The final figures are in for the rates of return for investors in the Thrift Savings Plan. As has been the case all year, investors in stock funds are going to be very happy–perhaps even elated–over the latest figures.
For the I fund, investors realized a 7.68% return for the month–the best fund return for the month. The fund returned 37.94% to investors for the past year.
Even better news for investors is that the 37.94% rate of return was not the highest yearly return of the TSP funds. That honor goes to the small-cap fund (the S Fund). The S Fund had a 42.92% rate of return for the past year and a 2.04% return for December. You won’t find a better yearly rate of return for this fund (or any other stock fund) over the past 10 years.
The C Fund, based on the S&P 500 index, did not do badly either. It returned 28.54% for the year and 5.24% for December. The yearly rate of return for the C fund is its best performance since 1997 when it returned 33.17%.
The F and G Funds had an identical rate of return for the year: 4.11%. For December, the F Fund returned 1.01% and the G Fund provided a consistent 0.49%.
As often happens during the first year of an economic recovery, 2003 was a bountiful year for investors. Don’t look forward to matching these rates again anytime soon, but no one will blame you for enjoying the review of your TSP statements this month.
