Someone has been lying to us. We were all assured that those costs would even get lower. I think someone got caught up in the sub prime mess and use us Feds, to pull there chestnuts out of the fire with the help of OUR FTRIB, who is suppose to be looking out for our best interests.
An as for me, I’d prefer a safe, secure retirement without participating in the capitalist economic system, because capitalism is on it’s way out and will go full bore in about 30 days. I know many CSRS employees and I’d much rather have there retirement plan. FERS was just a system to save the Gov’t money. Hopefully obama’s pledge to allow us to pull $10K out of out plans will bear fruit, cause I want to remove as much as possible from it, though I will continue to contribute. I just want to ensure it’s safe from The FTRIB/Barclay Cabal.
Why are we being forced by Smitty and the Cabal to continue to trough money at down the rat hole, when you protect what you have and just wait a little for an upward trend. With less that 5 years to go, just base on the L funds alone, I’d be approximately $45 K in the hole and no one can tell how long this will last.
Just educate yourself and don’t blindly follow Smitty and the Cabal.
A disgruntled FERS Employee
Re: Why Invest in Risky TSP Stock Funds? Educate your
DOL
Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:04 AM
Barclays admits borrowing hundreds of millions at Bank's emergency rate
Ashley Seager, Larry Elliott and Julia Kollewe
The Guardian,
Friday August 31 2007
Barclays has been forced to borrow hundreds of millions of pounds [622 mil US] from the Bank of England's emergency lending facility for the second time in a fortnight, it was revealed last night.
In a hurried and emotive statement after London's markets had closed, Barclays attempted to calm fears that it faces a cash crisis. Rumours had circulated all day that Barclays was forced to go to the Bank of England after the central bank said it had lent £1.6bn at its penal rate of 6.75%. It is thought that Barclays borrowed the entire amount...
Edward Cahill, the banker in charge of collateralised debt obligations at Barclays Capital, resigned last week, and others in his department are understood to have departed...Barclay's to explain...
Re: Why Invest in Risky TSP Stock Funds? Educate your
DOL
Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:08 AM
Reuters
By Ralph Gowling and Steve Slater
Sun Oct 12, 2008
Major British banks are likely to announce their plans to recapitalize early on Monday, a person familiar with the matter said, a move which could see the government take multi-billion pound stakes in several lenders….The Sunday Times said Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS, Lloyds TSB and Barclays could ask for a combined 35 billion-pound lifeline…Lloyds, RBS, HBOS and Barclays all declined to comment...Barclays, Britain's second biggest bank, has said it is considering raising capital privately and is expected to try and raise funds from existing shareholders to limit any funds provided by the government.
Re: Why Invest in Risky TSP Stock Funds? Educate your
DOD
Wed Oct 15, 2008 11:08 AM
Bloomberg reported May 14, 2008 that “The numbers coming out of Barclays Plc, the U.K.'s third-largest bank, don't seem to add up, leaving analysts convinced that further writedowns are inevitable in tomorrow's interim trading statement from the firm.” Is that financial improprieties? Barclays is suppose to back up our funds with 105% collateral, but 105% of zero is zero and the only recourse, we have, in getting our funds back are is if the administrator would vouluntarily give them back, yeah sure and I still believe in the tooth fairy, or we can sue. Enron anyone?
The whole IFT limitation was a smokescreen because Barclays was gambling with our funds and Congress as usual just sit on their thumbs and continue to let it happen. Bad investments, Sub Prime, was more likely the culprit for funding problems.
So please take the time to read the minutes of the monthly meetings and our agreement with Barclays. The Cabal is depending on our laizze faire attitude when it comes to watching out for our funds.
TO Supervisory IT Specialist
HF
Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:48 AM
Post Reply
Sorry about your crystal ball :) I don't need one, it's just common sense.
It's obvious that the overall market trend is down, we just had a bear market rally on tuesday. If you study the previous recessions and economic indicators, it will take a while -years- to start going back up and this is one is going to be a monster recession btw. Following the DJIA curve, even if I miss the early rebound by say 6 months, I still will be ahead at least 30%. The markets dont rally up to normal in say 1 week after a recession is receding, it takes at least 3+ years.
BTW it takes money to make money. If you lost 40%, you will need more than that to recoup what you lost -say 55%- since you have less capital.
Need to use a more realistic example
Census
Wed Oct 15, 2008 11:13 AM
Post Reply
While your example is informative it need to be much more realistic. I do not know of anyone who put $50,000 in the TSP twenty years ago and never made another deposit. The more reasonable example is someone who put in a fixed amount each pay period with that amount growing through the years as pay increases and promotions occur. In that situation it is much more important what happened in the stock marked over the last ten years as that is when the TSP fund had the larger balances.
I also have to object to you ending the analysis with 2007 as you have picked the year where the stock market was at the peak. That works well for those who are good at market timing, but does not work well for most people. Perhaps you should extend the time frame out to closer to the present time. The $576,000 in the stock market a year ago would be less than $350,000 today. That is a huge difference when someone decides on where to put his or her money.
Good Article
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:43 PM
Post Reply
I enjoyed this article. It wasn't anything new, but it strengthened my current tactic for investing.