TSP Funds Jump in October

Good news for retirement investors: the TSP funds were all up in October, and some were up substantially. During September, TSP investors continued to take money out of the C fund though.

Good news for retirement investors: the TSP funds were all up in October, and some were up substantially. In fact, the stock market had its best performance since 2002 during October. The stock market gains came after five months in which the Dow lost 16% and was on the verge of a bear market.

The big winner in October was the S fund, up 14.09%. The C fund also had double digit gains of 10.93%. Here’s the complete breakdown of the funds’ performance for the month:

Fund October 2011 YTD
G +0.14% +2.15%
F +0.11% +6.79%
C +10.93% +1.28%
S +14.09% -2.85%
I +9.48% -7.71%
L 2050 +9.92%

L 2040

+8.83% -0.41%
L 2030 +7.68% +0.09%
L 2020 +6.18% +0.65%
L Income +2.31% +2.01%

Unfortunately, the Greek debt crisis has been dragging stocks down significantly so far in November, both domestically and abroad, which will erase many of the October gains if the trend continues. However, at the time of this writing, the stock market is rebounding a bit from its losses the previous couple of days.

Actions by TSP Investors for September

In September, TSP investors continued to take money out of the underlying stock funds and to put money into the F fund. In September, investor too $184 million out of the C fund, $93 million out of the S fund, $128 million from the I fund and $785 million from the lifecycle funds. They also took out $102 million from the G fund. The F fund saw an influx of $582 million during the month.

In fact, investors have been transferring money out of the C fund each month in 2011 with the exception of January. However, according to the Thrift Investment Board, the number of interfund transfers in September fell by more than 50%.

Investors are still skittish, as the 276-point decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average this past Monday
suggests. It will take awhile before many investors are prepared to fully
jump back into the stock market. And, with a number of federal employees now eligible for retirement, these investors are likely to be more hesitant to aggressively invest in the stock market out of fear for their retirement future. (See “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes:” The Elusive Retirement Tsunami)

This is reflected in the allocation of their assets in the TSP funds. Here is how CSRS employees now have their TSP assets invested:

  • G fund: 54%
  • F fund: 7%
  • C fund: 21%
  • S fund: 5%
  • I fund: 4%
  • L funds: 9%.

On the other hand, here is how FERS employees have invested their money:

  • G fund: 46%
  • F fund: 7%
  • C fund: 22%
  • S fund: 7%
  • I fund: 5%
  • L funds: 13%.

About the Author

Ralph Smith has several decades of experience working with federal human resources issues. He has written extensively on a full range of human resources topics in books and newsletters and is a co-founder of two companies and several newsletters on federal human resources. Follow Ralph on Twitter: @RalphSmith47